Hunter Fujak has been appointed the Tom Brock Scholar for 2016

‘A quantitive analysis of the Sydney sport market: the North Sydney Bears as a case study’

project outline

With fourteen professional teams competing for the hearts, minds and wallets of four million residents, Sydney is the most ‘crowded’ football market in Australia and perhaps the world. Notably, the intensity of competition between codes has accelerated in recent times due largely to the introduction of new Sydney-based AFL and soccer teams. Additionally, recent premiership success among Sydney-based AFL, rugby union and soccer teams have served as timely reminders to the constant competition facing rugby league within its heartland. Yet despite constituting a popular media topic, there has been little academic emphasis devoted to understanding the overall market dynamics of football of Sydney. Using quantitative methods, the project endeavours to determine the true hierarchy of codes within Sydney. This will be achieved by considering both the breadth of interest and the depth of avidity towards each code. Sydney itself is composed of many district regions and the research intends to determine whether football preferences and avidity differs across regions. In doing so, the research will develop an understanding of sport consumers that allows for the identification of opportunities and strategies to further strengthen rugby league in Sydney and Australia wide.