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Cost of being a sports fan
What’s the cost of supporting your favourite sports team on TV?
Whether you’re catching the latest Premier League matches or settling down for a Formula One race, there’s nothing quite like watching your favourite sport from the comfort of your sofa. Many sports fans prefer to keep costs down by watching on TV, as ticket prices skyrocket for sporting events around the world, but have you considered how much energy you could be using by watching a full sporting season at home?
With energy costs rising, the time you spend watching TV could be costing more than you expect. Energy comparison experts at iSelect has looked at the real cost behind sports fandom in Australia, the US, and the UK. By looking at the average energy price and subscription service costs by region and comparing them to the average number of games in a season, we calculated how much a typical household spends on watching their favourite sports each year. If you’re wondering which sport is the most expensive to follow from home, or just curious about how much you could save while supporting your team, read on to learn more about our findings.
How much does sports fandom cost in Australia?
We looked at the most popular sports in Australia and compared them with regional energy prices to show where households spend the most on their energy bills.
On average, the Australian Football League (AFL) is the most expensive sport to follow in the country. Typically, a fan will spend $239.80 AUD across a year to watch all of their team’s games.
The National Rugby League ranks very closely behind, with an average fan spending $239.24 AUD on streaming games, while the National Basketball League (NBL) ranks third at $142.07.
On average, Victoria boasts the lowest prices for sports fans. Viewers can enjoy low costs when streaming their teams’ biggest matches, with a typical AFL fan spending just $234.21 annually. Other leagues incur much lower costs in Victoria, such as $83.54 AUD per year for streaming Big Bash Cricket, or as little as $25.08 to stream Grand Slam tennis tournaments (assuming fans watch matches on free-to-air TV).
Meanwhile, South Australia ranks as the most expensive state in the country for sports streaming. An AFL fan in the region can expect to spend around $251.00 AUD on streaming across the year, and $250.23 on NRL. The Australian Capital Territory has the lowest total fan cost relative to the average regional income, making it one of the best-value states in the country for streaming sports. A-League soccer fans in the region, for example, spend just $83.77 AUD per year on watching their favourite team’s games. This represents just 0.07% of an average household income in the ACT, while viewers in South Australia can spend as much as 0.13% of their salary on the sport.
What is the cost of watching international sports in Australia?
For many fans, cheering on the local team is a crucial part of their enjoyment of a sport, but some sports are better represented overseas than they are in Australia. Now that we’ve covered the cost of supporting Australian sports, how expensive is it to follow your favourite teams in other countries?
The most expensive international sports league to follow from Australia is England’s Premier League, the world’s biggest club football tournament. The average Australian fan will spend $350.47 AUD on the bills needed to stream their favourite team’s games across the year, with Victoria once again experiencing the lowest costs ($344.76 AUD/year). In comparison, South Australian fans pay the highest prices in the country ($361.88 AUD/year). NFL fans barely get off much better, paying a similar hefty fee for their support. Australian viewers will typically pay $349.76 AUD to watch each game in a season. The NBA, by comparison, is cheaper to watch for Australians, but its overall cost of $208.97 AUD for a year of support is still high.
How much does sports fandom cost in the US?
By far the most expensive sports league to follow in the US over a lifetime is the NFL, with the average fan expected to spend as much as $859.17 USD ($1,211.43 AUD) on NFL-related bills in a year.
The next most expensive sport to follow – MLB – is far more affordable in comparison, with a year of support costing roughly $174.37 USD ($245.86 AUD) on average. NBA fans can expect to pay $129.87 USD ($183.12 AUD) over the year as well.
When costs are broken down by state, Louisiana has the lowest prices for watching a full sporting season. A year’s worth of support for your favourite team in the state can cost between $853.33 USD ($1,203.20 AUD) for NFL games and $110.75 USD ($156.16 AUD) for Major League Soccer games.
The catch is that Louisiana also has a low average household income, so while initial costs appear low, they take up a considerable portion of a fan’s salary. Watching an NFL season can cost 1.40% of a household’s income in the state, for example.
While Louisiana’s streaming costs are high compared to its salaries, Mississippi is the state where the price of supporting your favourite team can take the biggest cut from your income. On average, an NFL fan in Mississippi would have to spend 1.45% of their annual income to stream each game in a season, equalling $855.27 USD ($1,205.93 AUD).
The state with the highest upfront costs, though, is Hawaii. A season of NFL games costs $878.86 USD ($1,239.19 AUD) in the region, while a season of NBA games costs $201.95 USD ($284.75 AUD), and a season of MLS costs $136.66 USD ($192.69 AUD). This makes it the most expensive state in America for supporting a sports team.
How much does sports fandom cost in the UK?
Unsurprisingly, the Premier League dominates our UK data, with a typical Brit spending £672.14 ($1,277.07 AUD) on watching football over the year. In a distant second place, Formula One ranks among the most expensive UK sports to follow, with fans spending £361.14 ($686.17 AUD) to catch every major race. Finally, rugby union rounds out the top three most expensive sports for British fans, with viewers spending £334.99 ($636.48 AUD) to watch a year of games.
