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Sydney Swans most supported AFL team, following a year of increased support league-wide

The Sydney Swans are again listed as Roy Morgan’s most supported AFL team, in the research firm’s annual list. Support has grown league-wide during the past year, with all teams, barring Fremantle experience a supporter increase.

Despite having the most total supporters, Swans fans have proven to be the least loyal, converting only 4.9% of its 1.031 million fan base into members.

Sydney’s principal and shirt sponsor is QBE, which has been a partner for the Swans since 1986. Other major sponsors are realestate.com.au and Volkswagen, with premier partners including Nike, McDonald’s, Qatar Airways, Network Seven and HSBC.

League wide, despite major interruptions over the past two seasons due to COVID-19, 8.86 million Australians now “express support” for an AFL club, more than ever before. This is an increase of 1.3 million on last year, a rise of 17.7%., while 7.58 million Australians also watched an AFL match on TV in the past year, down 1.1% on last year.

Total club supporters [Click to enlarge]

The two teams set to face off in this year’s Grand Final, broadcast on Seven this Saturday, land in the bottom five for most supported, with Melbourne at 14th and the Western Bulldogs at 15th. Both have experienced significant increase in support this year however after successful campaigns, with the Demon’s numbers rising 23.4% and the Bulldogs support rising 44.5%.

“The biggest winners in terms of increasing their support over the last year are unsurprisingly the clubs that have enjoyed success on the field in the 2020 and 2021 seasons as well as the two newest clubs in the AFL,” said McCrann.

The Demons co-principal partners are Zurich Bank and Jaguar, while the Bulldog’s major sponsor is Mission Foods and its principal partner is CoinSpot. 

The Collingwood Magpies, West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Lions round out the top four most supported teams, with Sydney being the only club to have over one million fans nationally.

Despite having the second lowest supporter base, the North Melbourne Kangaroos are reported to have the league’s most loyal fans, with 21.7% of the Roy Morgan supporter numbers converting their fandom into a membership, with 214,000 total supporters. Despite almost five times the supporters, the Swans only maintain four thousand more paying members.

The AFL season culminates this weekend, with the final being held in Perth for the first time, and broadcast on Seven. Last month, both the AFL and Coles launched campaigns ahead of the Finals.

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