Sport is a significant aspect of the Sydney lifestyle. Activities range from the occasional international event, annual competitions, competitive leagues and individual recreational pursuits. Sydney is the home of Australia's biggest sports league, the National Rugby League, hosting 16 teams, and the base for a number of teams in national competitions including two Australian Football League and eight National Rugby League teams.
The
Sydney City Council caters for sporting activities with a range of facilities. Across the city there are multiple stadiums, many kilometres of dedicated bikeways, ovals and other sports venues. Stadium Australia and the Sydney Cricket Ground
, is based in Sydney. The average attendance ranges from 18,000 to 12,000 across the clubs in Sydney, whilst State of Origin and the Grand Final regularly attract 80,000 people.
Rugby Union
Rugby Union was the dominant winter sport from the 1870s until the establishment of Rugby league. The Shute Shield is the local competition which was the highest tier of football until the 1990s when the professional Super Rugby competition began. The New South Wales Waratahs
are the state's Super Rugby franchise.
Stats and Teams
Rugby league is the most popular spectator sport in Sydney. In 2006, 565,898 people attended first class rugby league matches at
soccer, Australian rules football, rugby union and basketball. The martial arts are also popular in Sydney, with the more traditional western combative disciplines and also because of the proximity to Asian countries where the arts are historically based. While participation rates are high it tends not to enjoy the profile of traditional Australia sports, though the olympic sports of boxing, judo and taekwondo
are more well known. For the Asian arts there are many places to practice in Sydney.
Stadium Australia, sponsored as Accor Stadium, is Sydney's largest stadium. Built for the 2000 Summer Olympics, it now hosts big events such as the NRL Grand Final, the rugby league State of Origin and rugby union and soccer internationals.
There are various other sporting and recreational facilities in the centre including another indoor arena, tennis centre, aquatic centre, athletics centre, hockey centre, archery centre, as well as the Sydney Showground. From 2009 until 2016, the area hosted a motor race in the form of the Sydney 500 on a street circuit within the former Olympic grounds.
Moore Park
Sydney Football Stadium
A-League grand final won by Sydney FC. The ground also hosted rugby league grand finals from its construction until Stadium Australia was opened. It was demolished in 2019 to make way for the Sydney Football Stadium (2022)
.
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is mainly used for cricket games and Aussie rules matches. It is home to the Sydney Swans and NSW Blues. The ground held over 1,000 rugby league first-grade matches in its history but since the opening of the Sydney Football Stadium is now rarely used.[1]
