Collingwood’s four-point victory over Brisbane drew 3.75 million TV viewers

The historic 16th premiership victory by Collingwood was an enormous ratings success for the Seven network, second only in eyeballs this year to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Magpies captain Darcy Moore and head coach Craig McRae celebrate victory. Picture: Getty Images

Collingwood’s historic 16th premiership win was one of the AFL’s greatest grand finals and the stellar showdown proved a ratings winner for the Seven network.

The four-point victory by the Magpies over the Brisbane Lions at the MCG was aired live on Seven and drew a national television audience of 3.75 million viewers, including 441,000 viewers on the network’s streaming platform, 7plus.

It was the most-watched TV program this year outside of the FIFA Women’s World Cup which was a massive success for Seven and broke TV viewing records.

In Melbourne, 1.15 million viewers tuned into Seven’s linear broadcast, followed by Brisbane which had 414,000 viewers, Sydney 324,000, Perth 312,000 and Adelaide 265,000.

The audience was a 22 per cent jump on last year’s grand final match which was a score blowout when the Geelong Cats defeated the Sydney Swans by 81 points.

Last year’s match had a national audience of 3.06 million viewers, including 95,000 streamings.

Saturday’s match was one of the closest grand finals this decade since West Coast’s five-point victory over the Magpies in 2018.

It was also the fourth highest-rating AFL Grand Final this decade.

That the result went right down to the wire were undoubtedly a significant factor in scoring strong ratings for Seven and a MCG crowd attendance of 100,024 football fans.

Seven Melbourne’s managing director and head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said it was a sensational four quarters of football that had viewers on the edge of their seats.

“Seven’s live, free and exclusive coverage of the unmissable premiership decider reminds us of just how much we all love footy,” he said.

“It’s the passion of the fans that elevates footy from being a sport to a unique spectacle that unites the nation.

“The AFL is Australia’s number-one winter sport, it’s a core part of our DNA, and Seven’s expert commentary, insights and coverage showcase the entertainment and exceptional competition of the AFL like no one else.”

Seven West Media’s chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette, said Seven’s large audience reach was a winner in the 2023 AFL season.

“Seven’s AFL coverage reached an incredible 13.77 million viewers this season, once again delivering unrivalled reach, attention and addressability on a massive scale, across every demographic and every screen,” he said.

“Australia’s leading brands were showcased to 53 per cent of Australians.”

The AFL will soon commence its new groundbreaking seven-year $4.5bn broadcast deal with Seven and Foxtel which is the most lucrative TV rights contract in Australian sporting history.

From 2025, Seven will have rights to air matches on Thursday nights, Friday nights, selected Saturday night fixtures after round eight, and Sunday matches.

The seven-year deal extend the broadcasters’ rights through until the 2031 season. Under the deal, Foxtel (65 per cent-owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian) will have exclusive rights to all games played on Saturdays for the first eight home-and-away rounds of every season.

All AFL and AFLW home-and-away matches, final (excluding grand finals) and pre-season games will be shown on Foxtel’s Fox Footy channel and also on its streaming platform, Kayo.

Saturday’s grand final pre-match entertainment drew 1.2 million viewers nationally and the winning presentations drew 3.66 millions nationally.