Fox Sports | 2023 Suncorp Netball season hails records – A fairytale finish for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Saturday night’s Suncorp Super Netball Grand capped a ground-breaking 2023 season, which broke attendance and viewership records.
The Thunderbirds claimed their first national league title in 10 years with a thrilling 60-59 extra time win over the NSW Swifts, in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,622 at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena.
The Grand Final turnout marked the largest crowd yet to attend a match at John Cain Arena in the Suncorp Super Netball League era, and followed record breaking crowd attendance across the first two weeks of finals.
The 2023 Grand Final – which was competing for the first time in the Saturday night primetime slot against the AFL, NRL and The Ashes – was also the most watched Suncorp Super Netball match ever on Foxtel, with Fox Sports linear audiences up 14 per cent compared to last year’s decider.
The match was also available to stream free on Kayo Freebies and was the second most streamed Suncorp Super Netball match of all time.
Fox Sports Australia provided live and on-demand coverage of every match of the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball season via Foxtel and Kayo Sports, with viewership this season up 10 per cent compared to 2022. This growth included a nine per cent increase in audiences watching on Fox Sports on Foxtel, and an 11 per cent increase in streaming audiences across Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go/Now. In addition, viewership of Kayo Minis doubled compared to the 2022 season and the audience watching matches available on Kayo Freebies grew 18 per cent.
International fans’ appetite for Suncorp Super Netball ascended in 2023 with 144 countries accessing matches via Netball Australia TV, 23 more than last year. Viewership via the streaming service was up 202 per cent compared to the 2022 season, and an increase of 274 per cent to the minutes watched.
Growth of the game was also demonstrated in the stands with attendance across the home and away season up by 25 per cent compared to 2022, and club memberships reaching increasing by 20 per cent with 30,675 members across the eight Suncorp Super Netball clubs.
“This year’s Suncorp Super Netball season captured fans on a whole new level and Saturday night’s spectacular Grand Final was the perfect ending to the seventh edition of the world’s best netball league,”
– said Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan.
“The overall Grand Final experience was unlike anything we’ve seen to date with the inclusion of a sold out Grand Final lunch and The Clubhouse fan activation meant there was something for everyone on Grand Final Day.
“Our partnership with the Foxtel Group has continued to flourish across 2023 to bring the stories of our elite athletes and the netball community to life each and every week of the season.”
Kayo Sports Executive Director, Cate Hefele commended the second year of the Foxtel Group and Netball Australia’s broadcast partnership.
“There was no more fitting way to cap an incredible season of Suncorp Super Netball than with Saturday night’s thrilling Grand Final between the Thunderbirds and Swifts,” Hefele said.
“We are passionate about continuing to grow the sport of netball and in the second year of our partnership with Netball Australia, we’ve worked hard to bring the league to even more Aussies through more matches on Kayo Freebies, innovation in broadcasting and world-class commentary and insights from the most talented and respected netball voices in the country.
“Fans were given unparalleled access to players, coaches and behind-the-scenes action on game days and via our weekly magazine shows Centre Circle, Pivot and The 4th Qtr and we’ve seen the renewed reach and engagement with fans reflected in the record viewership.”
The Foxtel Group’s coverage of netball will continue throughout 2023 with the Netball World Cup from 28 July – 6 August in South Africa and the Constellation Cup between the Origin Australian Diamonds and the New Zealand Silver Ferns in October.
Australian netball fans will be able to enjoy all the live action from the 2023 Netball World Cup starting later this month, with the Foxtel Group securing the broadcast rights.
In addition to showing every game live, every Origin Australian Diamonds game plus the semi finals and final will be available live and free via Kayo Freebies.
Media Release – Netball Australia
Link to Kayo HERE
TV Central Netball content HERE
