AFL dominates Australian sporting crowds in 2023
AFL was the most well-attended sporting competition in 2023, with total crowds exceeding 8 million, almost double that of the NRL.
The attendances were revealed in the Austadiums Year That Was feature, which also included the highest-attended stadiums and cities. Austadiums features the most comprehensive sports attendance database, covering all major events in Australia since 2003.
The F1’s at Albert Park in Melbourne attracted a sell-out crowd of 131,124 on Sunday race day, making it the highest-attended standalone sporting event in Australia since the 2006 Victoria Derby at Flemington Racecourse. The highest in-stadium attendance was 100,024 for the AFL Grand Final.
The crowd attendance data published on Austadiums shows 21.5 million spectators attended 1698 events across 2003, with 19.5 million of those attending the top five sports on the list.
The AFL topped the list with total crowds of 8,076,630, ahead of the NRL on 4,086,606. The FIFA Women’s World Cup, A-League and BBL made up the top five.
| 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 |
In terms of sports, Australian Football also topped the list (also incorporating AFLW, pre-season matches and state league Grand Finals), followed by league, football, cricket and basketball rounding out the list at fifth with a total of 1.1 million.
The AFL achieved an average attendance of 37,741 spectators during 2023, while the NRL had an average of 19,742. While the A-League has had its struggles, it was still fourth on the list with total crowds of 1,353,468, albeit its average was the lowest of the top five at 8,056 per game. The BBL drew an average of 18,450 spectators per match during the calendar year.
Football fans packed stadiums around Australia thanks to the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Matildas, to boost crowd numbers to a total of 4 million across the year.
The FIFA Women's World Cup boosted the numbers by 2 million alone. An average of 30,911 fans attended each World Cup game, making it the third-most attended Australian sporting event in 2023.
While AFL matches at the MCG dominated the list of top sports attendances, the highest crowd for a rugby league game in 2023 was State of Origin game three, which drew a crowd of 75,342 at Accor Stadium, and the highest home & away crowd was 51,047 for the Dolphins v Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
The MCG was Australia’s most attended sports stadium in 2023, with 3,682,701 people attending sports events at the Melbourne icon, while 1,644,139 fans watched sport at Marvel Stadium, and 1,488,167 attended Optus Stadium. The Adelaide Oval and Suncorp Stadium were the other two stadiums to also achieve crowds of over 1 million for 2023.
See more in the 2023 Austadiums Year That Was feature article.
