Which club has the larger fanbase - Essendon or Carlton?

[Black Haze]

Collingwood are widely regarded as the club with the largest fanbase in the AFL, but which club has the larger fanbase out of Essendon and Carlton?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Essendon, obviously

 

[Ocha905]

How many times do "Big 4" supporters have to compare wieners with each other before they realise how asinine it is?

 

[windyhill]

How many times do "Big 4" supporters have to compare wieners with each other before they realise how asinine it is?

Ask the doggies fan who started the thread.

 

[DidakDelight]

It’s like conducting a census in Latin America. How do you get a true result?

Blues are probably more loyal despite the heavier knocks over the past decade(s), whilst bombers haven’t had the lowest of lows like the blues and have instead squandered in mediocracy for two decades.

Gotta be blues with a slightly larger fan base

 

[Dan26]

This is the Supercoach club supported rankings from 2023(which is a defacto survey of supporter base).

Around the turn of the century the Bombers were the biggest Victorian club. The herald Sun used to have an annual “supporters survey” back then and we always came out on top. The last 20 years have hurt us and no doubt Collingwood are on top of the mountain again, but we have a far bigger supporter base than the Blues.


Coll 19,921
Ess 19,342

Carl 16,283
Rich 14,223
Haw 12,846
Gee 11,735
St.K 7,670
Kang 7,319
WB 6,645
Melb 6,010

 

[DidakDelight]

This is the Supercoach club supported rankings from 2023(which is a defacto survey of supporter base).

Around the turn of the century the Bombers were the biggest Victorian club. The herald Sun used to have an annual “supporters survey” back then and we always came out on top. The last 20 years have hurt us and no doubt Collingwood are on top of the mountain again, but we have a far bigger supporter base than the Blues.


Coll 19,921
Ess 19,342

Carl 16,283
Rich 14,223
Haw 12,846
Gee 11,735
St.K 7,670
Kang 7,319
WB 6,645
Melb 6,010

What do these numbers mean my friend?
19,921 for Collingwood look like VicPark crowd numbers in 1986 when the club was at basement bottom.

Are you missing a digit?

 

[Dan26]

They were the number of people subscribed to play the online fantasy game.

 

[jakefooty23]

Who cares?

 

[Black Haze]

It’s like conducting a census in Latin America. How do you get a true result?

Blues are probably more loyal despite the heavier knocks over the past decade(s), whilst bombers haven’t had the lowest of lows like the blues and have instead squandered in mediocracy for two decades.

Gotta be blues with a slightly larger fan base

Essendon haven't won a final since 2004, while Carlton never went longer than 10 years without a finals victory.

 

[DidakDelight]

Essendon haven't won a final since 2004, while Carlton never went longer than 10 years without a finals victory.

That’s some John Ralph heavy hitting news breaking stats right there!

 

[Svenes7]

Essendon. A successful period and we will challenge if not surpass Collingwood for membership and crowds

 

[DidakDelight]

Essendon. A successful period and we will challenge if not surpass Collingwood for membership and crowds

After a long drought, there definitely is the woodwork factor plus the new supporters that jump on.

Surpass Collingwood is a big call though

 

[sherb]

Who cares?

Exactly my thoughts.

 

[boncer34]

Who cares?

/thread

 

[Corn Cobbers]

Bombers are the sleeping giant, way bigger than Carlton

 

[voorhees]

personally I would say the blues..
but both teams have the spread of supporters around the country

 

[windyhill]

I'd say we'd have the more loyal fan base, easily actually. Went to the latest Ess v carl game expecting a good old fashioned belting. What an absolute campaigner of a night. You go, expecting a smashing, so the mood is not good on the train in. Chanel 7 have said " **** off , we're not showing this , let's show a re-run of dogs behaving badly"
I have clton friends who openly agree with me that their supporters do not stick. That they **** off at the slightest sign that their club is ****ed.
Drug saga. Adrian ****ing dodoro. And yet I still show up, still shove money into this circus.
Not good.

 

[Black Haze]

I'd say we'd have the more loyal fan base, easily actually. Went to the latest Ess v carl game expecting a good old fashioned belting. What an absolute campaigner of a night. You go, expecting a smashing, so the mood is not good on the train in. Chanel 7 have said " **** off , we're not showing this , let's show a re-run of dogs behaving badly"
I have clton friends who openly agree with me that their supporters do not stick. That they **** off at the slightest sign that their club is ****ed.
Drug saga. Adrian ****ing dodoro. And yet I still show up, still shove money into this circus.
Not good.

Carlton fans have had to sit through nine bottom 4 finishes in the last quarter century, which has netted them five wooden spoons. Essendon haven't come close to plumbing these depths.

 

[windyhill]

Carlton fans have had to sit through nine bottom 4 finishes in the last quarter century, which has netted them five wooden spoons. Essendon haven't come close to plumbing these depths.

Try a drug saga.

 

[WesternSydneyHawk]

They were the number of people subscribed to play the online fantasy game.

In other words, it's a sample that is likely to inflate the supporter base of clubs where the supporters have lots of time on their hands to play games.

And it's likely to downplay the support of clubs whose supporter bases tend to be busy business professionals.

 

[The_Reaper]

I’ve always considered the biggest three teams to be Collingwood, Essendon and West Coast

 

[The_Reaper]

In other words, it's a sample that is likely to inflate the supporter base of clubs where the supporters have lots of time on their hands to play games.

And it's likely to downplay the support of clubs whose supporter bases tend to be busy business professionals.

Nah.

All it would do is bias towards Victorians (because Herald Sun), gen Y and gen Z

 

[raskolnikov]

Living in Queensland I've met heaps of Essendon supporters. A few Collingwood and Hawthorn supporters. Most Lions supporters I've met tend to be of the "I barrack for them because they are the Qld team but I don't really follow the sport" type. I've never met a Carlton supporter.

 

[Chucks]

Bigger than Carlton by a country mile, and far more loyal. Pitchforks were rife in early 2023 at the blues, and as soon as they had that turn of form, they magically disappeared. Funny that.