04 Australia
Huge growth potential in a sport-loving nation
When it comes to viewing preferences, there’s a higher proportion of sports fans in Australia (25%) than in the US (22%), France (20%), the UK (18%), Germany (18%) or Spain (15%).
Both local and global players offering sport content have benefited in recent years from the 2.5 million sport-loving Aussie households that have shifted from analogue to digital: 74% now stream VoD, while Cable TV access declined to 35% in Q3 of 2023, from 39% the previous year.
However, there are still half a million households yet to be captured, who are currently relying on free-to-air TV and BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) services to get their sporting fix. Be that as it may, there are new laws on the horizon designed to prevent major sporting competitions from slipping behind online paywalls, meaning sports streaming services will face an uphill battle to both acquire new customers and retain existing ones.
While football/soccer drives the most sign-ups throughout the year, this is in part due to the fragmentation of its live broadcasting rights in Australia. Consumers now have to subscribe to four separate services if they want to watch all major global and local competitions.
This is in stark contrast to AFL, NRL and Rugby Union, where major rights are centralised through one service. Sign-ups for the AFL and NRL spiked in the first half of 2023, as did Kayo’s share of new subscriptions, correlating with the season launch, and when marketing exposure was at its greatest. Stan Sport, meanwhile – the ‘home’ of Rugby Union – enjoyed its biggest quarter for sign-ups in Q3 off the back of the 2023 Rugby World Cup kicking off in September.
Cricket peaks in sign-ups during Q4, and its cricket fans that are the biggest advocates of streaming services like Kayo, with an NPS of 29 percentage points, higher than any other sport. Tennis also enjoys its greatest period of sign-ups in the summer months, as the Australian Open pulls in fans eager to watch ad-free. They also appreciate the high quality of commentators, an area where satisfaction is at 39%, which is higher than the total average of any other sport (16%).
However, most Aussie fans are looking for more than just their favourite sport when signing up to a service, with 61% having a secondary sport in mind. This is reflected when we look at what makes a sport streamer happy with their service, where the variety of different sports available is the top driver of satisfaction.
With the end of major competitions and off-season periods often correlating with a spike in churn rates, it is essential that streaming services offer a wide enough selection of sports content, both live and on-demand, to keep their customers engaged throughout the year and to retain them in the long run.
