2023 Crowds and TV/Streaming

[kranger]

Television

A big year for the AFL on television with estimated audiences reaching 141 million up to and including the AFL Grand Final. This doesnt include the ongoing AFLW season. This is up from the 125m estimated in 2022.

This is broken down into segments

• FTA 62.508m
• Foxfooty/Fox505 36.179m
• FoxBVOD est 44.201m
• Total 142.88m

At the start of the year we were estimated FoxBOVD (kayo/foxgo/foxnow) off reported ratings in round 1. From Round 23, Oztam began releasing Foxtel data via its live VPM reports. Since this started being reported we have seen the average stream worth almost a 1.26:1 ratio with STB. The Year has been adjusted to the more up to date data.

As always note that this data is Australian only unless specified. We simply cannot get the data we would like and many would seem happy for us to fabricate.

Metro FTA Audience

• Sydney average 22,000 (-21% Year on Year)
• Melbourne average 219,000 (-1.35%)
• Brisbane average 30,000 (+11%)
• Adelaide average 77,000 (no movement)
• Perth average 56,000 (-23%)
• Sydney/Brisbane combined average 39,000

Swans games in Sydney averaged 41,000 in 2023 (-19%), while GWS managed 19,000 per game (-20%). Games involving neither side averaged 15,000.

In Melbourne, the two games that didnt involve Melbourne sides rated an average of 154,000. Games involving Melbourne sides averaged 225,000.

In Brisbane, the Lions averaged 48,000 in 2023 – +17% YoY – (including a season high of 80,000), while the Suns managed 22,000 per game (no movement). Games involving neither side rated 26,000, (To be fair the Suns are Gold Coast based, but did struggle at the lower end of the ratings).

In Adelaide, the Crows averaged 94,000 a game (+10%), while the Power averaged 87,000 (-4%). The Showdowns rated 150,000 and 143,000, although the Crows/Blues round 5 magic round opener splt the two at 148,000. Games involving neither Adelaide side rated an average 68,000.

In Perth, West Coast matches averaged 74,000 – down 22% – while Fremantle games fared worse – down 28% YoY and averaged 69,000. The Western Derby rated 155,000 and 154,000. Games involving neither Perth side averaged 45,000.

Foxtel

Collingwood lead the way for the Clubs on Foxtel averaging 222,000 on set top boxes in 2023

• Carlton 194,000
• Geelong 189,000
• Richmond 185,000

Foxtel BVOD (Kayo/Go/NOW) over the last 6 weeks of the season gives a ratio of 1.26 for every set top box. This was surprising as we had previously been working of much lower reported data.

Finals

This years AFL FInals series rated 17.352m – up 16% on 2022 , including Grand Final ratings of 3.855m (up 25% on 2022), while both Prelims had audiences over 2 million each.

The Grand Final audience on Seven was also shown on 7plus for the first time under the new deal.

• Metro: 2.464m
• Regional: 989,000
• BVOD: 414,000
• Total: 3.855m total

State of the Game 2023: AFL Attendance, Social Media, Support, Participation, Memberships and TV Ratings - Sports Industry AU

After a record breaking season and a huge grand final, its time to wrap up the season with a nice big bow, with new records set in Membership, Attendance and tv ratings. Social Media Collingwood leads all comers in the social media stakes with 390,000 followers on facebook, 368,000 followers on...

www.footyindustry.com

Great stats Wookie.

Was a difference seen for the non Vic teams in the Metro FTA viewership for the home games vs the away games?

For example a lot of people wouldn’t be watching the tv for a home game, as they were at the game.

 

[dave10]

Television

A big year for the AFL on television with estimated audiences reaching 141 million up to and including the AFL Grand Final. This doesnt include the ongoing AFLW season. This is up from the 125m estimated in 2022.

