The result from this year’s Sportnavigatorn survey shows that Allsvenskan consolidates its position as the most popular league in the country. Fully two-thirds of the respondents state that they are to some degree interested in Allsvenskan.

“Allsvenskan continues to be the biggest league in the country also when it comes to generating interest. This applies to both men and women and in several different age categories”, says Jan Karlsson, sales director at Swedish Professional Football Leagues.

The analysis company Upplevelseinstitutet is behind Sportnavigatorn, which annually maps the Swedish people’s interest in sports. 10,000 respondents aged 15 and over took part in the survey, which was conducted using interviews throughout the year.

Just like previous surveys, Sportnavigatorn 2023 shows that football is the most popular sport in Sweden. Both Allsvenskan and Superettan are at the top of the list of the leagues in the country that most Swedes are interested in. 66% of respondents state that they have some form of interest in Allsvenskan – a number that makes Allsvenskan top of the list. At the same time, over half state that they have some form of interest in Superettan.

“The Allsvenskan interest has grown gradually and we can once again state that the highest ranked football league is the most popular league in Sweden. The strongest interest is found in the younger target group, which means the future looks bright as well”, says Andreas Andersson Åkerling, CEO of Upplevelseinstitutet.

Both women and men hold the Allsvenskan as the most popular league in the country. Allsvenskan also tops the list in terms of interest in several different age categories, including people under 30 and people over 40. Geographically, Allsvenskan and Superettan are strongest in the metropolitan regions (Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö) and in eastern Central Sweden.

In a supplementary part of the Sportnavigatorn, 52% of Swedes answer that they also have a favorite team in the Allsvenskan. Broken down at club level, the same survey shows that IFK Göteborg is the club that most people have as their favorite team.

Sportnavigator 2023 in brief:

  • Allsvenskan consolidates its position as the most popular league in the country
  • Allsvenskan is the most popular league among both women and men
  • 66% have some form of interest in Allsvenskan
  • 56% have some form of interest in Superettan
  • Allsvenskan is the most popular league among young people (15–29 years).
  • 52% of the Swedish population over the age of 15 have a favorite team in Allsvenskan, which corresponds to approximately four and a half million people.

About Sportnavigatorn:
* The survey was conducted via web interviews with a representative sample of the Swedish population (+15 years).
* 10,000 interviews (835 per month) have been carried out continuously during the period August 2022 – July 2023.
* The data set has been weighted based on gender, age and geography to represent the Swedish population.
* The research institute Norstat has carried out the data collection on behalf of Upplevelseinstitutet.