Super Bowl Record
The Super Bowl on Sky Sports set a new record for viewership, with an average of 514k viewers and a peak audience of 761k. It’s the most-watched Super Bowl ever on Sky Sports. Taylor Swift’s attendance likely had something to do with this as numerous US outlets have reported an increase in viewing figures (and female audience numbers have surged).
Sky Sports Tennis Launch – Feb 11 2024
Sky Sports Tennis launched with an average of 5k viewers, surpassing Eurosport’s average viewership for the day. The total reach for Sky Sports Tennis was 95k, with 58% of viewers being women and 90% falling into the ABC1 demographic (compared to the Sky Sports average of 28% and 59%).
Premier League
The Premier League match between Aston Villa and Manchester United on Super Sunday averaged 3m viewers and peaked at 3.42m, marking the biggest ever big 6 vs. non-big 6 fixture on Sky. Villa had an 11 point cushion on Manchester United, but another loss would have cut it down to 5 points. With a lot riding on such a tightly contested top four, it’s no wonder the match drew in such numbers.
Battle of the Bayern’s
The Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich averaged 140k viewers (peak 201k), making it the second most-watched Bundesliga game on Sky, behind only Harry Kane’s debut. The current table leaders Bayer Leverkusen widened the gap against number two in the table Bayern Munich. The game was advertised as a ‘title showdown’ as Leverkusen now edge closer to title victory.
Masters Golf – Sponsorship Opportunities
The Masters Golf event will run from 11th to 14th April, with the sponsorship live from 8th to 21st April 2024. The event will be targeting an ABC1 Adult audience with a reach of 3.7 million individuals in the UK – with full sponsorship costs at £950,000 gross.
After a challenging year for the UK TV market, characterized by what ITV CEO Carolyn McCall termed the ‘worst advertising market recession in 15 years,’ Sky has reason to celebrate as its Sports portfolio continues to thrive, boasting positive increases in viewing figures. Against a backdrop of escalating viewer fragmentation and fierce competition for sports viewers from various VOD platforms like Amazon Prime, these figures appear all the more impressive.
While overall linear TV viewing figures for UK adults show slight declines year-on-year, around 4%, this trend is more pronounced among young and upmarket audiences, who are swiftly gravitating towards the diverse offerings of VOD services available in the market. For instance, examining ABC1 men as a demographic, comparing October 2023 to January 2024 year-on-year, reveals a roughly 6% decline in TVRs for the period. However, within the Sky Sports channel portfolio, there’s a marginal 1% increase in ABC1 men viewing during the same period. Given the aforementioned landscape, this outcome stands as a remarkable achievement for Sky.
Sky received further validation in December with the announcement of their partnership with TNT, securing Premier League TV broadcast rights until the culmination of the 2028/29 season, at a combined cost of approximately £6.7bn. Despite widespread speculation regarding heightened competition from platforms like Amazon Prime and DAZN, Sky actually managed to secure an increased number of live matches, with Amazon Prime relinquishing rights to any live games. This hints at a reprieve from the threat posed by VOD giants in the competition for live football rights, albeit potentially temporary.
These developments hold significant implications for brands and advertisers, particularly those aiming to engage a sports-oriented or male-skewed audience. While Sky Sports maintains its access to premium content and sustains audience levels, it’s not immune to the broader downturn in advertising investment affecting the market. An overview of their open sponsorship packages reveals ample opportunities across platforms such as Sky Sports News, Rugby, and various football packages. As an agency, we’ve achieved considerable success in securing high-value sponsorship deals within this content sphere. So, if reaching the Sky Sports audience aligns with your objectives, we urge you to reach out to your account team at ARM for further exploration.
