The latest Sportnavigatorn survey by Upplevelseinstitutet shows that Allsvenskan is increasing its lead in terms of popularity over other Swedish sports leagues. Women, men, and young people all agree that Allsvenskan is the most attractive league and many of these holds Superettan as their second league.

Football continues to be the most popular sport in Sweden. The survey shows that 46% of the Swedish population has an interest in football. When the population gets to choose a favourite sport, 23% responded that football is their number one, meanwhile, ice hockey takes second place on the list with 11%.

In summary, the latest Sportnavigatorn shows that:

  • Allsvenskan strengthens its position as the most popular league in the country.
  • Allsvenskan is also the most popular league among women.
  • Allsvenskan is the most popular league among young people, 15-29 years old. Furthermore, Superettan overtakes the Hockeyallsvenskan as the third most interesting league within this target group.
  • 58% of the Swedish population over the age of 15 have a favourite team in Allsvenskan – which corresponds to approximately five million people.

“The interest in our leagues and especially Allsvenskan, has increased continuously since 2015. Today, Allsvenskan is not only the most popular league among the Swedish population, the league’s attractiveness as a right among market players perceive to be increasing. That strengthens the Swedish Professional Football Leagues (SEF), and our work together with the member clubs”, says Jan Karlsson, Sales Director at Swedish Professional Football Leagues.

Upplevelseinstitutet annually maps the Swedish people’s interest in sports and has also been responsible for the survey Sportnavigatorn. The respondents in Sportnavigatorn consist of Swedish citizens from age 15 and above. Of the respondents, 44% responded that they like Allsvenskan, of which 23% claim to be very interested in the league. This high level of interest distinguishes Allsvenskan positively from other leagues in Sweden. 

Allsvenskan is the most popular league according to the surveyed groups consisting of women, men, and young people. 32% of all women responded that they are quite or very interested in Allsvenskan. An increase of five percent compared to 2021. 24% of all women are interested in Superettan, which also is an increase of five percent from 2021. Among the men, 57% are dedicated to the Allsvenskan and 45% to Superettan. This is a substantial increase compared to 2021 when the results showed 54% for Allsvenskan respectively 41% for Superettan.

“The interest of Allsvenskan has grown gradually. If we quantify the increase in the number of people, Allsvenskan in football has gained over a million new followers since 2015”, says Andreas Andersson Åkerling, CEO at Upplevelseinstitutet.

50% of all young people responded that they like Allsvenskan, which is the highest result of all leagues, meanwhile 42% responded that they like Superettan. This is a substantial increase compared to 2021 when the percentage was 45% for Allsvenskan respectively 36% for Superettan. Only the SHL prevents Allsvenskan and Superettan from being the two highest-ranked leagues in the country among the young Swedish population. 

“It is gratifying that we have further strengthened the interest and attractiveness of our leagues, Allsvenskan and Superettan among the future generation – the young Swedish population. This is of importance since they constitute both our future visitors and future professional stakeholders”, says Jan Karlsson.

Summary of the execution of the sportnavigatorn 2022:

  • The survey was conducted via 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 2021 – July 2022.
  • The data has been weighted based on gender, age and geography to represent the Swedish population.
  • The research institute Ipsos has carried out the data collection on behalf of Upplevelseinstitutet.

For more questions about Sportnavigatorn, visit the Upplevelseinsitutet’s website or contact: Andreas Andersson Åkerling, Partner, Upplevelseinstitutet, +46 70 473 59 57, andreas@uiis.se