This is broken down into segments

• FTA 62.508m
• Foxfooty/Fox505 36.179m
• FoxBVOD est 44.201m
• Total 142.88m

At the start of the year we were estimated FoxBOVD (kayo/foxgo/foxnow) off reported ratings in round 1. From Round 23, Oztam began releasing Foxtel data via its live VPM reports. Since this started being reported we have seen the average stream worth almost a 1.26:1 ratio with STB. The Year has been adjusted to the more up to date data.

As always note that this data is Australian only unless specified. We simply cannot get the data we would like and many would seem happy for us to fabricate.

Metro FTA Audience

• Sydney average 22,000 (-21% Year on Year)
• Melbourne average 219,000 (-1.35%)
• Brisbane average 30,000 (+11%)
• Adelaide average 77,000 (no movement)
• Perth average 56,000 (-23%)
• Sydney/Brisbane combined average 39,000

Swans games in Sydney averaged 41,000 in 2023 (-19%), while GWS managed 19,000 per game (-20%). Games involving neither side averaged 15,000.

In Melbourne, the two games that didnt involve Melbourne sides rated an average of 154,000. Games involving Melbourne sides averaged 225,000.

In Brisbane, the Lions averaged 48,000 in 2023 – +17% YoY – (including a season high of 80,000), while the Suns managed 22,000 per game (no movement). Games involving neither side rated 26,000, (To be fair the Suns are Gold Coast based, but did struggle at the lower end of the ratings).

In Adelaide, the Crows averaged 94,000 a game (+10%), while the Power averaged 87,000 (-4%). The Showdowns rated 150,000 and 143,000, although the Crows/Blues round 5 magic round opener splt the two at 148,000. Games involving neither Adelaide side rated an average 68,000.

In Perth, West Coast matches averaged 74,000 – down 22% – while Fremantle games fared worse – down 28% YoY and averaged 69,000. The Western Derby rated 155,000 and 154,000. Games involving neither Perth side averaged 45,000.

Foxtel

Collingwood lead the way for the Clubs on Foxtel averaging 222,000 on set top boxes in 2023

• Carlton 194,000
• Geelong 189,000
• Richmond 185,000

Foxtel BVOD (Kayo/Go/NOW) over the last 6 weeks of the season gives a ratio of 1.26 for every set top box. This was surprising as we had previously been working of much lower reported data.

Finals

This years AFL FInals series rated 17.352m – up 16% on 2022 , including Grand Final ratings of 3.855m (up 25% on 2022), while both Prelims had audiences over 2 million each.

The Grand Final audience on Seven was also shown on 7plus for the first time under the new deal.

• Metro: 2.464m
• Regional: 989,000
• BVOD: 414,000
• Total: 3.855m total

State of the Game 2023: AFL Attendance, Social Media, Support, Participation, Memberships and TV Ratings - Sports Industry AU

After a record breaking season and a huge grand final, its time to wrap up the season with a nice big bow, with new records set in Membership, Attendance and tv ratings. Social Media Collingwood leads all comers in the social media stakes with 390,000 followers on facebook, 368,000 followers on...

www.footyindustry.com

Amazing summary, fantastic work. Interestingly on the socials, Collingwood have increased to socials ‘support’ by +5.2% since the Premiership. On field success and fan engagement in lockstep. Great work, thanks as always we get a great deal out of your compilation of data.

 

[The_Wookie]

Great stats Wookie.

Was a difference seen for the non Vic teams in the Metro FTA viewership for the home games vs the away games?

For example a lot of people wouldn’t be watching the tv for a home game, as they were at the game.

I didnt specifically tally away viewing. If I get time Ill revisit it. I was trying to get this out as close to season end as possible this year. Will get updated as more and updated info is available.

 

[weewilly]

The soccer Australian Cup only drew measly 15,482 at Allianz Stadium tonight in Sydney= so much for the Matilda's hype that it would improve men's soccer crowds in Australia.

 

[gunbarrelstraight91]

Interesting going by those numbers Fremantle and Port are now as big as the Adelaide crows. Also Sydney at an average 39k is massive, is that stat correct? I thought they'd be over 30k average which is an accomplishment but not nearly 40k.