Fans in Yorkshire enjoy the lowest average costs for streaming their favourite games, with Premier League viewers in the region spending just £671.19 ($1,275.26 AUD) for a year of support. Other sports are available at low cost in the area, including test cricket for just £167.54 ($318.33 AUD) annually, or £122.71 ($233.15 AUD) per year for Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
Compared to other countries, the UK doesn’t experience as much regional variation in streaming prices, as the most expensive area of the country for watching live sports pays less than £3 a year more than Yorkshire for Premier League games. North Wales and Mersey have the highest upfront energy costs in the country, but because the region has a higher average salary than Yorkshire, the average household spends less of its income on watching sports. Watching a season of Formula One races, for example, costs 0.97% of the typical annual household income in North Wales and Mersey, compared to fans in Yorkshire who pay 1.01%. Northern England pays the highest percentage overall, with a season costing 1.05% of a typical home’s income. Meanwhile, London’s energy prices take the smallest portion of an average salary in the UK, as F1 fans in the capital pay just 0.73% of their income to view a year’s worth of races.
“Energy bills are a worry for every homeowner, but watching sports adds another dynamic to the equation. Sports fanatics may be happy to pay for all related streaming, internet and electricity fees to barrack for their team from home, but there are things you can do to save money on following your favourite sports – beyond watching from a sports bar and only ordering a free glass of water.
By changing your viewing habits and paying attention to your usage, you can keep costs down. Try looking for energy-efficient TVs when watching your favourite sports or check whether your device has an eco-friendly setting. Some energy providers will also offer lower prices if you use your electricity at off-peak times, so consider researching your options to see when your energy costs are at their cheapest.
“You might also save on your energy bills by switching providers and finding the best quote possible for your needs. You could find a plan with a cheaper rate, or perhaps one that includes sports streaming as a part of their plan.
“Don’t let rising costs put you off watching the matches you want to. Consider comparing energy plans to see if you could find savings, without missing out on your team’s games.”
Julia Paszka
General Manager – Utilities at iSelect
Written by:
Sean Hardeman
Digital PR Advisor
0424 107 600
Sean, a Digital PR Advisor with a career spanning more than seven years, is an experienced writer with a strong understanding of insurance and utilities.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s in Marketing and Digital Communications, and has a knack for turning complex topics into interesting, easy to understand articles and explainers.
About the data
This dataset ranks US & AUS states and UK regions by the cost of watching sports. To do this, two different factors were used. These factors were then summed up to produce a total cost of watching sport for each location. The locations were then ranked from lowest to highest by total cost. Each location’s total cost is also expressed as a percentage of the median income.
The factors used are as follows:
- Total Energy Cost – The average viewing hours per season were calculated by multiplying the typical number of regular season games (excluding any play-offs and finals) by the average runtime per game. This figure was then multiplied by the household electricity unit rate, assuming a TV wattage of 100W, to produce the energy cost of watching a full season of each sport. This was then added to the annual energy cost of running a home router continuously, assuming a router’s power consumption of 10W, reflecting that a router must remain powered throughout the year to support streaming services. Combined, these two figures yield the total energy cost of watching each sport.
- Total Subscription Cost – The subscription cost for each sport was calculated based on the streaming service(s) required to watch that sport in each region. Where a single service broadcast all games in a league, that service’s cost was used. Where no single service carried the full league, the costs of all necessary services were combined. Subscription costs were calculated by multiplying the monthly subscription rate by the number of months in the season*, unless an annual subscription worked out cheaper for the equivalent period, in which case the annual rate was used instead.
*For tennis, given the tournament-based nature of the sport, a standardised viewing model was applied — assuming a viewer watches one match per round, plus both semi-finals and the final, across each of the four Grand Slam tournaments, totalling eight matches per tournament. As all four Grand Slams are broadcast on free-to-air television in Australia, the subscription cost for Tennis in the Australian region was recorded as $0, as no paid service is required to access the primary broadcast coverage.
*For cricket, a standardised viewing model was also applied — assuming a viewer watches 2 full days and 3 half days per test match (based on a full day being 7.5 hours, including any breaks), reflecting the reality that fans are unlikely to watch every moment of the five days, as well as any weather delays and early finishes. This was applied across a typical home summer schedule of five tests in Australia & six tests in the UK. As all home test matches in Australia are broadcast on free-to-air television, the subscription cost for the Australian region was recorded as $0. All data is correct as of 19/02/26. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate, based on the provided sources.
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At iSelect, we’re passionate about making Aussies’ lives easier by saving them time, effort and money. We are Australia’s go-to destination for comparison across insurance, utilities and personal finance products made available from our range of providers. Our service is provided at no cost to the customer.
iSelect does not compare all energy providers or plans in the market. The availability of plans may change from time to time, depending on who iSelect’s providers are and what plans they make available to iSelect. Not all plans made available from iSelect providers may be compared by iSelect either due to commercial arrangements, area or availability, so not all plans or providers compared by iSelect will be available to all customers. Some plans and special offers are available only from iSelect’s contact centre or website. Energy plans are available only for properties located in eligible areas of Victoria, New South Wales, South East Queensland, South Australia and ACT. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.