Win or lose against the might of Argentina, the Socceroos run to the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup will be a boon for rights holder SBS.
Given the interest from both die-hard football fans and casual viewers who only love the sport every four years, ratings have been through the roof.
Despite last week’s triumph over Denmark kicking off at 2am on Thursday, some 618,000 people tuned in across TV and SBS’s digital platform.
The loss to France saw just under an estimated 1 million viewers watch (6am Wednesday kick off), and the win over Tunisia attracted 1.72 million viewers (9pm Saturday kick off).
Australia will play Argentina on Sunday morning in the knock-out phase of the World Cup – something many Australians, and certainly SBS, probably never expected.
This extra game, which will likely be the highest-rated of the tournament for SBS (unless the Socceroos advance again), will be an unexpected yet welcome advertising gold mine for the hybrid-funded public service broadcaster.
This is the first time Australia has advanced this far in the World Cup since 2006, when the Socceroos lost to Italy. A whopping 2.28 million people watched that game on SBS.
That’s not far off what the NRL and AFL grand finals usually attract, with both considered premium advertising revenue events.
It’s been reported the broadcaster invested $20 million in securing the rights to the World Cup before the Socceroos even qualified.
World Cup a massive win for SBS
Claire Butterworth, national head of investment at media investment firm Group M, told The New Daily there are many reasons SBS would be celebrating this World Cup.
“The return on investment will far outweigh the investment cost,” she said.
“Whatever they paid [for the rights], they will more than get that back in the short and long term.”
Ms Butterworth believes SBS is in a good position as SBS On Demand is an “incredibly strong” platform and getting new subscribers throughout the tournament is only going to be advantageous as consumption habits edge towards streaming.
With more people signing up for SBS On Demand to watch matches, they’re going to have a much stronger reach, which will benefit them in the long run.
“They have more people signing up to the actual platform, we know that it’s a good user experience and increasing their total reach will also be an opportunity for them to cross-promote other programmes within their platform,” she said.
“So, that halo effect begins. So it really does kind of win in the short and long term.”
By broadcasting the World Cup, SBS is also reaching an audience that is often hard to reach – light viewers who only really tune in for major sporting events.
Ms Butterworth added there is a reason why advertisers and sponsors commit the money they do when it comes to massive sporting events like the World Cup.
“The reason partners and sponsors commit the money that they do is to have the opportunity to target such a large audience at quite a unique time, in a captive environment as well,” she said.
29 million hours of content
On Friday, SBS said the win over Denmark helped the broadcaster achieve its strongest viewership share results for 2022.
About 50 per cent of the people watching the World Cup are doing so through SBS On Demand, SBS’s streaming service.
In the first two weeks of the World Cup, Australians have watched more than 29 million hours of content related to the tournament on linear television.
“As we approach the half-way mark of the World Cup we’re thrilled with the audience response,” said SBS Managing Director James Taylor, said in a release.
“The Socceroos’ stellar campaign is capturing the imaginations of Australians who are watching in massive numbers on both linear and digital platforms.
