AFL
Foxtel Group has announced that the 2024 Toyota AFL Premiership Season is the most watched of all time across its platforms – Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo Sports. It is the third consecutive year of viewership growth.
The audience growth has been led by huge jumps in streaming audiences, particularly on Kayo Sports which saw 6.1 billion minutes streamed this season, up 39 per cent year-on-year.
More than half of total Foxtel Group audiences watched the season on Kayo Sports. Fremantle v Port Adelaide and Carlton v St Kilda in round 24 were the most watched regular season games in 2024 and of all time across Foxtel Group as audiences flocked to our platforms to see which teams would make the final eight in 2024.
Round 24 was also the most streamed round of the season on Kayo Sports while Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon were the most watched teams across Foxtel Group platforms.
In early April, the second annual AFL Gather Round broke AFL streaming records across Kayo Sports, with a record of 252 million minutes viewed. This made the 2024 Gather Round the #1 streamed AFL round of all time.
Collectively, the 2024 season recorded nine of the top 10 most-watched regular season rounds of all time across the Foxtel Group.
Three weeks prior to the season end, Foxtel reported that the AFL 2024 season has seen an increase of 33% on 2023, with an average audience of 397,000. The Fremantle vs Port Adelaide game led the season with an average audience of 710,000 across Kantar STB and streaming VPM, closely followed by the Carlton vs St Kilda game at 685,000.
NRL
Foxtel Group has announced that the 2024 NRL Telstra Premiership Season has broken records as the most watched of all time across its platforms – Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo Sports. It is the seventh consecutive year of viewership growth.
With exclusive games in 4K, Kayo Sports viewership surged 30% year on year as more audiences discovered the unrivalled NRL viewing experience on the platform.
There were five billion minutes streamed across all Foxtel Group streaming platforms which was up 30% compared to 2023. A huge 59% of the total Foxtel Group audience streamed the coverage.
In 2024, NRL kicked off its season in Las Vegas with the Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs game, exclusive on Fox League, followed by the Roosters v Broncos game. Both games smashed viewership records and are the two most watched games of all time across Foxtel Group platforms.
The coverage, which was Logie-nominated, also drove the biggest single day of sign-ups on Kayo Sports. The momentum continued throughout the season with Magic Round delivering the highest ever audience for a regular season round across the Foxtel Group.
The nail-biting Sharks v Roosters game during the round was the third most watched game of the season.
The Broncos, Storm and Roosters were the most watched teams.
In Round 24, it was reported that the NRL had an average audience of 483,000 across Foxgroup, +18% from last season.
According to Fox, “The viewer success is backed by incredible sponsor engagement, with 30 sponsors for the AFL season and 27 for the NRL. Moreover, all sponsors have been able to campaign plan using Kantar Media analysed viewing data for the most accurate audience insights. In fact, every campaign is on track to overdeliver for the season based on these insights.“
References
- https://foxtelgroup.com.au/newsroom/2024-nrl-telstra-premiership-season-into-the-record-books-as-most-watched-across-foxtel-group
- https://foxtelgroup.com.au/newsroom/2024-toyota-afl-premiership-season-kicks-goals-across-foxtel-group
- https://www.mediaweek.com.au/as-afl-and-nrl-head-towards-finals-foxtel-media-reveals-2024-audience-growth/
