Sport in Sydney

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Sport in Sydney" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article is in list format but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this article, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2017)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

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

[edit]

### Rugby League

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Venues in national competitions

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

#### Stadium Australia

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

#### Sydney Football Stadium

[edit]

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

[edit]

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 it is now rarely used.[1]

## See also

[edit]

* Sport in New South Wales

## References

[edit]

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

* v
* t
* e

Sports teams based in Sydney

Australian rules football|

| AFL|

* Sydney Swans
* Greater Western Sydney Giants

|

AFLW|

* Sydney Swans
* Greater Western Sydney Giants

Baseball|

| ABL|

* Sydney Blue Sox

|

Claxton Shield|

* New South Wales Patriots

Basketball|

| NBL|

* Sydney Kings

|

WNBL|

* Sydney Flames

Cricket|

| Sheffield Shield
Matador BBQs One Day Cup|

* New South Wales Blues

|

WNCL|

* New South Wales Breakers

Big Bash League|

* Sydney Sixers
* Sydney Thunder

Women's Big Bash League|

* Sydney Sixers
* Sydney Thunder

Field hockey|

| AHL|

* New South Wales Waratahs

|

WAHL|

* New South Wales Arrows

Hockey One|

* NSW Pride

Futsal (F-League)|

* Dural Warriors
* East Coast Heat F.C.
* Sydney Scorpions

Handball|

* Sydney University Handball Club

Ice hockey|

| AIHL|

* Sydney Bears
* Sydney Ice Dogs

|

AWIL|

* Sydney Sirens

Netball|

| SSN|

* Giants Netball
* NSW Swifts

|

ANL|

* Giants Netball Academy
* NNSW Waratahs

Rugby league|

| NRL|

* Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
* Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
* Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
* Parramatta Eels
* Penrith Panthers
* St. George Illawarra Dragons
* South Sydney Rabbitohs
* Sydney Roosters
* Wests Tigers

|

NRLW|

* Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
* Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
* Parramatta Eels
* St. George Illawarra Dragons
* Sydney Roosters
* Wests Tigers

Rugby union|

| Super Rugby|

* New South Wales Waratahs

|

Super W|

* New South Wales Waratahs

NRC|

* Greater Sydney Rams
* Sydney Rays

Soccer|

| A-League Men|

* Macarthur FC
* Sydney FC
* Western Sydney Wanderers

|

A-League Women|

* Sydney FC
* Western Sydney Wanderers

Water polo (ANWPL)|

* Balmain Water Polo Club
* Cronulla Sharks Water Polo Club
* Drummoyne Devils
* Sydney Uni Water Polo Club
* UNSW Wests Magpies

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template