There’s more to it than that. If your excluding gather round which these stats are, Adelaide didn’t have a home game in a prime time slot until round 18. The majority of home games were hidden in Saturday or Sunday twilight zones including against sides like collingwood and brisbane. Which is what you get missing finals in previous seasons.

The Sydney stat is also incorrect, (I live in Sydney and am a swans member for the sake of watching footy)

They averaged 32,824 with 361,063 coming through the gates in home games.
Only one crowd topped the false average of 39k and that was 41k in the final game vs Melbourne.

 

[BobbyMorri]

The soccer Australian Cup only drew measly 15,482 at Allianz Stadium tonight in Sydney= so much for the Matilda's hype that it would improve men's soccer crowds in Australia.

......

I didn't think it was all too bad for a young 2nd rate comp. Indeed, it is very very similar to previous crowds for finals, all of which range around 13-18K.

I don't see how you can really criticise it considering past history, yet you somehow did it.

 

[weewilly]

......

I didn't think it was all too bad for a young 2nd rate comp. Indeed, it is very very similar to previous crowds for finals, all of which range around 13-18K.

I don't see how you can really criticise it considering past history, yet you somehow did it.

Because of all the BS the Soccer urgers in this country that come up with = they need to be shown the FACTS and put back in their boxes some of the time!
Soccer now is so far behind the AFL and NRL it is not funny but you still get some deluded soccer fools claiming they will kill off both the AFL and NRL and become the #1 football code in Australia = it is not going to happen any time soon.

 

[BobbyMorri]

Because of all the BS the Soccer urgers in this country that come up with = they need to be shown the FACTS and put back in their boxes some of the time!
Soccer now is so far behind the AFL and NRL it is not funny but you still get some deluded soccer fools claiming they will kill off both the AFL and NRL and become the #1 football code in Australia = it is not going to happen any time soon.

The fact is, regardless of the crowd on Saturday, you were going to say the same thing regardless.

 

[collingwood23]

Collingwood are making an effort to fix that marvel stadium problem. Will be interesting to see how well it works

 

[The Educator]

Because of all the BS the Soccer urgers in this country that come up with = they need to be shown the FACTS and put back in their boxes some of the time!
Soccer now is so far behind the AFL and NRL it is not funny but you still get some deluded soccer fools claiming they will kill off both the AFL and NRL and become the #1 football code in Australia = it is not going to happen any time soon.

It amuses me how the Giants / Suns attendance monitors who follow the A League and / or NRL on social media squint their eyes at the their own massive crowd inflation. There is nowhere near 15,000 there!

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[dave10]

Collingwood are making an effort to fix that marvel stadium problem. Will be interesting to see how well it works

Good initiative. Much easier for teams that only play 2-3 homers there than the other clubs. Otherwise, the other clubs would effectively be telling its seat holders they must ‘book’ their reserved seat for all home game in effect. This could risk their reserved seat package sales broadly if members have to go through hoops for majority of home games. In the end we will probably land there anyway. Essendon are implementing their seat return mechanism for all Marvel home games next year. Logic says this is step one towards training seat holders into logging into Ticketmaster more regularly!

 

[kranger]

AFLW round 6

 

[Aussie in exile]

Apologies if this has already been posted
Matildas reign supreme

AFL pips NRL in grand final ratings but Matildas still reign supreme

Late drama in weekend’s three matches produced ratings records with a national average of 3.4 million watching the AFL decider on TV

www.theguardian.com

 

[The Educator]

AFLW round 6
View attachment 1826076

Numbers holding up pretty well

Sydney and Brisbane crowds seem to be regularly towards the top each week.

I don't know where it is tracking but I reckon a stretch would be to hit 300K aggregate after finals

 

[weewilly]

Apologies if this has already been posted
Matildas reign supreme

AFL pips NRL in grand final ratings but Matildas still reign supreme

Late drama in weekend’s three matches produced ratings records with a national average of 3.4 million watching the AFL decider on TV

www.theguardian.com

"The AFL decider was the most watched TV program in 2023 outside the Women’s World Cup, which was also broadcast on the network alongside subscription service Optus."

