Q. How exciting or boring would you say each of the following sports are to watch?
| Total exciting | Total boring | Very exciting | Quite exciting | Neither exciting nor boring | Quite boring | Very boring | Don’t know | Net (exciting-boring) | |||
| Tennis | 45% | 32% | 15% | 30% | 21% | 13% | 19% | 1% | +13 | ||
| Swimming | 36% | 33% | 7% | 29% | 30% | 15% | 18% | 1% | +3 | ||
| AFL football | 40% | 38% | 20% | 20% | 21% | 14% | 24% | 2% | +2 | ||
| Gymnastics | 31% | 38% | 8% | 23% | 30% | 17% | 21% | 2% | -7 | ||
| Athletics | 29% | 36% | 5% | 24% | 33% | 16% | 20% | 2% | -7 | ||
| T20 cricket | 38% | 45% | 16% | 22% | 16% | 12% | 33% | 2% | -7 | ||
| Basketball | 30% | 41% | 8% | 22% | 27% | 17% | 24% | 2% | -11 | ||
| Rugby League | 31% | 46% | 12% | 19% | 21% | 15% | 31% | 2% | -15 | ||
| Soccer | 30% | 45% | 11% | 19% | 23% | 19% | 26% | 2% | -15 | ||
| Formula 1 car racing | 28% | 48% | 10% | 18% | 21% | 18% | 30% | 2% | -20 | ||
| Test cricket | 28% | 52% | 8% | 20% | 19% | 15% | 37% | 1% | -24 | ||
| Netball | 19% | 48% | 3% | 16% | 29% | 20% | 28% | 2% | -29 | ||
| Horse racing | 22% | 52% | 6% | 16% | 24% | 18% | 34% | 2% | -30 | ||
| Rugby Union | 21% | 53% | 6% | 15% | 24% | 19% | 34% | 2% | -32 | ||
| Boxing | 20% | 54% | 6% | 14% | 24% | 18% | 36% | 3% | -34 | ||
| Cycling | 16% | 58% | 3% | 13% | 23% | 22% | 36% | 2% | -42 | ||
| Golf | 13% | 67% | 3% | 10% | 19% | 20% | 47% | 2% | -54 |
Sports which were most likely to be considered exciting to watch were tennis (45%), AFL football (40%), T20 cricket (38%) and swimming (36%).
Sports which were most likely to be considered boring to watch were golf (67%), cycling (58%), boxing (54%), rugby union (53%), horse racing (52%) and test cricket (52%).
T20 cricket was the most polarising sport – that is, more people (83%) thought it was either exciting or boring and few (16%) had a neutral view.
There were some major differences between men and women.
Men were more likely to prefer watching test cricket (39% to 18% exciting), T20 cricket (48%/26%), F1 car racing (36%/22%), rugby league (38%/23%), soccer (38%/22%) and rugby union (28%/15%). 42% of women thought watching gymnastics was exciting compared to 21% of men.