According to the SportNavigator survey football continues to be the most popular sport in Sweden. Especially when looking at the interest of only young people, football is by far the largest sport.
”It is very pleasing to see that the next generation’s great interest in football continues to increase. It looks promising for the future, says Jan Karlsson, Sales and Marketing Director at Swedish Elite Football.
The company Upplevelseinstitutet stands behind the survey SportNavigatorn which annually looks at the sports interest in Sweden. Swedish citizens aged 15 years and older have participated in the survey and this year the gap between football and other sports increases.
”Football is in an incredibly positive trend at the moment”, says Peter Allvin, Partner at Upplevelseinstituet.
Looking at the interest of youngsters aged 15-29, the gap between football and Icehockey is historic. Almost half of the population aged 15-29 like football and that makes the future attendance possibilities look promising.
”It is these people who will fill the venues in the coming years. Both themselves and partly by bringing their friends or families, says Jan Karlsson.
Even at league level, the football is stronger than before. The Swedish Hockey League, SHL, has been ahead of Allsvenskan for a few years, but every time the survey is done, football is getting closer, and most likely Allsvenskan will be ahead of SHL within a couple of years.
”Football has the advantage of having international top football available all year round. It is medially friendly and it is visitor-friendly,” says Andreas Andersson, Media Manager at Upplevelseinstitutet.
Why do you think Allsvenskan and Superettan continues to getting close to their counterparts in ice hockey?
”In particular, Allsvenskan has a good team standard and here at home we have a proximity and constant access to top football that is not as commercialized as in Europe. Big player profiles are returning to home soil to end up their career in Allsvenskan, the big city teams is powerful and we have also achieved success for club teams in Europe, which also raises interest in our league, Peter Allvin believes.
Will the interest also increase in 2018?
”It can never be said, but if the interest of young people continues to increase, plus demographically, more women have begun to be interested in football in recent years and if they will continue to do so even 2018, there are good hopes. We should also mention the CSR-work being done in the clubs. It is not just about reach but also what you do. If you do it right, it drives interest from big companies and then the league grows.
Just like 2016, 2017 results show that IFK Göteborg is the most popular team in Sweden.
| Interest for sport: | |
| Football | 44% |
| Icehockey | 39% |
| Interest among men: | |
| Football | 60% |
| Icehockey | 50% |
| Interest among women: | |
| Football | 32% |
| Track and field | 32% |
| Interest among young people 15-29 years old: | |
| Football | 44% |
| Icehockey | 28% |
| Interest among people with foreign origin: | |
| Football | 47% |
| Icehockey | 31% |
| Most popular leagues: | |
| SHL | 38% |
| Allsvenskan | 37% |
| Hockeyallsvenskan | 29% |
| Superettan | 27% |
| Favorite sport (only one option): | |
| Football | 20% |
| Icehockey | 11% |
| Favorite team in Allsvenskan | |
| IFK Göteborg | 10% |
| Malmö FF | 8% |
52% of the Swedish population has a favorite team in Allsvenskan.
The survey SportNavigatorn:
The survey was conducted through web interviews with a representative sample of the Swedish population (+15 years).
6,000 interviews (500 per month) have been carried out continuously during the period August 2016 – July 2017.
The data has been weighted based on gender, age and geography to represent the Swedish population.
Ipsos Observer Investigation Institute has carried out the data collection on behalf of Upplevelseinstitutet.
