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, are two of the largest venues in the city.

Sports by Popularity

Rugby League

Rugby League is the most popular winter spectator sport in Sydney. The National Rugby League has eight teams based in the city as well as playing the NRL Grand Final in Sydney. The city was where the league was founded in 1908 as the New South Wales Rugby League, and the New South Wales rugby league team, which plays in the world's largest attended sporting competition, State of Origin, 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 Stadium Australia alone. Other popular spectator sports include cricket, 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.

Teams in national competitions

Club League Venue Established Premierships
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs National Rugby League Stadium Australia 1935 8
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks National Rugby League Endeavour Field 1967 1
Greater Western Sydney Giants Australian Football League Sydney Showground Stadium 2012 Nil
Greater Western Sydney Giants Netball Super Netball State Sports Centre, Sydney SuperDome 2012 Nil
Macarthur FC A-League Men Campbelltown Stadium 2020 Nil
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles National Rugby League Brookvale Oval 1947 8
New South Wales Blues (cricket) Sheffield Shield/One Day Cup Sydney Cricket Ground 1856 46 (Sheffield Shield), 9 (One Day Cup), 1 (T20 Bash)
New South Wales Swifts Super Netball Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Sydney SuperDome 2008 1
New South Wales Waratahs Super Rugby Stadium Australia, Sydney Cricket Ground, Western Sydney Stadium 1882 1
New South Wales Pride Hockey One Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre 2019 1 (Mens), 0 (Womens)
Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Western Sydney Stadium 1947 4
Penrith Panthers National Rugby League Penrith Stadium 1967 4
St George Illawarra Dragons National Rugby League Jubilee Oval, Wollongong Showground 1999 1
South Sydney Rabbitohs National Rugby League Stadium Australia 1908 21
Sydney Bears Australian Ice Hockey League Sydney Ice Arena 1982 2
Sydney Blue Sox Australian Baseball League Blacktown International Sportspark 2009 Nil
Sydney FC A-Leagues Sydney Football Stadium 2005 2 (P'ships), 3 (C'ships), 2 (WL P'ships), 2 (WL C'ships)
Sydney Ice Dogs Australian Ice Hockey League Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink 2002 2
Sydney Kings National Basketball League Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre 1988 3
Sydney Roosters National Rugby League Sydney Football Stadium 1908 13
Sydney Sixers Big Bash League Sydney Cricket Ground 2011 3
Sydney Swans Australian Football League Sydney Cricket Ground, Stadium Australia 1874 5
Sydney Thunder Big Bash League Sydney Showground Stadium 2011 1 (BBL), 1 (WBBL)
Sydney Uni Flames Women's National Basketball League Brydens Stadium 1992 3
Western Sydney Wanderers FC A-Leagues Western Sydney Stadium 2012 1 (P'ship), Nil (C'ships)
Wests Tigers National Rugby League Campbelltown Stadium, Leichhardt Oval, Western Sydney Stadium 2000 1

Venues

Venues in national competitions

Venue Capacity Main sports
Stadium Australia 83,500 Rugby league, rugby union, soccer
Sydney Cricket Ground 47,000 Cricket, Australian rules football
Sydney Football Stadium 45,000 Rugby league, rugby union, soccer
Sydney Showground Stadium 25,000 Australian rules football
Belmore Sports Ground 25,000 Rugby league, soccer
Brookvale Oval 23,000 Rugby league
Penrith Stadium 22,500 Rugby league
Jubilee Oval 22,000 Rugby league
Leichhardt Oval 22,000 Rugby league
Endeavour Field 22,000 Rugby league
Western Sydney Stadium 30,000 Rugby league, soccer
Campbelltown Stadium 20,000 Rugby league
Concord Oval 20,000 Rugby union
North Sydney Oval 20,000 Cricket, rugby league
Redfern Oval 5,000 Rugby league
Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre 10,000 Tennis
Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre 4,020 Equestrian
Dunc Gray Velodrome 3,150 Cycling
Australian Golf Club Golf
Canterbury Racecourse Horse racing
Randwick Racecourse Horse racing
Rosehill Racecourse Horse racing
Sydney Motorsport Park Motorsports
Warwick Farm Racecourse Horse racing

Sydney Olympic Park

Map of Sydney Olympic Park, showing the sporting facilities there

Sydney Olympic Park is roughly in the geographical centre of Sydney. Created for the 2000 Summer Olympics, it is now a major sporting centre in the city.

Sydney SuperDome

Sydney SuperDome hosts miscellaneous events as Sydney's premier indoors facility. It has a maximum capacity of 21,000.

Stadium Australia

Track and field events in during the 2000 Summer Olympics

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.

The venue is the home ground of NRL teams, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the South Sydney Rabbitohs and serves as an occasional home ground for the Parramatta Eels. Stadium Australia also hosts a number of Sydney Swans home games and the occasional domestic cricket one-day match.

Other facilities

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

Sydney Football Stadium (1988) was designed for the use of rugby league and is also used for rugby union and soccer. The Sydney Roosters, the NSW Waratahs and Sydney FC soccer team used it as their home ground. The Wests Tigers used the stadium part-time as a home ground. The ground hosted the 2005–06 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]

See also

References

  1. "Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust - SCGT". nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
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