At the start of every A-League season there is much discussion about the crowd figures and the TV audiences with both supporters and critics putting their spin on the figures.
Below Mediaweek reports on the average audiences for each of the 13 completed seasons since 2005/2006.
The numbers for 2017/2018 are down year-on-year with different explanations as to why.
Sydney Morning Herald sports reporter Vince Rugari wrote today:
A-League executives are reserving judgment on declining television ratings until streaming figures are available and a clearer picture emerges of just how much the viewing habits of football fans have changed in a shifting technological landscape.
Anecdotal evidence suggests there has been a significant take-up of the new My Football Live app launched by Football Federation Australia this season, which offers Telstra customers free streams of all A-League, W-League and FFA Cup matches.
The data below, which is an average for every match of the season, including finals, shows season 2012/2013 was strongest with an average over 70,000.
A-League season average on Fox Sports:
2005-2006 – 42,054
2006-2007 – 55,465
2007-2008 – 69,745
2008-2009 – 63,792
2009-2010 – 54,018
2010-2011 – 44,968
2011-2012 – 65,789
2012-2013 – 74,659
2013-2014 – 65,109
2014-2015 – 59,749
2015-2016 – 55,193
2016-2017 – 63,422
2017-2018 – 51,169