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Broncos, Storm and Dragons have most supporters but fans differ in their NRL commitment

Announcement posted by Roy Morgan Research 17 Oct 2011

Roy Morgan Research
As of June 2011, Brisbane Broncos had the most fans of any NRL team with 1,284,000 supporters (14+). They are followed by Melbourne Storm with 892,000 supporters and St George Illawarra Dragons with 585,000 supporters, according to new Roy Morgan Research sports data.

After these top three clubs, supporter numbers gradually decline to the Cronulla Sharks on 174,000.

NRL Club Supporters


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Australian Population 14+ who support an NRL team. July 10 - June 11, n = 6,146.


However among the top three supported clubs there were significant differences in the professional sporting events they attended. The proportion of St George Illawarra supporters who had attended an NRL game in the previous 12 months (23%) clearly outweighed that of both Brisbane supporters (19%) and Melbourne supporters (12%).

Melbourne supporters were far more likely to attend an AFL match than any other sporting code, whereas Brisbane and St George Illawarra supporters were more likely to attend NRL.


Professional Sports Attended


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Australian Population 14+, Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra Dragons supporters, July 10 - June 11, n = 2,508.


When it came to watching sport on television, the Broncos had the highest proportion of supporters who watched NRL (68%), closely followed by the Dragons (67%) and the Storm (40%).


Sports Watched on TV


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, Australian Population 14+, Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra Dragons supporters, July 10 - June 11, n = 2,508.


NRL Club Supporters – Last 10 Years


Note: Figures in 000’s. *Since June 2002.


Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“Brisbane Broncos has the highest number of supporters of any team in the NRL. This is likely due to them being Queensland’s oldest NRL team and the only club representing the Brisbane population.

“The high interest Melbourne Storm fans have in other sports – especially AFL - reflects the general level of NRL support in Victoria which trails a distant second behind AFL as the top winter sport. It is also influenced by the sheer amount of AFL games held in Melbourne every year compared with NRL games.

“It will be interesting to monitor supporter numbers for Melbourne Storm in coming years. Possibly as a reaction to them having their points stripped from them in 2010 due to salary cap breaches, their supporter numbers are down 9.3% from this time last year.”


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