The Irish Olympic team has been named as the Team of the Year in the 2024 Edition of the Annual Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Sentiment Index.
Female athletes dominate the most admired list in the Index, drawn from interviews carried out with the Irish public between December 5th and 13th.
Katie Taylor, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kellie Harrington filled the top three spots, a first for female sports stars where Jonathan Sexton has prevented a full clean sweep in each of the last six years.
The survey confirms Ireland as a nation of sports lovers with just under 90 per cent of respondents saying that they are interested in sport. The traditionally accepted number is 70 percent around the world so Ireland is a very positive outlier in this context, driven no doubt this year by success in Paris at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
28 per cent of those polled named Team ireland at the Olympics as their favourite team of the year with a further 12 per cent naming the Irish Paralympic team as theirs.
Shelbourne FC were named by seven per cent, the first time since Dundalk FC in 2021 that a League of Ireland team has cracked the Top Five.
Kellie Harrington leading the Irish crowd in a rendition of ‘Grace’ following her second Olympic gold medal win is the Most Memorable Sporting Moment of 2024
The Ireland men’s rugby team retaining their Six Nations crown has been voted as the Greatest Sporting Achievement
The Index is packed with lots more of interest and key elements will be shared for the first time on January 16th as part of the Sport for Business Sporting Year Ahead in partnership with Teneo. These additional aspects include the fact that from the survey one on five Irish adults volunteered in sport over the last 12 months.
The TSSI is a comprehensive 1,000 person nationally representative survey with quotas imposed across gender, region, age, and social class. The research was carried out by Teneo’s Sports Advisory team and iReach Insights and examines the Irish general public’s attitudes towards sport and their sporting heroes. This is the view of the general public and not a survey of sports fans. It is the 15th year of the research which was carried out between December 5th and December 13th, 2024.
Team of the Year
Team Ireland’s seven-medal haul at the Paris Olympics earns them the title of Team of the Year with 28% of the vote, an accolade they also won in 2021 after the Tokyo Olympic Games. Their four gold and three bronze medals ensured that Team Ireland athletes feature prominently throughout the research.
The 2023 Team of the Year, the Ireland men’s rugby team, takes second place with 17% following their successful defence of the Six Nations title earlier this year.
The standout performances of Ireland’s women’s 4x400m relay team, European silver medallists and Olympic finalists, secure them third place with 14% of the vote.
The Irish Paralympics Team, who won six medals in Paris this summer, were voted fourth in Team of the Year with 12%.
Most Admired Athlete
Irish female sports stars dominated the voting for the country’s Most Admired Athlete. Katie Taylor’s only fight in 2024, defeating Amanda Serrano in a closely contested bout in November, was enough to secure her the title of Ireland’s Most Admired Athlete for an incredible eighth successive year with 15% of the vote.
Debuting on this list, Tallaght’s sprinting star Rhasidat Adeleke, who competed in both the European Championships and Olympics this year, is Ireland’s second most admired athlete with 11% of the vote.
Writing herself into the history books with a second Olympic gold medal, Kellie Harrington takes third place on the list with 10% of the vote. Her fellow back-to-back Olympic gold-medallists Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy share fourth spot with Ireland and Connacht rugby centre, Bundee Aki, on 7%, with jockey Rachael Blackmore in sixth on 5%.
Greatest Sporting Achievement
Despite a loss to England dashing hopes of back to back Grand Slams, the Ireland men’s rugby team remain hugely popular, and winning a consecutive Six Nations title was voted the Greatest Sporting Achievement of 2024 on 15%.
The achievements of Team Ireland’s Olympic athletes occupy four of the top six spots. Kellie Harrington’s historic second Olympic gold takes second place with 11%, while Daniel Wiffen’s gold and bronze medals are joint third on 10% alongside Katie Taylor’s gruelling victory over Amanda Serrano.
In fifth place is Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s successful defence of their Tokyo gold medal earning 8%, followed by Rhys McClenaghan’s pommel horse gold medal in sixth on 7%.
