As a nation that treats sport like religion (and rival codes like opposing denominations), accusing any game of being “overrated” is about as delicate as dropping a meat pie in the members’ stand.
From packed suburban ovals to billion-dollar broadcast deals, every code in this country believes it’s the main character. And every fan base is convinced the others are surviving on hype, nostalgia, or a generous helping of media oxygen.
So when thousands of Aussies weighed in for news.com.au’s annual Great Aussie Debate, the result was always going to ruffle feathers. But someone had to cop it.
And this year, that honour belongs — narrowly — to the AFL.
More than 53,000 Aussies took part in news.com.au’s Great Aussie Debate survey this year, delivering a stark, completely unfiltered snapshot of modern Australia.
From brutal cost-of-living truths to your raw thoughts on sex, work, and AI, we asked the tough questions and you didn’t hold back
Explore the full findings from the Great Aussie Debate 2026 here.
Polling 24.6 per cent of the vote, the AFL edged out both the A-League (23.6 per cent) and the NRL (22.6 per cent) in a three-way photo finish that suggests Australians aren’t so much united in their disdain as they are spoiled for choice.
AFL players from the GWS Giants were quizzed on the topic and offered up a range of opinions on which sport is most overrated.
Told AFL was voted most overrated, Toby Bedford said: “I’d tell them they’re f***ing kidding themselves. What a joke. That’s a shocking answer.
He added: “It’s baseball. Baseball is the most overrated sport.”
Defender Lachie Ash declared: “I reckon rugby league. All they do is get the ball and run at each other. There’s not a heap of talent to it. Probably a bit of tactics but really any talent.”
Jake Riccardi said: “I don’t know about a sport, but the NBA is the most overrated competition. Basketball is a great sport, NBA is a joke of a comp.”
Aaron Cadman and rookie Phoenix Gothard said the NFL was overrated, while Callum Brown said: “Cricket. One of the most boring sports ever to watch.”
Giants captain Toby Greene said: “I think golf’s a bit overrated. It’s boring, it goes for so long.”
Defending Aussie Rules, Greene said: “I think it’s one of the hardest sports in the world in terms of actual skill level, so I’m happy to have that argument.”
However, if this Great Aussie Debate data proves anything, it’s that “overrated” is less a nationwide truth and more a state-based insult.
New South Wales voters – traditionally NRL home ground – pointed the finger squarely at the native code. Cross the border into South Australia or Western Australia and suddenly the AFL becomes public enemy number one.
It’s less a national consensus and more a sporting cold war.
And yet, despite this regional trench warfare, the AFL still emerges as the overall winner — or loser, depending on how you frame it.
So why?
Part of the answer may lie in how the sport finished its biggest moment of 2025.
The AFL Grand Final was for many a lacklustre one. The Brisbane Lions dismantled Geelong by 47 points, a result so one-sided it drained the spectacle of its usual last-quarter theatre.
For neutral fans expecting edge-of-your-seat drama, it was less “classic decider” and more extended victory lap.
Now compare that to its northern rival.
The NRL’s 2025 Grand Final delivered everything the AFL’s didn’t: chaos, tension, and a finish tight enough to make cardiologists nervous.
The Brisbane Broncos stormed home from a halftime deficit to stun the Melbourne Storm 26–22 in a comeback for the ages — a match that not only captivated fans but backed it up in the viewership numbers.
Although the AFL Grand final at 6.1 million viewers etched the NRL at 4.46 million, the 2025 State of Origin series blew both out of the water achieving a consolidated audience of 15.06 million
In the brutal optics of the code wars, that contrast matters.
Of course, the AFL’s defenders will point to its season wide reach.
The league still amassed a staggering 17.4 million across the season, with billions of minutes streamed — numbers that confirm its cultural dominance remains very real.
Which, ironically, may be part of the problem.
When a sport occupies that much space — on screens, in headlines, and in the national conversation — expectations inflate accordingly. And when the product doesn’t match the hype, even slightly, the backlash is inevitable.
But the AFL isn’t alone in the dock.
The A-League’s second-place finish in this debate reflects a different kind of frustration. Despite steady growth and a 5.1 million national audience across the 2024–25 season, the competition still battles a perception problem — often dismissed as lacking the intensity, quality or relevance of its global counterparts.
I’m a football (soccer for all you yanks) fan at heart and it pains me no small amount to rag on the national league, but when the choice is between tuning in or waiting until 2am to watch some European football – and more Aussies still do this anyway – you know you’re fighting a losing game.
Interestingly, that criticism skews older, with dissatisfaction rising steadily with age — suggesting younger fans (not me) are either more forgiving or more invested in the round-ball code’s future.
Then there’s cricket, the sacred cow quietly taking hits from a younger generation.
While it didn’t top the overall list, nearly one in four Australians aged 18–29 labelled the sport overrated — a stark contrast to the 70+ demographic, where that sentiment drops to just 12.7 per cent.
It’s a generational divide as wide as a David Warner cover drive, hinting that patience for five-day epics may be thinning in the TikTok era.
Gender lines also tell their own story.
Women are more likely to side-eye the traditional heavyweights — AFL, NRL and cricket — while men are more inclined to question the relevance of the A-League and even tennis.
And yet, for all these differences, some opinions remain stubbornly fixed.
Perceptions of both the AFL and NRL barely shift across age groups, suggesting that once Australians make up their mind about a code, they’re about as likely to change it as they are to switch State of Origin allegiances.
So where does that leave the question of Australia’s most overrated sport?
Somewhere in the middle of a three-code standoff, shaped as much by geography and identity as by what actually happens on the field.
Yes, the AFL wears the crown — thanks to its immense visibility and perhaps a grand final that didn’t quite deliver — but it does so by the slimmest of margins.
Because in Australia, no sport is truly overrated.
It’s just rated differently depending on which side of the border — or the bar — you’re standing on.
