Aussies refuse to give up sports in cost-of-living crunch

Cost of living might be putting pressure on the household budget, but sport is one thing Australians aren’t willing to give up.

Australians are still valuing a day out watching their favourite sporting team live or at the pub and are even willing to miss major milestones to support their team.

Cheering on sporting teams collectively costs Australian households $19bn per year, ING research shows

ING head of consumer and market insights Matthew Bowen said Aussies were willing to spend big to see their sporting team, as it gives them a sense of community.

“We know that over the past few years in the cost-of-living crunch, people have really pulled back on discretionary spending, and they’ve been forced to spend it on things like utility bills and healthcare and insurance,” he told NewsWire.

Brisbane Lions fans cheer on their team in the AFL grand final. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“This spending (on sports) allows fans to invest the enjoyment of their lives, so while it is expensive to watch, it is quite valuable in other areas, as it creates nice memories with families and friends and lets people have a shared purpose or passion.”

Sports-mad Aussies are willing to travel for hours to see their team, meaning they are spending on average $408 per person on tickets, food, drinks, accommodation and travel, adding about $3bn to the economy per game.

One of these fans is Cameron Moss, a Sydney Roosters supporter who was willing to drive 12 hours by bus from his home in St Marys to Melbourne to see the Chooks in the NRL preliminary final last year.

Sydney Roosters fan Cameron Moss live at the game: Picture Supplied

Mr Moss with his beloved Roosters merchandise: Picture Supplied

While $3bn is spent on going to the game live, a further 1.8 million Australians are paying for streaming services to watch sport. Adding to the total cost of fandom is 76 per cent of sport lovers spending $200 on a new jersey of their favourite team and another 61 per cent of fans spend $100 on food or drinks at the pub.

Based on seeing games live and paying for streaming services, soccer remains the most expensive sport for Aussies to follow, although this is largely due to overseas leagues, including the Premier League and La Liga, while AFL adds about $3bn to the nation’s economy. Rugby league and cricket add bout $1.9bn and $1bn respectively.

Such is sport’s hold on the nation, 1.3 million Australians have chucked a sickie to watch a major sporting event such as the Super Bowl and almost one million have done so after seeing their team win the grand final.

“Unsurprisingly, a few Aussies have said they’d be willing to keep a sickie from work if it was after a big win, particularly a grand final, which I think clearly demonstrates how much value we put on sports,” Mr Bowen said.

Aussies are also willing to give up major life events to cheer on their favourite team.

The data shows 25 per cent of fans confessed they’d skip a close friend or family member’s birthday celebration, while 17 per cent would miss an anniversary dinner or event.

Even more shocking, 12 per cent would forgo attending a wedding or funeral, and 8 per cent – equivalent to about 791,000 Aussies – would even miss the birth of their child or grandchild to watch the big game.

Originally published as Aussies refuse to give up sports in cost-of-living crunch