And another survey, also by Nielsen, has placed six sportswomen in the Star Power Top 10 - respondents were asked to name their favourite men and women rather than select regardless of gender.
The survey concluded that New Zealanders were moving away from traditional team and individual sports "towards a personal focus on health and well-being".
Respondents were asked: "What sports and activities do you have an interest in?" - this included participation, attendance and watching.
Walking had jumped by 29% since 2010 to top the list, with 44% of those surveyed participating in it.
Rugby had dropped by 17% to lie second with 34%, and interest in league had fallen significantly, down 22% to 21%.
Nielsen conducts yearly surveys about New Zealand life and 2010 was used as the reference point for the sporting figures. This survey interviewed 12,000 people.
A specific Star Power category named retired All Black Richie McCaw as New Zealand's most popular athlete, followed by shot-put superstar Valerie Adams, world No 1 golfer Lydia Ko, another All Black legend Dan Carter and retired international cricketer Brendon McCullum.
This separate poll asked 2500 respondents to name three male and three female sports people. The results were "extrapolated out" using population figures, with McCaw receiving nearly 1.7 million "unprompted mentions".
Nielsen also reported that 39% of Kiwis use newspapers to get their sports information, under one third use Facebook and about a quarter listen to the radio.
TV was the key driver of sporting engagement, with two in five keeping up to date that way. Seven out of the top 10 sports website experienced growth since February last year.
Nielsen director Amanda Wisniewski said: "Options to 'watch the game' have never been greater and online engagement is skyrocketing. Seven out of ten sports fans use a smartphone and one in three own a tablet. There's an appetite to provide content that has the ability to view anywhere and anytime."