Most Memorable Sporting Moment
Kellie Harrington’s unforgettable rendition of ‘Grace’ with Irish supporters at Roland Garros following her gold medal bout was declared the Most Memorable Sporting Moment by the Irish public, receiving 14% of the vote.
In joint second place on 11% are Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy’s defence of their Olympic title in the men’s lightweight double sculls and the moment Katie Taylor’s hand was raised in victory following her fight with Amanda Serrano.
Three moments share fourth place, each with 8% of the vote. The women’s 4x400m relay team’s brave fourth place finish in the Olympic final, Daniel Wiffen’s charismatic poolside interview following his gold medal win in Paris, and Ciaran Frawley’s dramatic last-minute drop-goal to secure Ireland’s second ever men’s rugby test victory on South African soil against the world champions.
Ireland’s Favourite Sport
Gaelic games (Gaelic football, ladies Gaelic football, hurling and camogie) was voted Ireland’s Favourite Sport for the seventh consecutive year, on 20%. Soccer (men’s and women’s) remains Ireland’s second favourite sport with 18%, followed closely by rugby (men’s, women’s and 7s) on 15%.
Tennis and golf share fourth position on 5%, while athletics drops down one spot to sixth taking 4% of the vote alongside horse racing and motorsport.
As this research has highlighted for over a decade, the nation’s love of sport runs deep with 88% of all adults being interested in sport. Gaelic games, soccer and rugby may top the list however the nation’s diverse interest in sport is reflected with large numbers being interested in golf (23%), athletics (21%), tennis (17%) and horse racing (16%).
Event Most Looking Forward to in 2025
The 2025 Men’s Six Nations, where Ireland go in search of a third successive title, is the most anticipated sporting event of 2025 by a significant margin with 30% of the vote.
In second place with 15% is the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, while the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship takes third spot on 12%.
Although the Irish team did not qualify, the Women’s UEFA European Championships ranks fourth with 7%, reflecting the nation’s growing interest in women’s sport.
Volunteering in Sport
One in five (20%) of all adults volunteered at a sporting club or sports initiative in 2024 with the average amount of time spent volunteering being just under nine hours per month. The highest rate of sports volunteering is among 35 to 44 year olds, where one in four (24%) volunteered in the last 12 months.
“This has been a year of incredible success for Irish athletes and teams, with the achievements in Paris this summer at the heart of it,” said Kelli O’Keeffe, Managing Director, Teneo Sports Advisory.
“The Olympic Games is a not just a global sporting event but also a cultural one, which is evident as Team Ireland and its athletes feature extensively throughout this research.”
“While Katie Taylor retains her place as Ireland’s most admired athlete it is fantastic to see that she is now joined by Ireland’s newest super star Rhasidat Adeleke, showing that the future is bright for Irish sport with young athletes coming through and really making their mark.”
“Sport cannot exist without volunteers. Volunteering was heavily impacted during Covid and it is really heartening for us to see that we are now back to one in five people giving of their time for sport in Ireland.”
“Gaelic games, soccer and rugby may be the drivers of our interest in sport, but it is heartening to see just how many sports are called out as being part of our nation’s sporting tapestry. 2025 is set to be another big year for sport with the Six Nations, the All-Ireland Senior Hurling and Football Championships and UEFA Women’s Euro’s being amongst the most anticipated events of the year.”
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
88 percent of the Irish general public expressing that they are interested in sport bolsters are claim to being the most sports obsessed country in the world. That is a great way to end a great year.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
Kelli O’Keeffe and Rob Pearson will present the findings of a deeper dive into the Teneo Sport and Sponsorship Index at the Sport for Business Sporting Year Ahead on January 16th at the Thomas Prior Hall in Ballsbridge. See below for tickets.
MEMBERSHIP AND EVENTS
Teneo and all of the Sporting Bodies called out in the Index are members of the Sport for Business community.
BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE FOR THE SPORTING YEAR AHEAD 2025
Member and Limited number of Non-Member Tickets available
The Sport for Business Membership comprises nearly 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