I could not care less about a hyped up to the teeth female soccer comp but I'm much more interested in the fact that the AFL GF being played in the Sat afternoon dead zone still beat the NRL!

 

[Angus Young]

I could not care less about a hyped up to the teeth female soccer comp but I'm much more interested in the fact that the AFL GF being played in the Sat afternoon dead zone still beat the NRL!

This is why its so hilarious when people compare the ratings of the two. They just don't get it.

Nor do they take into account the amount of ovals with big screens and hundreds watching or the amount of packed pubs and bbqs

Can tell you now cities like Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne literally stop when the AFL Grand final is on.

Put the AFL Grand final on at 7pm on a Sunday night with that KISS concert and pyro....THEN compare the TV ratings. Wouldn't even be close.

 

[Aussie in exile]

"The AFL decider was the most watched TV program in 2023 outside the Women’s World Cup, which was also broadcast on the network alongside subscription service Optus."

I could not care less about a hyped up to the teeth female soccer comp but I'm much more interested in the fact that the AFL GF being played in the Sat afternoon dead zone still beat the NRL!

The fact of the matter is that the Matildas game a bigger tv audience than the AFL and NRL grand finals combined
I'm not sure why your struggling with that

 

[The_Wookie]

Top Consolidated Sports Ratings in 2023

Round	Home	Away	Ratings
WWC	Australia	England	7,330,000​
WWC	Australia	France	4,267,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Brisbane	3,988,000​
WWC	Australia	Demnark	3,583,000​
WWC	Sweden	Australia	3,431,000​
NRL	Penrith	Brisbane	3,415,000​
Origin	Queensland	New South Wales	3,294,000​
WWC	Spain	England	3,089,000​
Origin	New South Wales	Queensland	3,045,000​
Origin	Queensland	New South Wales	2,505,000​
WWC	Australia	Canada	2,496,000​
AFL	Brisbane	Carlton	2,231,000​
AFL	Collingwood	GWS	2,149,000​
AO	Mens Final		1,993,000​
WWC	Australia	Ireland	1,970,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Essendon	1,820,000​
NRL	Brisbane	Warriors	1,779,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Melbourne	1,754,000​
AFL	Melbourne	Carlton	1,725,000​
AFL	Carlton	Sydney	1,666,000​
AFL	Port Adelaide	GWS	1,579,000​
NRL	Brisbane	Melbourne	1,504,000​
WWC	Nigeria	Australia	1,484,000​
AFL	Melbourne	Collingwood	1,474,000​
NRL	Brisbane	Dolphins	1,472,000​
AFL	Richmond	Carlton	1,408,000​
NRL	Newcastle	Canberra	1,365,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T2 D1 S1	1,362,000​
NRL	Melbourne	Brisbane	1,358,000​
AFL	Brisbane	Port Adelaide	1,356,000​
NRL	Melbourne	Sydney	1,352,000​
AFL	Melbourne	Richmond	1,331,000​
AFL	Geelong	Collingwood	1,329,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Richmond	1,325,000​
NRL	Penrith	Melbourne	1,320,000​
NRL	Parramatta	Melbourne	1,308,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T4 D1 S1	1,300,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Brisbane	1,297,000​
NRL	South Sydney	Penrith	1,296,000​
AFL	Richmond	Sydney	1,288,000​
AFL	Sydney	Carlton	1,288,000​
AFL	Port Adelaide	Melbourne	1,285,000​
NRL	Brisbane	Penrith	1,283,000​
NRL	Parramatta	Brisbane	1,276,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T2 D5 S1	1,249,000​
AFL	Carlton	Geelong	1,240,000​
AFL	Richmond	Geelong	1,231,000​
AFL	Brisbane	Collingwood	1,230,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Geelong	1,230,000​
NRL	Brisbane	Melbourne	1,229,000​
NRL	Parramatta	Penrith	1,223,000​
AFL	Carlton	Brisbane	1,219,000​
NRL	South Sydney	Sydney	1,216,000​
AFL	St Kilda	Port Adelaide	1,208,000​
NRL	Penrith	Brisbane	1,200,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T2 D2 S1	1,192,000​
AFL	Melbourne	Carlton	1,190,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T5 D5 S2	1,187,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T3 D2 S1	1,185,000​
NRL	Dolphins	Sydney	1,183,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T3 D4 S1	1,182,000​
NRL	North Queensland	Dolphins	1,180,000​
NRL	Penrith	South Sydney	1,178,000​
NRL	Dolphins	South Sydney	1,178,000​
AFL	Adelaide	Carlton	1,172,000​
NRL	Brisbane	South Sydney	1,169,000​
AFL	Essendon	Richmond	1,168,000​
NRL	Warriors	Newcastle	1,165,000​
NRL	Manly	Brisbane	1,162,000​
NRL	Dolphins	St George	1,161,000​
AFL	Port Adelaide	Geelong	1,161,000​
NRL	Sydney	South Sydney	1,158,000​
Cricket	Ashes	T3 D1 S1	1,148,000​
NRL	Manly	Melbourne	1,134,000​
NRL	Manly	Parramatta	1,133,000​
AFL	Western Bulldogs	Brisbane	1,120,000​
AFL	Brisbane	Melbourne	1,118,000​
AFL	Carlton	Melbourne	1,118,000​
NRL	Cronulla	Sydney	1,117,000​
NRL	Brisbane	North Queensland	1,109,000​
AFL	Collingwood	Carlton	1,103,000​

