Kayo Sports has delivered on its promise that this Ashes series would be its greatest ever in spite of shorter tests and the series result being wrapped up in just 11 days.
Foxtel Media chief executive Mark Frain said that Kayo Sports delivered everything promised to advertisers in terms of audience size and impressions, with audiences up 31 per cent on last summer’s Australia v India series and 112 per cent up on the 2021/22 Ashes series. The Ashes, won convincingly by Australia, notched up 1.3 billion minutes streamed.
The Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth Tests recorded the top three highest average audiences ever for Tests on Kayo Sports and across Foxtel Group platforms.
“It was a great series for audience and impression delivery across Fox Sports and Kayo; had some of the tests gone even longer, it would have been exceptional,” Frain told B&T.
“When we look at the figures, it was a record breaking test series of all time for the Foxtel Group, up more than 100 per cent versus the previous Ashes series.
“It’s hard to say that was disappointing, but the question is how exceptional could it have been if some of those tests had gone a bit longer?”
The tests Frain is referring to are the Perth and Melbourne tests, which lasted for two days due to a number of non-weather related reasons. These include an unusually spicy pitch in Melbourne and questionable Bazball style batting, leaving many fans, ticket holders and Cricket Australia disappointed.
Cricket Australia is reported to have lost around $15 million due to the shorter tests, but this has not impacted Foxtel and Kayo Sports.
Advertising revenue across its Summer of Cricket is up between 25-30 per cent year on year, while The Ashes has provided a 5-10 per cent bump to Kayo Sports subscription numbers, although these levels are seasonal and prone to shift depending on what sports are on.
Frain told B&T that advertisers and commercial partners have not lost out due to shorter tests.
“History tells us, whether it’s performance led or weather related, you’ve got to plan relatively conservative, so we budget for each test to go for around three days,” he explained.
“When you look at the average number of playing days per test across the series, it was kind of bang on. And when you factor in the growth in audience per day, which was above expectations, that’s allowed us to comfortably deliver for advertisers.”
‘Maximum impact’
Kayo Sports had a record number of sponsors and advertisers during this year’s Summer of Cricket.
Padding up for the first time for all the formats were BetR, Canadian Club and Westpac. Aussie Broadband and IG Markets were new sponsors for The Ashes test matches.
Recurring for another innings across all formats were Toyota, McDonalds, Harvey Norman, Chemist Warehouse and Bunnings. Also returning were Ashley & Martin, Daikin to sponsor test matches, HostPlus for The Ashes, and Youi and CBUS for the KFC Big Bash League.
Brands receive a highly personalised approach to brand integrations across Kayo Sports. These include standard baseline activations, including ads in pre roll, mid roll, sponsorships and branded segments.
An example is the Canadian Club’s sponsorship of the Big Break (during lunch on a day test), as well as the VB drinks break.
“The work we do up front in terms of the integration for brands to make sure that they get maximum impact and stand out across the platform,” Frain said.
“In addition, the presenters are highly commercial. They all get involved in many of the activations, whether that’s work with Dan Murphy’s, whether that’s work with McDonald’s, whether that’s work with Toyota.
“The talent is as important as some of the technology and integration we bring to clients.”
Few cricket fans would argue against that sentiment. Kayo Sports’ superb Ashes commentary team featured Adam Gilchrist and including Kerry O’Keefe, Alyssa Healy, Brett Lee, David Warner, Brendon Julian, Michael Hussey, Isa Guha and Michael Vaughan.
Innovations in this series included Fox Focus – next generation telestrator technology that provided real-time player and field tracking analysis and Fox Playbook – a revolutionary tool that predicted player match-ups and ball-by-ball strategies.
“The feedback we’ve received has been exceptional for both agencies and advertisers,” Frain added.
The Ashes has came to a conclusion when the Aussies won the Sydney test on the fifth day, taking out the series 4-1. Now attention turns to the Big Bash League, which has also been delivering strong numbers for Kayo Sports.
Frain said that The Ashes has provided a ‘halo effect’ on the T20 competition while he believes that the shorter tests have actually increased BBL TV and streaming audiences.
“When you had some of the shorter Test matches, the engagement in the subsequent Big Bash games was even higher, because cricket fans are in that ‘summer of cricket mindset’,” he said.
“So the thirst and desire for cricket is there and the Big Bash has probably benefitted all the way through.”
The Big Bash finals series begins this weekend with the Sydney Sixers taking on the Perth Scorchers for a spot in the final.
Following the conclusion of the BBL, the Australian women’s team (Southern Stars) take on India in an ODI series in February, that will farewell Australian captain and future hall of famer Alyssa Healy.
