What is the ranking of the 10 Victorian clubs for supporter numbers, 1 through 10?

[Cmarsh]

1. Collingwood
2. Richmond
3. Essendon
4. Carlton
5. Hawthorn
6. Geelong
7. Melbourne
8. Western Bulldogs
9. St Kilda
10. North Melbourne

Would that be about right?

 

[LeeCarvallo]

Probably more google worthy than thread worthy

Grand Finalists Sydney & Brisbane are the most widely supported AFL teams with over 1 million supporters each - Roy Morgan Research

For the first time both AFL Grand Finalists have over 1 million supporters with the Sydney Swans again topping the annual Roy Morgan AFL supporter ladder with 1,337,000 supporters.

www.roymorgan.com

as of 2024

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Geelong
4. Carlton
5. Richmond
6. Hawthorn
7. St Kilda
8. Melbourne
9. Western Bulldogs
10. North Melbourne

 

[g_TRAIN]

According to the latest Roy Morgan report.

Rank (by Supporters)	Club	Total Supporters (Roy Morgan 2024)	Official Members (AFL 2024)	Supporter-to-Member Conversion Rate (%)	Latent/Untapped Supporter Base	Rank (by Latent Supporters)
1	Sydney Swans	1,337,000	73,757	5.5%	1,263,243	1
2	Brisbane Lions	1,049,000	63,268	6.0%	985,732	2
3	Collingwood Magpies	908,000	110,628	12.2%	797,372	3
4	West Coast Eagles	732,000	103,498	14.1%	628,502	4
5	Essendon Bombers	663,000	83,664	12.6%	579,336	5
6	Adelaide Crows	653,000	75,477	11.6%	577,523	6
7	Geelong Cats	642,000	90,798	14.1%	551,202	7
8	Carlton Blues	581,000	106,345	18.3%	474,655	8
9	Richmond Tigers	559,000	98,489	17.6%	460,511	9
10	Hawthorn Hawks	502,000	83,823	16.7%	418,177	10
11	Fremantle Dockers	430,000	62,237	14.5%	367,763	11
12	St. Kilda Saints	377,000	60,467	16.0%	316,533	12
13	Melbourne Demons	330,000	65,479	19.8%	264,521	13
14	Port Adelaide Power	327,000	66,015	20.2%	260,985	15
15	Western Bulldogs	324,000	62,328	19.2%	261,672	14
16	GWS Giants	227,000	36,629	16.1%	190,371	16
17	North Melbourne Kangaroos	174,000	50,628	29.1%	123,372	18
18	Gold Coast Suns	157,000

 

[Cmarsh]

Probably more google worthy than thread worthy

Grand Finalists Sydney & Brisbane are the most widely supported AFL teams with over 1 million supporters each - Roy Morgan Research

For the first time both AFL Grand Finalists have over 1 million supporters with the Sydney Swans again topping the annual Roy Morgan AFL supporter ladder with 1,337,000 supporters.

www.roymorgan.com

as of 2024

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Geelong
4. Carlton
5. Richmond
6. Hawthorn
7. St Kilda
8. Melbourne
9. Western Bulldogs
10. North Melbourne

Geelong have more supporters than Richmond? Wat?

 

[LeeCarvallo]

Geelong have more supporters than Richmond? Wat?

Makes sense, it's not a survey of members, just people who support that team. Geelong has an entire city + a vast chunk of Western Victoria that support it.

 

[Gibbke]

Supporter numbers are irrelevant unless they're prepared to do the heavy lifting...

Tasmania Devils reach 210,000 founding members before playing a game

Around 110,000 members currently live in Tasmania…

pulsetasmania.com.au

 

[cybercrab]

Saints have more supporters than Melbourne and the dogs

 

[Hawkk]

Another excuse to pump up my thread on the off field board. So as of early 2024 (including social media, crowds, membership, Supercoach and Roy Morgan later on in the thread)

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Carlton
4. Richmond
5. Hawthorn
6. Geelong
7. Melbourne
8. St Kilda
9. W Bullodgs
10. North Melbourne

Huge gap between Collingwood and Essendon, Geelong and Melbourne and the Saints / Dogs and North.

