Sport in South Australia

Australian rules football at the AAMI Stadium

Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in the state of South Australia.

Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia, in 2007 having the second highest rate of event attendance of all states and territories with 49% of South Australians aged 15 years and over attending a sporting event each year.[1][needs update]

Regional and rural opportunities to participate in sport plays an important role in community life throughout SA.[2] SA has developed a range of programs in supporting inclusive sports pathways focusing on specific populations groups such as indigenous, mature-aged, early childhood, people with disabilities and women.[3]

Significant elite sporting events in South Australia include the Tour Down Under, Clipsal 500, Adelaide Cup, International Cricket series and hosting various Australian Swimming Championships. Major events have been shown to bring significant economic benefit to the state.[4]

South Australian-based teams are represented in almost all Australian major professional sporting codes including the Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League, the Redbacks, Scorpions and Adelaide Strikers in cricket, Adelaide United in the A-League and W-League, Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League, Adelaide Lightning in the Women's National Basketball League, and the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Suncorp Super Netball for netball.

In 2005-06, the most popular spectator sports in South Australia by attendance were Australian Rules football (31%), motor sports (14%), horse racing (8%), cricket, (5%) and soccer (4%).[5][needs update]

South Australia boasts many venues for high-performance sport, including the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Super-Drome, Netball SA Stadium, and Hindmarsh Stadium.

All major sporting codes within South Australia field representative teams on the national stage. South Australia's official sporting colours are red, blue, and gold.

  1. ^ Sports attendance in Australia Australian Bureau of Statistics
  2. ^ "Out & About: State Report" (PDF). SA Government. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Inclusion". SA Government. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  4. ^ "An economic impact study of the 1998 Adelaide Test Match" (PDF). SA Government. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Sports Attendance in South Australia". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 3 May 2013.