Matildas break TV ratings records, beating AFL grand final and Origin | OneFootball

World Cup television audiences for the Australian national women’s football team, the Matildas, have begun to wrest longstanding ratings records from the most popular men’s sporting events.

The round of 16 victory over Denmark on Monday night in Sydney set a program record for the largest television audience for 2023 for free-to-air broadcaster Channel Seven.

The event drew an audience of 2.29 million people in major cities, eclipsing the popular rugby league State of Origin game one on Channel Nine.

Across free-to-air television and streaming platform 7plus, 6.54 million tuned in. The average audience was 3.56 million.

Typically, major events on the men’s sporting calendar dominate Australia’s ratings, such as the grand final in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the State of Origin series.

The average audience for Monday’s match was higher than every National Rugby League grand final and every Origin since 2016, and all but two of the AFL grand finals in the same period, according to analysis by sports industry blogger Jason Lassey.

“With Optus figures unknown, there’s a pretty high chance it beats both those AFL Grand Finals too,” he posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Subscription service Optus Sport does not report viewership figures, but it did note the Australia versus Canada match last week attracted the 17th-highest audience for any football match streamed on its platform.

Monday’s football ratings eclipsed Channel Seven’s previous high for the year, set by the Matildas’ match against Canada last week.

The 384,000 viewers on Channel Seven’s streaming service 7plus also set a record for an individual event on the platform.

Since more than 8 million Australians watched Cathy Freeman’s victory in the 400 metres at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the benchmark sporting event for the TV industry has been the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, when England narrowly defeated hosts Australia.

That match drew an average of 4 million viewers, a figure which could be under threat by the Matildas’ quarter-final.

Australia will play either France or Morocco in prime time on Saturday night.

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