The Roy Morgan numbers are the least consistent with the other metrics because it overstates support from cities vs suburbs (ie Sydney, Brisbane and Geelong vs Essendon, Carlton and Richmond)

Updated numbers (more than a decade later)

Facebook

1. Collingwood 420,000
2. Essendon 357,000
3. Hawthorn 356,000
4. West Coast 339,000
5. Carlton 321,000
6. Richmond 319,000
7. Adelaide 292,000
8. Sydney Swans 282,000
9. Geelong 252,000
10. Fremantle 236,000
11. Brisbane Lions 234,000
12. W Bulldogs 217,000
13. Port Adelaide 216,000
14. St Kilda 211,000
15. Melbourne 196,000
16. North Melbourne 162,000
17. GWS Giants 136,000
18. Gold Coast Suns 116,000

TikTok

1. Collingwood 298,700
2. Hawthorn 283,600
3. Geelong 233,100
4. St Kilda 214,300
5. Richmond 179,500
6. Sydney Swans 167,400
7. Essendon 147,300
8. Brisbane 134,100
9. Adelaide 128,300
10. Western Bulldogs 124,800
11. Carlton 111,100
12. GWS Giants 100,300
13. Melbourne 93,500
14. Port Adelaide 88,000
15. North Melbourne 84,400
16. Fremantle 76,000
17. Gold Coast 74,500
18. West Coast 64,100

Twitter

1. Collingwood 161,800
2. Adelaide 161,300
3. Essendon 147,500
4. Carlton 129,700
5. Port Adelaide 113,500
6. Richmond 113,700
7. Hawthorn 106,700
8. Sydney Swans 105,700
9. West Coast 102,700
10. Brisbane 100,100
11. Geelong 96,100
12. Fremantle 91,800
12. St Kilda 88,900
13. Port Adelaide 82,000
14. North Melbourne 78,700
15. Western Bulldogs 75,100
16. Melbourne 74,000
17. GWS Giants 69,100
18. Gold Coast 62,100

YouTube

1. Collingwood 63,000
2. Hawthorn 36,900
3. Port Adelaide 28,800
4. Essendon 28,000
5. West Coast 27,800
6. Carlton 27,200
7. Adelaide 26,800
8. North Melbourne 24,400
9. Geelong 23,100
10. Fremantle 21,300
11. Brisbane 18,700
12. Melbourne 18,500
13. Richmond 17,800
14. Sydney Swans 16,900
15. W Bulldogs 15,700
16. St Kilda 14,000
17. GWS Giants 11,000
18. Gold Coast 6,100

LinkedIn

1. Sydney Swans 25,000
2. Richmond 24,000
3. Collingwood 23,000
4. Carlton 22,000
5. Essendon 21,000
6. Melbourne 18,000
6. West Coast 18,000
8. Brisbane 17,000
9. Hawthorn 16,000
10. North Melbourne 15,000
11. Adelaide 14,000
11. St Kilda 14,000
13. Geelong 13,000
14. W Bulldogs 13,000
15. Port Adelaide 12,000
16. Fremantle 11,000
16. GWS Giants 11,000
16. Gold Coast 11,000

Attendances (last 5 years (2017-19 and 2023-24, not impacted by Covid)

1. Collingwood 54,075
2. Richmond 48,875
3. Essendon 47,675
4. Carlton 43,886
5. Geelong 38,734
6. West Coast 38,451
7. Hawthorn 37,439
8. Melbourne 37,436
9. Adelaide 36,896
10. Fremantle 34,786
11. Sydney Swans 34,738
12. Port Adelaide 33,740
13. W Bulldogs 31,077
14. St Kilda 30,981
15. Brisbane 26,272
16. North Melbourne 25,692
17. GWS Giants 19,340
18. Gold Coast 19,092

Club Membership (over 5 year average)

1. West Coast 103,389
2. Richmond 101,326
3. Collingwood 95,375
4. Carlton 87,743
5. Hawthorn 80,862
6. Essendon 80,856
7. Geelong 75,046
8. Adelaide 64,549
9. Melbourne 59,308
10. Sydney Swans 58,531
11. Port Adelaide 58,390
12. St Kilda 57,057
13. Fremantle 56,465
14. Western Bulldogs 51,019
15. North Melbourne 47,421
16. Brisbane 46,165
17. GWS Giants 32,662
18. Gold Coast 21,534

