There’s no summer like an Ashes summer and whatever happens by the time the series ends in Sydney, it should serve up plenty of good reasons for cricket fans to sink a beer or two.

GSIQ collects data on the habits and perceptions of Australians throughout the year to help brands and rightsholders understand sponsor fit, strategy and execution. So today we thought we’d take a quick look at the favourite beer brands of Australian cricket fans.

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s the ‘beer from up here’ that comes out on top among cricket fans. Measured by purchase intent (specifically, we ask which beer are you likely to buy in the next three months), around one in four cricket fans (24%) say they plan to buy Great Northern over the summer. That makes the beer much more popular among this group than the general public, only 17% of whom say they plan to buy it.

Great Northern’s Super Crisp was only launched nationally in 2015, with its Original version following two years later. The fact that the brand has carved out such a significant market share in such a short space of time has gone a long way to redefining the category.

A more traditional offering – Victoria Bitter – is the second most popular beer among cricket fans this summer. More than one in five plan to buy VB (22%) and that compares to just 16% of the wider Australian public. Vic Bitter, of course, has a long-standing relationship with cricket, having been the official beer partner of the Australian men’s cricket team for more than twenty years. In 2023, the brand launched an England Bitter to poke fun at Australia’s rivals following the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the second test of that year’s series.

Third favourite for cricket fans right now is Heineken, with 19% of this segment intending to buy the beer (compared to 16% of the general public). The Dutch lager is one of a gaggle of other beers popular among cricket fans with others including XXXX (17%), Carlton Draught (16%) and Tooheys (14%).

Finally it’s worth noting that this segment generally loves its beer. Cricket fans have a bigger purchase intent for almost every beer we asked about compared to the general population. The only exception to this was Better Beer, which was marginally more popular among the public.

Explore GSIQ Australia & New Zealand Insights

View our dedicated ANZ page for the latest developments in sport, sponsorship, and data intelligence across the region.