AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Corporate fans boost ticket sales for Open

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Jan-24

The organisers of the Australian Open are hoping for another record attendance at the first grand slam tournament of the year, after the 2023 event attracted a total crowd of 839,192. Tennis Australia’s chief commercial officer Cedric Cornelis says that ticket sales to date have been significantly stronger than in 2023. Meanwhile, Corporate Traveller’s MD Tom Walley notes a post-pandemic trend for business travellers to combine their trip with leisure activities such as attending sports events, in order to justify the cost of travel. The company expects the number of business travellers attending the Australian Open to be 21 per cent higher than in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, CORPORATE TRAVELLER

Nine to take a hit from Kyrgios’s Australian Open exit

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-23

Data from OzTAM shows that the Nine Network’s broadcast of the first night session of the 2023 Australian Open attracted a national audience of just 476,000; this compares with 885,000 viewers in 2022. The withdrawal of Nick Kyrgios from the grand slam tournament due to injury is expected to affect Nine’s rating for the remainder of the event, given that he was one of the major drawcards. A TV industry insider notes that viewers have traditionally tended to lose interest when the leading tennis stars are not playing or are defeated in the early rounds. Nine Entertainment Company renewed its broadcasting rights deal in late 2022; it is paying about $85m a year, plus contra.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

Players give Open a serve: Stars angry as third flight locked down

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Original article by Alanah Frost, Sharon McGowan, Marc McGowan
Herald Sun – Page: 7 : 18-Jan-21

The number of COVID-19 cases linked to the upcoming Australian Open has increased to four, after a case was detected on a third in-bound charter flight. All passengers on the three flights have been placed in hard quarantine for two weeks; this includes 72 tennis players, who will not be permitted to leave their hotel rooms to undertake training until shortly before the Australian Open begins. Some players have criticised the lockdown rules and alleged that they were changed ‘overnight’, but Tennis Australia contends that the rules were made clear from the outset. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has rejected suggestions that the Australian Open will be cancelled.

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, TENNIS AUSTRALIA

Ratings pain as tennis fails to shine for Nine

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 3 : 29-Jan-19

The Nine Network’s coverage of the 2019 Australian Open men’s final attracted an average national audience of 2.085 million. It was the lowest combined audience since 2007, while Seven attracted an audience of 2.37 million for its last men’s final broadcast in 2018. The women’s final attracted a combined average of 1.57 million. Nine spent $55m on its coverage of the 2019 Australian Open, and boasted advertising revenue of $45m. In contrast, Nine had spent $105m a year on broadcasting cricket, with ad revenue of $70m.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED

Australian Open tennis viewers a different breed to Aussies who play tennis

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Jan-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 32.4% of Australians aged 14+ (6.4 million people) watch the Australian Open almost always or occasionally. However, just 45.1% of Australian Open viewers tune in for other tennis broadcasts. The survey, which was carried out in the year to September 2016, also shows that the Australian Open is particularly popular among people aged 50 or older; 36.3% of those aged 50-64 tune in to watch it, as do 46.3% of those aged 65+. In contrast, younger people show a distinct lack of interest in watching the Australian Open on TV, especially 14-17 year-olds (20.2%) and 18-24 year-olds (21.8%). Meanwhile, tennis participation is at its greatest among teenagers aged 14-17 years (16.2%), but starts slipping from 18 years onwards. While 7.0% of Australians overall play tennis, this slips to 4.3% of 50-64 year-olds and heads steadily south from there to 2.9% of those aged 65+.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS