Nine’s broadcast of the match reached more than 930,000 people nationwide, making it the highest rating match of the 2020 season, with viewership within all key demographics up on the 2019 Grand Final.
Fans also tuned into the match on their digital devices, with the average audience of the Grand Final on the Netball Live Official App up by 30% on last year’s finale and streaming of the match on 9now up by 37%.
Across the season, more than five million people tuned into Suncorp Super Netball broadcasts on Nine and the average time spent viewing these matches increased by 16.18% compared to last year.
Telstra’s streaming services also saw an enormous increase, with the Netball Live Official App average audience increasing by 30% on last year and viewership on Telstra TV increasing by 10%.
In total, there were almost 34 million minutes streamed across both the Netball Live Official App and Telstra TV throughout the 2020 season.
Suncorp Super Netball CEO Chris Symington has thanked Suncorp Super Netball fans for their support throughout the unprecedented season.
“While only limited fans were able to physically attend matches in Queensland and Adelaide this season due to COVID-19 restrictions, our fantastic broadcast partners Nine and Telstra still managed to elevate their match coverage to another level to ensure fans around Australia and the world didn’t miss a minute of the action,” he said.
“This season was unique with matches broadcast mid-week to allow for the condensed season timeframe, but fans continued to tune in and we couldn’t be happier with the continued growth we have seen across the board this year.”
Nine Head of Netball Keeley Devery said the fourth season of Suncorp Super Netball has proved once again that this is the world’s premier netball competition.
“It has been a mammoth effort from all sides to pull off an exceptional season despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. Each week, audiences were treated to world-class netball action as the best of the best battled it out on the courts, culminating in a nail biting Grand Final where the Melbourne Vixens, who against all odds, managed to bring the title home for Victoria,” she said.
Telstra Sport Digital Manager Andrew Considine is delighted with the increases that streaming platforms have seen.
“Digital streaming for netball set a number of records through the season and fans loved watching the mid-week action for the first time,” he said.
“The season has presented enormous challenges, but fans continue to flock to the Netball Live App to watch the best competition in the world and the best athletes. Congratulations to all teams and the league on a season we will never forget.”
The current Suncorp Super Netball broadcast agreement is in place until the end of the 2021 season.
