NRL Grand Finalists the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm are the most widely supported NRL clubs in 2025
The latest data from Roy Morgan shows NRL Grand Finalist the Brisbane Broncos are Australia’s most widely supported NRL club for a second straight year with 1,271,000 supporters. The Broncos last played off in the NRL Grand Final two years ago in 2023 but have not won an NRL Premiership for nearly two decades, last tasting the ultimate success in 2006.
In a clear second place are the Broncos Grand Final opponent, the Melbourne Storm with 1,149,000 supporters, an increase of 31,000 (+2.8%) on a year ago. The Storm played off in last year’s NRL Grand Final and last won an NRL Premiership in 2020.
Both of this year’s NRL Grand Finalists are among the most successful Rugby League clubs of the last few decades. Since the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) Grand Final moved to the Sydney Football Stadium in 1988 the Melbourne Storm (12 Grand Finals including this year) and Brisbane Broncos (9 Grand Finals including this year) will have played in more NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL Grand Finals than any other NRL clubs.
The most widely supported Sydney-based club is the Sydney Roosters with 502,000 supporters, following an increase of 28,000 (+5.9%) on a year ago. The Roosters have played in eight Grand Finals since 1988 - more than any other Sydney-based club with their last Premierships won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
Amongst the Sydney-based NRL clubs in second place is the Parramatta Eels with 433,000 supporters, a remarkable feat for the club with a longer Premiership drought of any club – stretching back 39 years to 1986.
The third most popular Sydney-based club is the South Sydney Rabbitohs with 403,000 supporters. The Rabbitohs are the most successful NRL club of all time with 21 senior grade Premierships, including one NRL Premiership won in 2014 – just over a decade ago.
NRL Club Supporter Ladder 2025
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, July 2024 – June 2025, n=67,653.
Base: Australians 14+. *New Zealand Warriors support only includes Australian-based supporters.
Of note are four other clubs to increase their support over the past year led by the Penrith Panthers with 382,000 supporters, up 5,000 (+1.3%) on a year ago. Support for the Panthers has skyrocketed in recent years and has more than doubled since 2020 – up by 194,000 (+103.2%).
The surge in support for the Panthers since 2020 is no surprise given the club won four NRL Premierships in a row from 2021-2024 and played in five Grand Finals in a row from 2020-2024 – the first club to achieve this feat since the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 1967-1971. The Rabbitohs also won four Premierships during that streak of five straight Grand Finals.
Other clubs to increase their support compared to a year ago include the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles with 305,000 supporters, up 25,000 (+8.9%) on a year ago, the Cronulla Sharks, with 286,000 supporters, up 51,000 (+21.7%) on a year ago, and this year’s NRL Minor Premiers the Canberra Raiders with 257,000 supporters following an increase of 23,000 (+9.8%) on a year ago.
The NRL consistently rates as one of Australia’s favourite ‘TV products’. Now 6.3 million Australians (27.7% of Australians aged 14+) watch the NRL on TV, up 392,000 (+6.6%) on four years ago.
The most popular NRL product on TV is again the annual State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland with over 5 million Australians (22%) watching Origin on TV, up 100,000 (+2%) on four years ago just ahead of the NRL Grand Final with 4.9 million Australians (21.2%) watching the season decider on TV, up an impressive 336,000 (+7.4%) on four years ago.
Detailed in-depth profiles of NRL Supporters, Australians who watch NRL on TV, Australians who play Rugby League and profiles of supporters of all 17 NRL clubs are available on the Roy Morgan Online Store for those keen to learn more about the sport.
These key findings are derived from detailed in-depth interview with over 60,000 Australians each year as part of the Roy Morgan Single Source survey.
Julian McCrann, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan, says this week’s NRL Grand Finalists the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm have cemented their positions as Australia’s most widely supported NRL clubs:
“The Brisbane Broncos are playing in their second NRL Grand Final in three years this weekend and chasing their first NRL Premiership for nearly two decades since 2006. As well as performing on the field the Broncos have now topped Roy Morgan’s annual NRL Club Supporter Ladder for a second straight year with 1,271,000 supporters.
“Grand Final opponent the Melbourne Storm is in a clear second place with 1,149,000 supporters following an increase of 31,000 (+2.8%) on a year ago. The Storm are playing in their second consecutive Grand Final and looking for their first NRL Premiership for five years since 2020.
“Importantly, both the Broncos and Storm have consolidated their positions as the two most widely supported clubs in the NRL with more than twice as many supporters as any other teams. Both the Broncos and Storm have now topped 1 million supporters for five years straight.
“The high level of support for the Broncos, and cross-town cross-code rivals and AFL two-time AFL Premiers the Brisbane Lions (954,000 supporters), means Brisbane is the only city in Australia with two clubs with over 950,000 supporters – for a second straight year.
“In the far more competitive market of Sydney – with nine teams fighting for supporters – it is the Eastern Suburbs based Sydney Roosters emerging on top with 502,000 supporters – an increase of 28,000 (+5.9%) on a year ago and nearly 70,000 ahead of the second-placed Parramatta Eels with 433,000 supporters.
“The two clubs have contrasting recent histories in the competition. The Roosters won back-to-back NRL Premierships in 2018-2019 and have contested eight NRL Grand Finals since 2000 – more than any other Sydney based club in that period. Meanwhile, the Eels have endured a sustained period of under-performance, with the NRL’s longest ongoing Premiership drought stretching back nearly 40 years to their last win back in 1986.
“It’s worth highlighting the most successful club of the 2020s – the Penrith Panthers. Before their narrow loss on the weekend to the Broncos, the Panthers were chasing a record fifth consecutive NRL Premiership after winning four straight from 2021-2024 and playing in five straight Grand Finals from 2020-2024.
“Although the dream of a fifth straight NRL Premiership is now over, nonetheless the Panthers have experienced an unprecedented surge in support in recent years. Over the last five years since 2020 (before their recent Premiership run began), support for the Panthers has more than doubled from 188,000 in 2020 to 382,000 today – an increase of 194,000 (+103.2%).
“In the last five years the Panthers have overtaken several rival clubs including the St. George Illawarra Dragons (376,000 supporters in 2025), Canterbury Bulldogs (345,000 supporters), Wests Tigers (331,000 supporters), Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (305,000 supporters), Canberra Raiders (257,000 supporters) and Newcastle Knights (252,000 supporters).
“Importantly, the NRL continues to reach a large share of Australians around the country with 7.2 million (31.2% of Australians) supporting an NRL club, 6.3 million (27.7%) watching the NRL on TV, and around 2 million Australians attending NRL matches in person – with all numbers up significantly compared to three years ago.
“Contact Roy Morgan to learn more about what types of supporters each of the 17 NRL clubs are attracting both in the stands and on TV as well as what sets these fans apart from their peers in wider society by drawing on the qualitative and quantitative data gathered by in-depth personal interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year.”
For comments or more information about Roy Morgan’s NRL Supporter profiles and other Sporting profiles data, please contact:
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Photo by Storm machine, “2022 NRLGF stadium,” Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related research findings
View our extensive range of Sport profiles and reports, including NRL supporters, AFL supporters and supporters of various NRL clubs including Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys, Wests Tigers, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Compiled with data from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey (the largest of its kind in the world, with 60,000 respondents p.a.), these ready-made profiles provide a broad understanding of the target audience, in terms of demographics, attitudes, activities and media usage in Australia.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
