1 in 6 Australians has travelled for sport, and the AFL Grand Final, Olympics or Commonwealth Games top the bucket list
Using this data story? Please reference the source using one of the formats below.
Conjointly. (June 2026). 1 in 6 Australians has travelled for sport, and the AFL Grand Final, Olympics or Commonwealth Games top the bucket list. https://brandtracker.conjointly.com/data-stories/sports-travel/. Retrieved .
Conjointly. "1 in 6 Australians has travelled for sport, and the AFL Grand Final, Olympics or Commonwealth Games top the bucket list." Brand Tracker by Conjointly, June 2026, https://brandtracker.conjointly.com/data-stories/sports-travel/. Accessed .
Conjointly. "1 in 6 Australians has travelled for sport, and the AFL Grand Final, Olympics or Commonwealth Games top the bucket list." Brand Tracker by Conjointly. June 2026. https://brandtracker.conjointly.com/data-stories/sports-travel/. Accessed .
Conjointly surveyed 1,463 Australian adults in the June 2026 Brand Tracker wave, covering three extra questions:
- whether they have travelled, or would travel, for a live sporting event,
- which sports or events would most tempt them to travel, and
- what matters most beyond the event itself.
Conjointly found that sports travel is more aspiration than reality: 17% of Australians have actually travelled for a live sporting event, while 24% have not yet but would love to. Just over a third (36%) are not interested in sport travel at all.
Men are more likely than women to have made the trip (21% vs 13%), and women are far more likely to opt out entirely (42% not interested vs 30% of men). Under-30s are the most enthusiastic group: half (49%) have either done it or would love to. The AFL Grand Final or Gather Round and the Olympics or Commonwealth Games top the wish list, both at 19%. Preferences differ sharply by generation: under-30s would rather travel for the FIFA World Cup or an F1 Grand Prix (both 22%) than the AFL Grand Final, while over-55s favour the Olympic Games (22%) and home-grown classics (21% for AFL). Beyond the event itself, getting a great deal on flights and accommodation matters most (20%), ahead of going with the right people (17%) and the destination itself (16%).
Travelling for live sport
17% of Australians have travelled interstate or overseas primarily for a live sporting event, and another 24% would love to.
Question 1: Have you ever travelled interstate or overseas primarily to attend a live sporting event, or would you seriously consider doing so?
Results by segment
The line bar marks the overall average for "have done it or would love to" (40%).
Gender
Age
Men are much more likely than women to have travelled for sport (21% vs 13%), yet women are just as keen on the idea: 24% of women would love to, level with men. The gap sits at the other end, where 42% of women say they are not interested at all, compared with 30% of men. Enthusiasm falls steadily with age: under-30s lead on both experience (20%) and aspiration (29%), while nearly half of over-55s (46%) rule out sport travel entirely.
Events that would tempt Australians to travel
19% of Australians would travel for the AFL Grand Final or Gather Round, level with the Olympics or Commonwealth Games (19%).
Question 2: Which of the following sports or events would most tempt you to pack your bags and travel, interstate or overseas, to attend in person?
Respondents could select more than one option.
Home-grown events dominate the wish list: the AFL Grand Final (19%), Australian Open (17%), NRL showpieces (13%) and the Melbourne Cup (11%) all rank ahead of most overseas options. The two global exceptions are the Olympics or Commonwealth Games (19%) and the FIFA World Cup (17%), the only international events to match the local majors. Tennis punches above its weight, with the Australian Open and overseas Grand Slams together tempting more than a quarter of respondents. At the other end, American sports (NBA/NBL 8%, NFL 6%, MLB 3%) and golf (4%) remain niche drawcards, and one in three Australians (34%) would not travel for any sport at all, consistent with the 36% who said they are not interested in sport travel.
Results by segment
% selecting each event by segment.
| Male | Female | Under 30 | 30–55 | Over 55 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFL Grand Final... | 24% | 15% | 15% | 19% | 21% |
| Olympics or Comm... | 19% | 19% | 18% | 17% | 22% |
| Australian Open | 17% | 17% | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| FIFA World Cup | 19% | 15% | 22% | 20% | 10% |
| F1 Grand Prix | 16% | 11% | 22% | 13% | 10% |
| NRL Grand Final... | 15% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 14% |
| Melbourne Cup | 13% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 15% |
| Wimbledon / Slam... | 10% | 12% | 8% | 10% | 14% |
| Boxing Day / Ashes | 16% | 5% | 10% | 9% | 12% |
| NBA / NBL | 11% | 6% | 15% | 10% | 3% |
| Bathurst 1000 | 10% | 5% | 7% | 8% | 8% |
| Rugby World Cup | 9% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% |
| NFL / Super Bowl | 9% | 4% | 8% | 7% | 4% |
| Masters / British Open | 7% | 2% | 7% | 3% | 5% |
| MLB / baseball | 5% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 2% |
| World Surf League... | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Other | 2% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| None, would not travel | 28% | 39% | 27% | 30% | 42% |
Cricket has the widest gender gap on the list: 16% of men would travel for the Boxing Day Test or The Ashes, more than three times the 5% of women. Golf (7% vs 2%), the NFL (9% vs 4%), basketball (11% vs 6%) and Bathurst (10% vs 5%) all skew heavily male too, while Wimbledon is the rare event women select more often than men (12% vs 10%). Age reshapes the leaderboard entirely: for under-30s the FIFA World Cup and F1 (both 22%) beat the AFL (15%), and basketball (15%) rivals the local footy codes. For over-55s the picture flips, with the Olympics (22%), AFL Grand Final (21%) and Melbourne Cup (15%) on top, while the FIFA World Cup drops to 10% and basketball to just 3%. The refusal rate mirrors Question 1: 39% of women and 42% of over-55s would not travel for any sport, versus roughly 27% to 30% for men and the younger groups.
What matters beyond the event itself
20% of Australians say getting a great deal on flights and accommodation matters most when travelling for a major sporting event.
Question 3: When you travel or imagine travelling for a major sporting event, what matters most to you beyond the event itself?
Results by segment
% selecting each option by segment.
| Male | Female | Under 30 | 30–55 | Over 55 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Getting a great deal... | 22% | 19% | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Going with the right... | 16% | 19% | 22% | 18% | 15% |
| The destination... | 16% | 16% | 18% | 19% | 12% |
| The crowd and... | 13% | 12% | 15% | 13% | 10% |
| Just the sport... | 14% | 7% | 13% | 10% | 9% |
| Other | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| None of the above | 19% | 28% | 16% | 20% | 32% |
For most Australians, a sporting trip is a holiday first and a fixture second. Value for money tops the list (20%), followed by the company (17%) and the destination (16%). Only 10% say the sport alone is what matters, most of would-be sports travellers are weighing up the whole package of price, people and place. Men are twice as likely as women to say the sport alone is what matters (14% vs 7%), while women lean towards the company (19% vs 16%). Priorities shift with age: under-30s put going with the right people first (22%) and rank deals last among the main options (16%), whereas for over-55s a great deal is the clear leader (22%) and the destination fades to 12%. For travel brands, airlines and event organisers, the message is clear: bundled deals will move older fans, while group-friendly packages are the way to reach younger ones.
