Ipsos iris: World Cup fever supercharges Australia’s digital sports audience

The FIFA World Cup drove a sharp rise in Australian digital sports consumption during June, according to new Ipsos iris data. The Sports category reached 14.1 million people, up 8.1 per cent month-on-month, with users spending an average 56.6 minutes on sports websites and apps.

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The tournament opened in Mexico City on 11 June. The NBA Finals began on 3 June, while Wimbledon started on 29 June and the AFL season continued locally.

World Cup delivers biggest gains

SBS Brand Group’s audience grew 28.7 per cent, from 5.6 million in May to 7.2 million in June. SBS Sport climbed from 59,000 to 716,000 as the broadcaster carried the tournament exclusively in Australia.

FIFA recorded the largest percentage increase among the top 10 sports brands. Its Australian digital audience rose from 112,000 to 1.64 million, an increase of 1,365.9 per cent.

ESPN.com.au also gained strongly during the NBA Finals. Its audience increased 33.6 per cent to 3.13 million, up from 2.34 million in May.

AFL remains the largest sports brand

The AFL remained the largest sports brand online, despite a 9.6 per cent monthly decline. Its websites and apps reached 3.75 million people, who spent about 36 minutes per person across June.

The top five sports brands by audience were:

• Australian Football League: 3.75 million
• news.com.au – Sport: 3.26 million
• ESPN.com.au: 3.13 million
• Fox Sports: 2.86 million
• National Rugby League: 2.57 million

Sports content reached 70 per cent of online men in June, up seven percentage points from May. Reach among online women increased four percentage points to 56 per cent.

News audiences reach 21.6 million

The World Cup also supported growth in online news audiences, including at SBS News. The brand reached 6.61 million people, up 28.7 per cent month-on-month.

Across the category, 21.6 million Australians used a news website or app. That represented 95.7 per cent of online Australians aged 14 and over, with average time spent reaching 3.12 hours.

ABC News led the news ranking with 11.79 million users, followed by news.com.au with 11.09 million. Nine.com.au ranked third with 8.95 million.

Career recorded the strongest year-on-year category growth for a fourth consecutive month, rising 10.7 per cent. Travel grew 5.4 per cent, followed by utilities at 4.6 per cent, health at 3.6 per cent and homes and property at 3.57 per cent.

How Ipsos iris measures audiences

Ipsos iris measured 22.57 million Australians aged 14 and over online during June. Users spent an average 4.97 hours online each day across smartphones, computers and tablets.

The measurement uses a hybrid methodology. It combines a nationally representative passive panel with site-centric census data and tracks activity across 8,000 devices.