Australia and the United Kingdom have a long and deep relationship, which means their cultures, while distinct, share many similarities to this day. Of course, they share a common language (though each has its own slang), as well as having a similar ethnic makeup, and similar economies.
Another thing that the two countries also have in common is a love for sports. The British and Australians both watch a lot of sport and large proportions of each nation’s population also partake in sports. In 2019, the AusPlay survey revealed that almost 90% of Australians participate in at least one sport each year, with around 82% of people taking part each week. In the UK, the numbers are much lower, with around 40% taking part in a sport.
Although both nations love watching and playing sports, there are some major differences between the two countries.
Favourite Sport
In the UK, the biggest sport is football. The game was originally invented there before it was exported around the world. It’s home to the world’s oldest football competition, the FA Cup, and the biggest league competition in the world: the Premier League.
England has some of the biggest sports teams on the planet, including names like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City, with matches between the biggest clubs attracting around 2 million TV viewers on the subscription sports channels run by Sky, BT and Amazon.
Meanwhile, Australians love two other forms of football: Aussie rules and rugby. As its name suggests, Australian rules football was created domestically, though rugby came about in England after opposing groups diverged two different sets of rules.
This means the terms “football” or “footie” typically refer to either Aussie rules or rugby, depending on where you are in the country.
There are more than 1.4 million registered Aussie rules players in the country and it’s such an important part of the culture that the Grand Final of the AFL is a public holiday in Victoria. People simply love putting on their Adidas rugby boots and running around the field, and it’s no surprise that Australian footie stars are some of the most famous sportspeople in the country. This sense of local pride and loyalty translates to the national level as well, with the Australian football team consistently ranking among the best in international competitions.
Betting
Betting on sports is popular in many countries around the world and both the UK and Australia are no exception to this.
In the UK, people have been betting on sports like football and horse racing for hundreds of years. Even before betting shops were legalised in the country, football fans were betting on matches through “pools” as early as 1887. This remains popular today though companies like The Pools now offer other betting markets too.
Physical betting shops are typically restricted to a single operator in each state, meaning there’s no competition like you find in the UK. However, there are plenty of online sports betting sites that more than makeup for it. You’ll find many international brands as well as several domestic bookmakers offering odds on all the popular competitions.
TV Coverage
In the UK and Australia, TV broadcast rights are lucrative sources of income for sports leagues. Traditionally, sport in the UK was aired on the BBC, though many deals have since been snapped up by BSkyB (Sky), a company owned by the Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Sky broadcasts the largest share of Premier League, Formula 1, rugby league, rugby union, and cricket matches, races and games in the country.
News Corp Australia, Murdoch’s company, also owns the Fox Sports channels in the country, which is also the dominant player in sports broadcasting in the country. It has exclusive rights to Super Rugby and shares rights to the National Rugby League, as well as the majority of Australia’s international cricket games, and most Australian rules football.
The Ashes
The UK and Australia have a fierce but friendly rivalry when it comes to sport. This can be seen best with The Ashes, a Test cricket series between the English and Australian national cricket teams.
Throughout the competition’s history, a total of 71 series have been played with Australia winning 33 and England 32, a further 6 have ended in a draw. The Aussies have a 28 Test lead though within these series.
Funnily enough, despite their differences, there are far more similarities between Australia and the UK when it comes to sport.