Total Numbers

1. Collingwood (1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 3 - 11)
2. Essendon (2, 7, 3, 4, 5, 3, 6 - 30)
3. Hawthorn (3, 2, 7, 2, 9, 7, 5 - 36)
3. Richmond (6, 5, 6, 13, 2, 2, 2 - 36)
5. Carlton (5, 11, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4 - 38)
6. West Coast (4, 18, 9, 5, 6, 6, 1 - 49)
7. Adelaide (7, 9, 2, 7, 11, 9, 8 - 53)
8. Geelong (9, 3, 11, 9, 13, 5, 7 - 57)
9. Sydney Swans (8, 6, 8, 14, 1, 11, 10 - 58)
10. Melbourne (15, 13, 16, 12, 6, 8, 9 - 79)
10. Brisbane (11, 8, 10, 11, 8, 15, 16 - 79)
12. Port Adelaide (13, 14, 13, 3, 15, 12, 11 - 81)
13. Fremantle (10, 16, 12, 10, 16, 10, 13 - 87)
13. St Kilda (14, 4, 12, 16, 11, 16, 12 - 87)
15. W Bullodgs (12, 10, 15, 15, 14, 13, 14 - 93)
16. North Melbourne (16, 15, 14, 8, 10, 16, 15 - 94)
17. GWS Giants (17, 12, 17, 17, 16, 17, 17 - 113)
18. Gold Coast (18, 17, 18, 16, 18, 18, 18 - 123)

Compared to 2014...

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Hawthorn
4. Carlton
5. West Coast
6. Richmond
7. Adelaide
8. Sydney Swans
9. Geelong
10. Fremantle
11. Port Adelaide
12. St Kilda
13. Brisbane Lions
14. North Melbourne
15. Melbourne
16. W Bulldogs
17. Gold Coast
18. GWS

Melbourne aside, almost all teams are within a 2-3 position from each other, with GWS and Gold Coast closing in on North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs, and Melbourne for social media. The other major differences is that Collingwood is head and shoulders above all other clubs (and is the only team in the top 3 in every category), Melbourne attendances significantly out perform its support base (they have the best supporter and member conversion in the league), Hawthorn under perform in match day attendance and Richmond (despite three flags since 2014) have jumped from 6th to 3rd. If Carlton or Essendon win flags, they would probably jump from the 2nd tier to the sizable gap between Coll and the rest.

No one is passing Collingwood, though under any circumstances...

This suggests that it doesn't matter how successful you are, the fan base is locked in for every traditional clubs and the expansion has been hugely successful at growing their fan bases—it won't be long until GWS and the Gold Coast close in on North Melbourne for attendances. West Coast, Adelaide and Sydney really should be higher in the list too

 

[JayJ20]

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Carlton
4. Richmond
5. Hawthorn
6. Geelong
7. Melbourne
8. St Kilda
9. Bulldogs
10. North Melbourne

 

[windyhill]

Essendon supporters, gluttons for punishment.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Find it interesting Hawthorn hasn't become one of the big 3 considering it's success. Also why has St Kilda still been ahead of Bulldogs? Cos they played more grand finals? Geography?

 

[Franc de Borges]

1. Collingwood
2. Essendon
3. Carlton
4. Richmond
5. Hawthorn
6. Geelong
7. Melbourne
8. St Kilda
9. Bulldogs
10. North Melbourne

This is correct.

 

[Tall poppy Syndrome]

Not doubting the numbers here.

From an anecdotal perspective, I’m surprised that Melbourne comes in ahead of the Saints and Dogs. I know/meet quite a few St Kilda and Footscray fans but barely any Dees. Also it ‘feels’ to me like Melbourne used to be a much bigger club, I assume on the back of its prestige as the original establishment club and its huge success in the 50s?

 

[Bald Headed Flog]

Not doubting the numbers here.

From an anecdotal perspective, I’m surprised that Melbourne comes in ahead of the Saints and Dogs. I know/meet quite a few St Kilda and Footscray fans but barely any Dees. Also it ‘feels’ to me like Melbourne used to be a much bigger club, I assume on the back of its prestige as the original establishment club and its huge success in the 50s?

Another anecdote but I’ve genuinely met more St Kilda fans in WA than almost any other non-WA club

 

[Hawkk]

Find it interesting Hawthorn hasn't become one of the big 3 considering it's success. Also why has St Kilda still been ahead of Bulldogs? Cos they played more grand finals? Geography?

Because 1858 to 1970 happened. Given that it’s pretty remarkable that Hawthorn is fifth.

Not doubting the numbers here.

