Foxtel Media: Women’s Sport Viewership Shows Marked Increase

Foxtel Media and Gemba’s latest Women’s Sports research, conducted under the FoxTest initiative, shows a significant rise in viewing for women’s sport in Australia, which has increased by 18 per cent since 2022.

Viewing engagement has also increased, with 36 per cent of Australians (up from 32 per cent in 2022) consuming an hour or more of women’s sports per week even as overall sport consumption remained static. The majority (54 per cent) of women’s sports viewers are Foxtel or Kayo Sports customers, while 45 per cent of women’s sports consumed by Australians is on Foxtel or Kayo Sports.

The report, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 1400 Australians, also found that among women’s sport viewers, sentiment towards brands who sponsor women’s sport is increasingly positive. For example, among women’s sport viewers, 68 per cent “feel more positively towards brands that sponsor Women’s Sport” compared to 53 per cent in 2022.

Toby Dewar, director of customer engagement at Foxtel Media, said the latest research backs up last year’s findings that brands who sponsor Women’s Sport benefit from higher levels of trust.

“Our research consistently shows that Australians actively watching women’s sport have high levels of sponsorship recall, and this actually influences purchase decisions. For example, NAB’s recent sponsorship of AFLW resulted in significantly higher NPS (net promoter score) among AFLW fans aware of the sponsorship, with a +3ppt impact on brand consideration, taking share from major competitors. Women’s Sport represents an exciting and powerful opportunity for brands, and of course benefits the talented Australian women playing sports at all levels.

“At Foxtel Media, we’re also proud to see awareness of Women’s League sponsorship being significantly higher among a Foxtel and Kayo Sports audience, and that Foxtel can build awareness more quickly than other media channels. For example, Foxtel viewers are significantly more likely to recall AFLW or NRLW sponsors and 40 per cent more likely to recognise the naming rights partners of major leagues and teams,” Dewar said.

Monika Poposki, head of sports sales, Victoria at Foxtel Media, said, “The research identifies an exciting future opportunity for advertisers. At a total population level, attitudes are improving slowly, with more associating Women’s Sports to have “large scale investment” and as “exciting and fun to watch”. However, there’s a more significant shift among those who actively watch Women’s Sport – showing the importance of broadcast in driving change.

“Forty per cent of female Foxtel/Kayo Sports viewers indicated that they are willing to watch more Women’s Sport but they often forget or don’t know it is on, which reinforces the need for rights holders to provide sufficient notice to broadcasters of season start dates and schedules.”

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