Matildas World Cup TV ratings: Matildas v England clash sets new Seven and Optus Sport records

The Matildas’ victory over France and its later match against England in the FIFA Women’s World Cup has set new audience records for Australian broadcasters. While Optus Sport is yet to comment on the size of its audience, Seven has revealed the matches were the most-watched shows of the year so far. They were also the most-watched sporting events in a decade.

Seven Sport and Optus Sport have been sharing broadcasts of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Both broadcasters have been reporting record audiences for the games. Optus Sport took the unusual step of revealing just how well the matches have been performing. (See chart below) The telco revealed that the second week of the Women’s World Cup set a viewing record.

The second week of group stages is the largest ever week of audience on Optus Sport surpassing the first week’s previous high.

That result comes on the back of the Australia vs Canada match, the 17th biggest football game ever – Men’s or Women’s – on Optus Sport, out of 6,000 in total streamed games over the last seven years.

Seven’s Matildas audiences

Australia v Sweden 3,424,000
(Metro 2,134,000 Regional 889,000 BVOD 401,000)

Australia v England 7,201,000
(Metro 4,439,000 Regional 1,804,000 BVOD 958,000)

Australia v France 4,162,000 (preliminary)
(Metro 2,620,000 Regional 1,070,000 BVOD 472,000)

Australia v Denmark 3,633,000
(Metro 2,291,000 Regional 957,000 BVOD 385,000)

Australia v Canada 2,458,000
(Metro 1,544,000 Regional 653,000 BVOD 261,000)

Australia v Nigeria 1,510,000
(Metro 891,000 Regional 476,000 BVOD 142,000)

Australia v Ireland 1,974,000
Metro 1,232,000 Regional 546,000 BVOD 196,000)
Total People, Seven, 7mate, 7plus only. Latest numbers from OzTAM, revised after daily summaries below. Source: OzTAM 

Optus Sport Women’s World Cup Highlights

• Over 75% of all Optus Sport WWC23 consumption is on a large screen Connected TV.

• 72% of the Optus Sport WWC23 audience is under 45 – compared to the Australian population which is 40% under 45.

• 1,900 Optus Sport original WWC23 editorial articles have generated over 1.9m page views so far.

• The off-platform Australian social video views are now 25 million, clipped from over 300 hours of WWC23 video content.

Clive Dickens, vice president, television, content and product development of Optus said “It’s terrific to see that the Optus Sport audience for the Matildas eclipsed most major football matches, entering the Top 20 most viewed games we have ever streamed on Optus Sport.

“Monday night [Matildas v Denmark] could very well see more records broken as the Matildas enter the knock-out phase of the tournament. The tournament has truly inspired Australians. We are seeing huge audiences and engagement as a result,” Dickens said.

Dickens is the former head of digital at Seven where the primary channel, 7mate and 7Plus have been having big success with their coverage of Matilda’s games. The Matildas v Denmark match should produce even more ratings highlights for the broadcaster.

Ratings highlights of Seven’s four Matildas matches so far:

Matildas v France: #1 program of 2023

The Matildas defeated France in the Quarter Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and delivered the highest rating TV sport program of the past decade.

The Matildas’ victory over France at Brisbane Stadium in a 7-6 penalty shootout reached more than 7.2 million people (preliminary data) on Seven and 7plus, with an estimated average audience during the game of 4.17 million. The estimated average includes the game’s overtime, which was not captured in the preliminary OzTAM broadcast audience numbers for the game*.

The Matildas v France game’s adjusted average audience of 4.17 million included a national broadcast audience of 3.69 million viewers on Seven (2.62 million in the capital cities) plus 472,000 viewers on 7plus. It is the #1 TV program of the year.

The 472,000 viewers on 7plus make the Matildas v France game the biggest streaming event ever seen in Australia.

So far, Seven’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ has reached 11.9 million broadcast viewers plus another 2.3 million on 7plus. More than 269 million minutes of content have been watched on 7plus to date.

(OzTAM data does not take into account out-of-home viewing at clubs, pubs, sporting venues and so on.)

* The official OzTAM broadcast audience numbers released Sunday morning are preliminary data and do not take into account the fact the game ran into overtime. The adjusted audience numbers will be released at a later date when this post will be updated.

