Fans of the two clubs lining up in this week’s NRL Grand Final are also numerous with the Melbourne Storm second in NRL support (826,000, up 57,000) and Parramatta Eels fourth in NRL support (429,000, up down 21,000) also amongst the NRL’s most supported clubs. Minor Premiers St. George Illawarra Dragons, who crashed out of the NRL finals with consecutive losses, split the two Grand Finalists with 462,000 supporters (down 8,000).
Wests Tigers (387,000, down a large 102,000) and fellow 2005 NRL Grand Finalists the North Queensland Cowboys (366,000, down 108,000) have both experienced a large drop in support since March 2008, while the NRL’s newest team, the Gold Coast Titans, has experienced the fastest growth in support over the past year with 274,000 (up 67,000) supporters.
Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director at Roy Morgan Research, says:
“The annual Roy Morgan NRL supporter survey shows that the most supported clubs in the NRL are the clubs with significant support outside of Sydney and also clubs connected with long-standing connections to Western Sydney.
“The Brisbane Broncos are clearly Australia’s best supported NRL club – and for the first time in five years, have more support than any AFL club. The most successful team of recent years, the Melbourne Storm, is a clear second, continuing its strong growth (from 497,000 in 2004 to 826,000 in June 2009) despite playing in the heartland of AFL football.
“Interestingly for the AFL and A-League, both planning new clubs in Western Sydney, the NRL’s strongest fully Sydney-based clubs all have strong connections to the area - this year’s Cinderella story the Parramatta Eels, the Canterbury Bulldogs and merged club Wests Tigers.”
These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Sports Monitor, part of Roy Morgan Single Source, a nationwide survey of 20, 087 people aged 14 years and over from July 2008 to June 2009.
Click here to purchase detailed profiles of all NRL Club supporters.
-(1).aspx)
Note: Respondents were able to nominate more than one NRL team.
For more details contact:
info@roymorganonlinestore.com
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Which NRL Team do you Support?
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Year Ending
|
Change since December 2001
|
Change since
March 2008
|
|
|
Dec
‘01
|
Dec
‘02
|
Dec
‘03
|
Dec
‘04
|
Dec
‘05
|
Mar ‘07
|
Mar ‘08
|
Jun
‘09
|
|
|
|
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
‘000s
|
%
|
%
|
|
Brisbane Broncos
|
|
1,609
|
1,524
|
1,531
|
1,467
|
1,471
|
1,273
|
1,259
|
-15.7
|
-1.1
|
|
Bulldogs (Canterbury)
|
400
|
415
|
494
|
456
|
474
|
395
|
354
|
388
|
-3.0
|
9.6
|
|
Canberra Raiders
|
247
|
215
|
243
|
230
|
219
|
217
|
149
|
164
|
-33.6
|
10.1
|
|
Gold Coast Titans
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
207
|
274
|
na
|
32.4
|
|
Manly Warringah
Sea Eagles
|
279
|
241
|
226
|
249
|
322
|
310
|
339
|
346
|
24.0
|
2.1
|
|
Melbourne Storm
|
706
|
526
|
585
|
497
|
554
|
732
|
769
|
826
|
17.0
|
7.4
|
|
Newcastle Knights
|
506
|
530
|
593
|
519
|
462
|
486
|
338
|
332
|
-34.4
|
-1.8
|
|
New Zealand Warriors*
|
117
|
193
|
287
|
240
|
206
|
201
|
157
|
193
|
65.0
|
22.9
|
|
North Queensland Cowboys
|
120
|
113
|
178
|
290
|
503
|
539
|
474
|
366
|
205.0
|
-22.8
|
|
Parramatta Eels
|
666
|
574
|
581
|
511
|
515
|
495
|
450
|
429
|
-35.6
|
-4.7
|
|
Penrith Panthers
|
175
|
171
|
305
|
355
|
227
|
201
|
167
|
170
|
-2.9
|
1.8
|
|
Sharks
(Cronulla Sutherland)
|
302
|
282
|
272
|
234
|
208
|
193
|
176
|
184
|
-39.1
|
4.5
|
|
St George Dragons
|
500
|
497
|
523
|
488
|
520
|
531
|
470
|
462
|
-7.6
|
-1.7
|
|
South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
333
|
299
|
270
|
216
|
250
|
247
|
321
|
293
|
-12.0
|
-8.7
|
|
Sydney Roosters
|
260
|
258
|
406
|
417
|
412
|
306
|
276
|
254
|
-2.3
|
-8.0
|
|
Wests Tigers
|
336
|
334
|
296
|
343
|
511
|
513
|
489
|
387
|
15.2
|
-20.9
|
* This figure represents the number of Warriors’ supporters in Australia. According to Roy Morgan Research Single Source, the Warriors have a total of 1,294,000 supporters in New Zealand.