Cricket Interest Has Hurt Attendance At Australian Open, Heat and Ticket Prices Didn’t Help

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 23rd January 2014

Cricket Interest Has Hurt Attendance At Australian Open, Heat and Ticket Prices Didn't Help

epa04023765 Spectators sits in the shady part of the Rod Laver Arena during round two of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 16 January 2014. Extreme temperatures pushed the organizers to implement the Australian Open Extreme Heat Policy by closing the roofs on Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, and suspending matches on all outside courts. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON |

The national obsession with cricket has dealt the Australian Open a television ratings blow, with the Ashes and one-day Twenty20 Big Bash matches drawing more viewers on average than the goings-on at Melbourne Park.

Preliminary ratings show that free-to-air cricket did some damage to the traditionally strong tennis viewership in the sports-mad nation.

Local media reported that the fourth-round Roger Federer win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rated the best, with an audience average of 1.06 million across five major capitals. But that paled when compared to the five best-rating Ashes telecasts over recent weeks.

The Seven Network denied there was a problem, saying: “Our tennis coverage is in line with some of our best years” Rival Nine is telecasting the cricket but had the advantage of an Australian victory in the Ashes international.

The tennis first-round losses of Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic didn’t help, with Aussie teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios providing little rankings help to Seven. “We are broadcasting over 77 more hours and using more channels to do it. We are rapt with the performance, as are our sponsors and viewers, with sponsors already signed up for next year as a result,” said a Seven spokesman.

“The viewership stretches across all day parts of prime time and overall, and is delivering in every aspect and, just as importantly, as a major launch platform for our new-year programming.

Local media report that Seven paid around $36 million for tennis rights while Nine’s Big Bash League cricket cost half that for almost the same ratings. But tennis numbers are expected to have risen during the second week of the Open.

In 2013, Seven’s top two highest-rating tennis sessions pulled in average audiences of 1.47 million and 1.25 million.

Topics: 10sballs, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, Cricket, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News