Matildas v Denmark: Round of 16 clash reaches 6.54m
Reaches 6.54 million viewers; average audience 3.56 million

Australia was captivated last night as the Matildas triumphed over Denmark to advance to the Quarter Finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and scored the highest rating TV program of 2023.

The Matildas’ 2-0 victory reached 6.54 million people on Seven and 7plus, with an average audience during the game of 3.56 million, making it the #1 show of the year.

The game’s average audience of 3.56 million included a national broadcast audience of 3.18 million viewers on Seven (2.29 million in the capital cities) and another 384,000 viewers on 7plus – a record for an individual event on 7plus.

Matildas v Denmark was the #1 broadcast program last night nationally and in the capital cities in all people, 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s.

The pre-game program was the #2 broadcast program nationally in 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s and #3 in all people (1.53 million broadcast viewers). The post-game program was #3 nationally in 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s and #5 in all people (1.22 million broadcast viewers).

7plus ranked #1 in BVOD viewing yesterday, with a 58.9% share.

The game peaked at 3.75 million viewers on broadcast and dominated its broadcast timeslot, scoring a 71.3% commercial audience share in total people, 74.5% in 25 to 54s and 78.5% in 16 to 39s.

So far, Seven’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ has reached 9.25 million broadcast viewers plus another 1.67 million on 7plus. More than 185 million minutes of content has been watched on 7plus to date.

Matildas v Ireland reaches 4.88 million viewers

The Matildas’ opening match against Ireland in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was a big hit with viewers, reaching 4.88 million people across the screens of the Seven Network.

The tense game saw the much-loved Matildas triumph over Ireland 1-0 in front of a sold-out crowd of 76,000 at Stadium Australia.

Seven reported an average audience of 1.93 million – 1.74 million national broadcast audience on Seven (including 1.23 million in the capital cities), plus another 184,000 viewers on 7plus.

The game peaked at 2.28 million viewers and dominated its broadcast timeslot, scoring a 47.6% commercial audience share in total people, 53.9% in 25 to 54s and 57.8% in 16 to 39s.

Matildas v Nigeria reaches 4.88 million

It wasn’t the result Australias were hoping for, but the Matildas’ FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 game against Nigeria still managed to score big with viewers on Seven and 7plus.

The shock 3-2 loss to Nigeria reached 3.78 million viewers.

The match attracted an average audience of 1.49 million: a national broadcast audience of 1.35 million viewers on Seven (including 898,000 in the capital cities), plus another 142,000 viewers on 7plus.

Matildas v Nigeria peaked at 1.75 million viewers and dominated its broadcast timeslot, scoring a 41.6% commercial audience share in total people, 49.9% in 25 to 54s and 56.1% in 16 to 39s.

Matildas v Canada grabs 4.71 million

Plus a record audience for a single event on 7plus.

The Matildas’ triumph over Canada in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was another smash hit for Seven and 7plus, reaching 4.71 million Australians on broadcast and BVOD and becoming Seven’s most-watched program so far in 2023.

The Matildas’ 4-0 victory saw it top Group B.

The game drew an average audience of 2.42 million, including a national broadcast audience of 2.16 million viewers on Seven and another 260,000 viewers on 7plus – a record for an individual event on 7plus.

Matildas v Canada was the #1 broadcast program nationally and in the capital cities in all people, 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s. The post-game program was the #2 broadcast program nationally in all people (1.32 million broadcast viewers), 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s, while 7plus ranked #1 in VOD viewing, with a 39.5% share.

The game peaked at 2.68 million viewers on broadcast and dominated its broadcast timeslot, scoring a 52.3% commercial audience share in total people, 54.4% in 25 to 54s and 57.1% in 16 to 39s.

After the Matildas v Canada game, Seven’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 has reached 8.02 million broadcast viewers plus another 1.14 million on 7plus. More than 106 million minutes of content has been watched on 7plus at that time.

See also: Everything you need to know about the FIFA Women’s World Cup commentators

Optus Sport reveals Top 20 broadcast games ever

Source: Optus Sport. Includes Optus Sport audiences only. List not yet updated after France, England and Sweden matches which are now in the Optus Top 5..