Cricket grows in popularity

Cricket is the second most popular sport among adults in South Africa after soccer, according to the latest research conducted by BMI-Sport Info. Cricket has moved from fourth position to second in just a year, with a phenomenal growth of over two million adults showing new spectator interest in cricket. Part of this growth has been attributed to new interest among black African adults.

According to the 2002 Adult SportTrack Report, over 8.3 million adults in South Africa follow cricket, behind soccer and ahead of rugby. Last year's figure for cricket followers was just over 6 million.

The report is used extensively in the commercial sector, especially for sponsors to gauge the success of their sponsorships. It provides business people and electronic media channels with the necessary information in order to evaluate different sports.

Cricket has also shown significant growth in the period between 1992 and 2002, making it the second-fastest growing spectator sport over the past 10 years. The sport has grown its spectator base by an average of 4,8% per year in the decade, just behind basketball's 5,6% average growth. Extreme sports showed 5,4% growth in spectator interest in their first year of measurement. Most of the 45 sports measured showed a decline in this period, with the average being a negative growth of 0,2%. (This historical growth analysis includes only whites and blacks as historic information is not available for other groups.)

Cricket is the second most popular sport for white males and the third most popular for black males. For white females, it is the third most popular sport and for black females, the fifth most popular.

The research measures "spectators" as people who follow the game at live venues, on television, radio and through newspapers.

"This research is very good news for us," said UCB CEO Gerald Majola today. "The results are indicative of the fact that our game is developing amongst all South Africans and that our development programme is bearing fruit as more people take an interest in the game. It shows that our sponsors are getting value for money and that our plans to make cricket the people's sport are well on track. I am proud to be associated with cricket," Majola added.