The A-League grand final is locked and loaded, with Melbourne City ready to take on the Central Coast Mariners at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night.
In what is shaping up to be a David V Goliath battle, Melbourne City been in form all season, whereas the Central Coast have cruised home on a late season hot streak.
Ahead of the whistle blow, Mediaweek spoke to Nick Bower, Paramount’s general manager – ad sales about why football is such a good fit for Paramount and its advertising partners.
“We’re really excited about the finals this year,” says Bower. “The audiences across 10 Bold, 10 Play, and Paramount+ are all up year on year for finals, so it’s been a really good series from that perspective.
“We’re really excited about the numbers that we’re seeing, viewing on Paramount+ is up year on year 11% for stream starts, and 34% for minutes viewed. That just shows there are a lot of Australians out there that are loving watching the A-League finals series so far.”
Football is a unique sport, but Bower points out that “it’s also a really exciting one.” For the Paramount team, advertising around the game means highlighting the audiences that the sport attracts.
“It targets a younger audience than some of the other traditional football codes, which is really appealing to our partners. It also is a sport that really encapsulates things like diversity, inclusion, and it heroes female participation in sport. It’s a sport that not only lives up to our ideals and our values as a business, but in addition to that, it really resonates with our partners.
“It works so well to connect to a sport that has such deep roots in the community, and we’re seeing that through the audiences that we’re receiving so far in this finals series.”
Historically, the highest placing team at the end of the season would be the ones to host the A-League decider, but that changed earlier this year. In a controversial decision, the A-League sold the grand final hosting rights to Sydney, no matter the result.
Despite the drama, Bower says that Paramount’s job hasn’t been affected.
“Those decisions are with the A-League, and it really hasn’t impacted us as the broadcaster. We’re just looking forward to what will be a pretty exciting grand final.”
Of course, the weekend of football doesn’t end with the A-League grand final.
“We’re really excited about Paramount+ delivering the FA Cup Final live and exclusive on Sunday night,” says Bower. “We’re going to have the A-League grand final go into a preview of the FA Cup, which will then push viewers to Paramount+ to watch the game live.
“It’s Manchester United vs Manchester City, a massive Manchester derby, which will be huge. It’s safe to say we just can’t get enough.”
Finally, when asked which team he will be getting behind on Saturday, Bower’s answer is simple:
“I’m going for good ratings on Saturday night, like any good TV person!”
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Top Image: Nick Bower