From an anecdotal perspective, I’m surprised that Melbourne comes in ahead of the Saints and Dogs. I know/meet quite a few St Kilda and Footscray fans but barely any Dees. Also it ‘feels’ to me like Melbourne used to be a much bigger club, I assume on the back of its prestige as the original establishment club and its huge success in the 50s?

I know heaps of Dees fans. Lots of them in the inner south / east and east too. Don’t know many Dogs fans and even fewer North fans. It all depends on the company you keep and the place you live.

SEQ is also a mini Victoria - especially the Gold Coast - for the Vic club support too.

These are the updated social media numbers courtesy of The_Wookie


So some clubs have double digit growth and others have barely grown.

 

[Mat Mann]

Another anecdote but I’ve genuinely met more St Kilda fans in WA than almost any other non-WA club

A fair bit in NT as well

 

[PerthBoy86]

A fair bit in NT as well

Not surprising since WA is the second most populous AFL state.

 

[kid_a]

Supporter numbers are irrelevant unless they're prepared to do the heavy lifting...

Tasmania Devils reach 210,000 founding members before playing a game

Around 110,000 members currently live in Tasmania…

pulsetasmania.com.au

$10-$20 foundation membership numbers are irrelevant because loads of those people are just trying to help the Tassie cause whilst they actually support another club and live thousands of kilometres away

 

[kid_a]

Another anecdote but I’ve genuinely met more St Kilda fans in WA than almost any other non-WA club

Jeez, maybe you just attract a certain type

I've lived in WA for 2/3 of my life and definitely the teams not from WA with most fans I've encountered is Carlton & Essendon

 

[Chucks]

Scary how Essendon feature so high up, considering the 20 years of unmitigated disaster. Really puts into context how much bigger they are than the likes of Hawthorn etc.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Melbourne supporters are easily the hardest to gauge due to their hibernation periods.

From what I can tell, depending on how the team is travelling, supporting the Dees sits somewhere between exclusive cigar lounge and shameful family secret.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Jeez, maybe you just attract a certain type

I've lived in WA for 2/3 of my life and definitely the teams not from WA with most fans I've encountered is Carlton & Essendon

Carlton, Essendon, Geelong, North Melbourne (they got a lot of fans in the 70s and 80s with the likes of Cable, Glenndinng and the Krakours).

Then I think Hawthorn and St Kilda.

Edit: Oh and Collingwood obviously!

 

[Hawkk]

Scary how Essendon feature so high up, considering the 20 years of unmitigated disaster. Really puts into context how much bigger they are than the likes of Hawthorn etc.

Of course. Essendon had 10 VFL flags and 4 VFA flags before Hawthorn even made the VFL finals. It’s easy to forget that there was 100 years of VFA/VFL before 1977.

Hawthorn has done exceptionally well to rise to 5th (from 10-12) in a 60 year period. The fact that they are the 5th team to draw 1 million fans through the gates this season (despite playing four games in Tasmania) means they are clearly the biggest ‘Non Big 4’ club with considerable gap to the rest.

To close on those clubs would take another generation or two and might not even be possible now that the AFL stack the media rights. It also means the clubs below them probably won’t close the gap either.

 

[Hawkk]

Melbourne supporters are easily the hardest to gauge due to their hibernation periods.

From what I can tell, depending on how the team is travelling, supporting the Dees sits somewhere between exclusive cigar lounge and shameful family secret.

Melbourne had an awful season this year but they still drew a hell of a lot more supporters to games (846,048) than the Dogs (722,621), the Saints (717,281) and North (673,931). In fact they weren’t far off Geelong (916,931) who admittedly play 10 games at KP.

AFL Tables - Crowds 2025

The numbers don’t lie. The Demons fan base is chronically under rated. Probably because they play at the MCG and have an unfair stereotype of being rich and fairweather

 

[Bald Headed Flog]

Jeez, maybe you just attract a certain type

I've lived in WA for 2/3 of my life and definitely the teams not from WA with most fans I've encountered is Carlton & Essendon

Essendon are definitely another, though I put that down to my age. I was in primary school when Essendon were at their peak (2000 with Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher) so a lot of kids my age naturally picked them as the team to support.

I acknowledge it's weird, but I've honestly easily met more Saints fans than Tigers, Carlton, Crows, Lions, etc. Not sure why, and it's not like it's been one family or whatever - there's been coworkers in jobs I've held 15 years apart, neighbours, school mates, etc.