Aussies watch more A-League than Premier League

Currently drawing towards the close of its eleventh season, the A-League is now watched on TV by more Australians (aged 14+) than the English Premier League, with its audience growing by more than 50 per cent since 2011.

In 2015, 2.1 million Aussies (or 11 per cent of the population) reported watching A-League football on TV either regularly or occasionally, up from 1.4 million viewers (7.6 per cent) in 2011. The A-League’s broadcasting arrangements changed as of the 2013-14 season, when free-to-air network SBS joined pay-TV channel Fox Sports in televising matches (previously Fox had exclusive broadcast rights).

The growth in the A-League’s TV audience can be seen across both genders, with increased proportions of men and women tuning in: 16 per cent of men and 6.2 per cent of women watched it in 2015 (up from 11.3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively). Over the same period, viewership of the English Premier League remained relatively unchanged, with its audience hovering around the 1.8 million viewer/9.5 per cent mark since 2011.