Austadiums Year That Was 2023
Austadiums looks back at the year that was in 2023, revealing which stadiums and sports attracted the biggest crowds, most viewed content and trends.
Throughout 2023, the Austadiums website listed 1,698 events across 16 sports. 1,283 of these had a crowd figure listed – equating to more than 21.5 million spectators, at an average of 12,676 per event. See below for more crowd analysis.
As we do each year, we reflect on the ‘Year That Was’ by looking at the ‘Top 5’ across various topics – many of which have already been shared on our social media accounts. First up, it’s the most viewed stadiums and news on Austadiums.
MOST VIEWED STADIUMS
| 1 | Accor Stadium |
| 2 | MCG |
| 3 | Marvel Stadium |
| 4 | AAMI Park |
| 5 | Adelaide Oval |
The most viewed stadium on Austadiums in 2023 was Accor Stadium, followed by the MCG, with Taylor Swift’s upcoming Australian concerts having a big say on the top two. Winner of the 2023 Stadium Awards, Optus Stadium, sits third after being the most viewed in 2018-2021.
MOST VIEWED NEWS
- Steel defects delay GMHBA Stadium redevelopment
- Leichhardt Oval Master Plan unveiled to upgrade iconic venue
- Western United planning for Tarneit games next season
- Plans for new indoor arena and expanded Sunshine Coast Stadium revealed
- $7bn Olympic venue funding confirmed, including Gabba rebuild and Brisbane Arena
A mix of news articles ranked highest on Austadiums in 2023, with delays on GMHBA Stadium’s new grandstand forcing a reduced capacity for the Cats for the duration of the AFL season attracting the most clicks.
An overhaul of a favourite NRL venue took second spot with a masterplan unveiled for the home of the Wests Tigers. A-League’s Western United playing games in Tarneit was next up, followed by two articles relating to the Brisbane Olympics.
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HIGHEST ATTENDED STADIUMS
Something that remains unchanged is Australia’s largest stadium attracting the most spectators through the gates. In 2023, almost 3.7 million fans attended sports events at the MCG at an average of more than 57,000. Marvel, Optus and Adelaide Oval retained the same positions they held in 2022, with Suncorp Stadium replacing the SCG in fifth.
HIGHEST PERCENT OF CAPACITY
| Stadium | Total | Average | Events | Capacity | % of Cap. | |
| 1 | MyState Bank Arena | 55,397 | 4,261 | 13 | 4,340 | 98 |
| 2 | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | 115,157 | 8,858 | 13 | 10,000 | 89 |
| 3 | BlueBet Stadium | 250,719 | 19,286 | 13 | 22,500 | 86 |
| 4 | RAC Arena | 190,432 | 11,902 | 16 | 14,000 | 85 |
| 5 | Nissan Arena | 72,234 | 4,249 | 17 | 5,000 | 85 |
For the second year running, Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena was filled the most, with the home of the NBL’s JackJumpers at an average of 98%
of its 4,340 capacity*, ahead of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. *Note: this has recently been updated due to to MyState Bank Arena's capacity being corrected to 4,340 (from 4,800).
The highest outdoor venue was BlueBet Stadium in third spot – home of the Penrith Panthers, while the Gabba was 7th at 76% of capacity. The list required 10 or more events to be held at each venue during the year to qualify.
WHO FILLED THEIR STADIUMS IN 2023?
— Austadiums 🇦🇺🏟 (@austadiums) January 22, 2024
The NBL topped the list during the 2023 calendar year, with 77.9% of venue capacity. The NRL edged out the AFL by 0.7%.
In terms of cities (5+ events), Cairns is #1 with 70.9% of cap. Brisbane highest capital.#YearThatWas2023 #NBL #NRL #AFL pic.twitter.com/WOWq9FkLrV
HIGHEST ATTENDED CITIES
| City | Total | Average | |
| 1 | Melbourne | 8,111,829 | 24,959 |
| 2 | Sydney | 3,978,901 | 15,363 |
| 3 | Brisbane | 2,093,736 | 18,206 |
| 4 | Perth | 1,931,486 | 18,395 |
| 5 | Adelaide | 1,744,464 | 16,614 |
Melbourne was again a clear leader in the total and average attendance throughout 2023, attracting more than 8.1 million spectators to sports events – double that of Sydney and more than the combined attendances of Sydney (2nd), Brisbane (3rd) and Perth (4th). 2023 saw Brisbane overtake Perth in third position on the list.
HIGHEST SPORTS ATTENDANCES
| 1 | 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix (d4) | 131,124 |
| 2 | 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix (d3) | 129,748 |
| 3 | 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix (d2) | 122,927 |
| 4 | AFL: GF - Collingwood v Brisbane Lions | 100,024 |
| 5 | AFL: PF - Collingwood v GWS Giants | 97,665 |
The F1 Australian Grand Prix again held the top three attendances, including a record 131,124 for the Sunday), while the AFL again had the highest in-stadium attendance figure and dominated the list. The Bledisloe Cup came in 18th position and NRL Grand Final 21st.
HIGHEST ATTENDED SPORTS COMPS
| Competition | Total | Average | % of Cap. | |
| 1 | AFL | 8,076,630 | 37,741 | 66.6 |
| 2 | NRL | 4,086,606 | 19,742 | 67.3 |
| 3 | FIFA WWC | 1,978,274 | 30,911 | 75.8 |
| 4 | A-League | 1,353,468 | 8,056 | 35.9 |
| 5 | BBL | 1,051,627 | 18,450 | 45.3 |
The AFL again dominated the sporting landscape with more than 8 million spectators attending matches during the 2023 season, about double that of the NRL. The NBL filled its stadiums better than any other competition, with 77.9% of venues filled at an average crowd of 6,945 for the calendar year. The FIFA Women’s World Cup boosted football attendances in 2023, with just shy of 2 million spectators at an average of almost 31,000 per game.
All of the above crowd attendance stats are calculated from all sports events listed on Austadiums where crowd data is available. Find out more about which events are covered here.
It was another strong year for the Austadiums website, with traffic increasing by 54%. Over the past three years, traffic has grown significantly, with an average of a 71% increase per year.
Countless new features were introduced to the site during 2023, while many others were enhanced, including an improved experience on mobile devices.
Some of our favourite new and improved features included:
Stadium Concerts fully launched, listing all major stadium concerts held in Australia, along with full tour schedules, tickets including on-sale times, seating maps and attendance figures, when available.
Crowd Pages were enhanced, making available even more of the extensive Austadiums Sport database than ever before. Including for sports and comps, displaying crowd summaries for each stadium in a sortable table and yearly summaries. Stadium crowds can also now be viewed per year.
Trending Stadiums shows which stadiums are trending right now on the Austadiums website, often correlating with major events or tickets going on sale, constantly updated live.
Stadium Enhancements included the new stadium photos page, displaying the latest photos added to the site and larger viewing, the ability to filter stadiums for a sport by location, and multiple seating maps for stadiums.
2023 was a big year and there’s so much more planned for 2024 on Austadiums.