 

[Bjo187]

The fact of the matter is that the Matildas game a bigger tv audience than the AFL and NRL grand finals combined
I'm not sure why your struggling with that

What's your point exactly? Everybody knew this already.

 

[weewilly]

The fact of the matter is that the Matildas game a bigger tv audience than the AFL and NRL grand finals combined
I'm not sure why your struggling with that

When the local Women,s soccer league starts to rate on FTA as well as the AFLW and NRLW and get similar crowds I might take notice.

 

[BobbyMorri]

"The AFL decider was the most watched TV program in 2023 outside the Women’s World Cup, which was also broadcast on the network alongside subscription service Optus."

I could not care less about a hyped up to the teeth female soccer comp but I'm much more interested in the fact that the AFL GF being played in the Sat afternoon dead zone still beat the NRL!

Then why mention the soccer WWC. Heck, why be so hostile towards it. Very easy to say "ignoring the once in a life event of the WWC, the AFL reigned supreme"

you have done 4 posts recently here and you have mentioned soccer in each and every one of them. And each one has been about how crap it is. For someone who could not care less, you seem to care quite a bit.

 

[Macca180]

This is why its so hilarious when people compare the ratings of the two. They just don't get it.

Nor do they take into account the amount of ovals with big screens and hundreds watching or the amount of packed pubs and bbqs

Can tell you now cities like Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne literally stop when the AFL Grand final is on.

Put the AFL Grand final on at 7pm on a Sunday night with that KISS concert and pyro....THEN compare the TV ratings. Wouldn't even be close.

Yes but the NRL definitely are smarter in terms of maximising and getting the most out of their Grand Final. It's good business.

You would think the AFL will go this way soon influenced by those paying the big television dollars.

 

[The_Wookie]

Yes but the NRL definitely are smarter in terms of maximising and getting the most out of their Grand Final. It's good business.

This is neither reflected in ratings or even broadcaster advertising rates. let alone attendance.

You would think the AFL will go this way soon influenced by those paying the big television dollars.

I doubt it.

 

[Bjo187]

This is neither reflected in ratings or even broadcaster advertising rates.

Well that's because the AFL GF is more popular and usually wins the gf ratings anyway. If it were moved to prime time then the ratings gap should increase even further and therefore the cost of the advertising should too shouldn't it?