The A-League has seen a rise in viewers and attendance as the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) release their key metrics, revealing a third straight year of growth.
Following this year’s finals series with sold out crowds and record TV viewers, the metrics show a positive trajectory across the regular season and finals series both on and off the pitch.
TV audiences for the men’s league 2023/24 season was up significantly on streaming, with 53 per cent on Paramount+ and 33 per cent on 10 Play, while free to air TV saw a 16 per cent rise on Network 10.
The finals series saw the last three games sell out while the Grand Final reached 1.12 million viewers on TV, up 12 per cent year-on-year.
Club memberships, for both men’s and women are up 31 per cent from last year while overall attendance across the men’s season was up seven per cent for an average of 8.6k.
The total social community size grew 44 per cent to 1.9 million fans, with these fans seeing the U23 players more than ever before. U23 players saw record minutes, a 46 per cent jump.
With the A-League growing, so too is the external eyes on the league, which is now evident a record amount of outbound transfers, over $17m since the start of July 2023, a 79 per cent increase.
Sponsorship revenue, both local and international, grew 17 per cent across the league in season 2023/24.
In a media release, A-Leagues Commissioner Nick Garcia said: “This season has not been without its challenges, and our work continues to reset parts of the league to ensure long-term sustainable growth.”
“We are a football business and a third consecutive year of growth across our core fan and football metrics shows we’re on a positive trajectory as the industry moves out of Covid and beyond a difficult twelve months.”
With the off-field metrics rising year-on-year, Garcia said the core product, the actual sport being played, is just as good.
“Our core product on the pitch is fantastic. Across the season we had the highest number of goals per game of any league in the world (3.29), and we saw internationals shine and the next generation of stars continue to make a big impression with our fans and across world football.”
“There is real momentum in this league, but there is lots more work to be done. We remain committed to that.
“We cannot do it without our fantastic fans, clubs and partners, with whom we look forward to the 20th anniversary of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men in a few months and another phenomenal season of A-Leagues’ action.”
