Australian Open, 2023 – Event Analysis

An analysis of the recent 2023 Australian Open, including a look at its sponsorship portfolio, broadcasters, attendance and ticketing and

The Australian Open has a lucrative broadcast deal in place with the Australian broadcaster Nine Network, worth $46.04 million annually across five years.
On Nine Network, while a record total of 12.5 million people watched the 2023 Australian Open, the 2023 viewership in Australia is reported to have dropped by over 2.4 million. Across Europe, however Discovery Sports reported streaming audiences figures had grown by a third year-on-year. The average price of an annual sponsorship deal for the 2023 Australian Open was $3.1 million. The tournament has five deals in place that GlobalData estimates to be each worth over $7 million annually, with Kia, Emirates Airline, Luzhou Laojiao, Rolex and ANZ. The commonest length of deal that brands have agreed with the Australian Open is for one year. The most recent deal the 2023 Australian Open has agreed is with cider brand Somersby, a one-year deal worth $3 million. The total prize money figure for the tournament was increased by roughly $1 million compared to the 2022 edition. Both Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka each took home $2.05 million for their respective title victories.

Key Highlights

A detailed overview of the key facts and events which took place in Australia over the past month. The report identifies the major media and sponsorship players in the market, pinpoints the ticket prices on offer and well as looking into the sponsorship portfolio's of the men's and women's single Australian Open champions.

Who Should buy?

Investors who are attempting to understand the current dynamics of the sponsorship landscape of the 2023 Australian Open and viewership industry professionals who want a detailed analysis on the popularity of the event.

Scope

This report provides an overview of the event including a sponsorship portfolio, broadcasters, attendance and ticketing. An analysis of the 2023 Australian Open sponsors is included and the estimated annual values are provided. Information regarding the events ticketing and attendance figures, a as well as the competitions prize-money is also included.

Key Highlights

The event saw a return for audiences to the event, with a total of 346,468 fans attending over the duration of the two weeks. Prior to the event, crowds were capped at 50%, before being increased to 65% and 80% for the semi-finals and the finals respectively. The year-on-year growth in attendance was significant, which only had a cumulative attendance of 130,374 that was impacted by a five-day lockdown that took place in the midst of the tournament. Despite the impressive audiences for 2022, they are some way off the total of 812,174 people that attended the 2020 edition.

TV ratings for the event were strong, particularly domestically where viewing figures were driven by the success of Australian Ashleigh Barty, who defeated Danielle Collins to win her first ever Grand Slam. Domestically, the women’s final attracted a peak audience of 4.26m viewers, with an average of 3.58m.

Despite the relative success of the Australian Open in terms of viewership and attendance, the beginning of the tournament was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Novak Djokovic’s vaccination status, and his eligibility to compete given Australia’s strict COVID-19 measures. While Djokovic arrived in Australia with a ‘vaccine exemption’, he was denied entry at the airport and subsequently detained for nine hours. Djokovic’s visa was eventually cancelled as it didn’t allow for medical exemptions, and he was then moved to quarantine at a hotel while his team appealed the decision. Five days after Djokovic flew to Australia, a judge from the Federal Circuit Court of Australia quashed the visa cancellation and ordered Djokovic's release from quarantine within half an hour. Four days afterwards, immigration minister Alex Hawke personally reimposed the penalty, and Djokovic lost the subsequent appeal, resulting in his deportation from Australia.

Reasons to Buy

For those wanting an in-depth analysis of how the 2023 Australian Open performed, in the sense of both business and popularity.