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A-League popularity grows on SBS

A-League is now more popular with Australians than English Premier League, according to new research.

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New research data suggests A-League has grown to become more popular with Australians than English Premier League.

According to Roy Morgan Research, in 2015, 2.1 million Aussies (or 11.0% of the population) reported watching A-League football (soccer) on TV either regularly or occasionally, up from 1.4 million viewers (7.6%) in 2011.

Young men aged under 25 are the most avid viewers, with 19.6% of them watching A-League matches on TV either occasionally or almost always (up from 13.3% in 2011), but there has been a consistent upturn among men of all ages. Women, too, are more likely than ever to watch the A-League on TV, with increases across all age groups.

But the rise also matches the game’s accessibility, after joining SBS for the 2013-14 season.

Shaun Ellis, Industry Spokesperson, Roy Morgan Research, says: “The A-League has come a long way since its debut season in 2005, not least in terms of TV viewers. While its first eight seasons were broadcast exclusively on Pay TV channel FOX Sports, and therefore only available to Australians with a subscription (or access to somebody else’s subscription), it became more widely viewable from the 2013-14 season when free-to-air network SBS secured shared broadcast rights. Certainly, being able to watch A-League matches without a Pay TV subscription would be a determining factor in the increased proportion of men and women of all ages tuning in.

“Meanwhile, the English Premier League’s TV audience has remained fairly steady since 2011. Historically broadcast exclusively on FOX Sports, the EPL’s audience numbers will be worth monitoring once Optus takes over broadcast rights as of the coming season (with SBS just announced as a sub-licensee for exclusive free-to-air coverage of one match per round), to see how significantly this impacts on the number of Aussies watching the EPL.“

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  1. There are several things that would have boosted interest in the A-League. The competition has been running longer so more people have encountered it, success of A-League teams in the AFC Champions League (WSW won 2014), a game on SBS2 and and increase in Fox Sports subscriptions after Foxtel slashed their basic package costs.

    The creation of the FFA Cup may have increased interest from local team supporters, though ratings on Foxtel have been low.

    Preseason trial games featuring big European teams have rated well on FTA and we will see what an early Saturday Man U game rates on SBS.

    1. As David wrote, accessibility is prob the largest single contributor to increased interest but also the quality of the football. The last season and this are a notable improvement across all teams. The skill level has increased, the style that most teams employ is pleasing to watch, and because the teams play attacking (or counter-attacking) football most of the time, even when away from home, there are more shots on goal and more goals being scored.

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