Matildas’ win against France delivers Australia’s biggest TV sport program in a decade

(Image credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The Matildas cemented their standing as national heroes and media superstars yesterday, defeating France in the Semi Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and delivering the highest rating TV sport program of the past decade. In WA, the game reached an astonishing 689,000 people with an average audience of 388,000 people.

The Matildas’ thrilling 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 makes the Matildas v France game the biggest streaming event ever seen in Australia.

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

According to the preliminary, non-adjusted OzTAM data, the game peaked at 4.43 million viewers on broadcast and dominated its broadcast timeslot, scoring an 81.2% commercial audience share in total people, 85% in 25 to 54s and 91.2% in 16 to 39s.

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 has been watched on 7plus to date.

Seven’s Managing Director Melbourne and Network Head of Sport, Lewis Martin, said: “Australia partied yesterday as the Matildas did us proud. The nation gathered around the screens of Seven to cheer on our latest sporting heroes, in an amazing, shared experience that only Seven can deliver.

“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ has brought Australia together in a way we haven’t seen for years. We can’t wait for Wednesday. Go Matildas!”

The Matildas will now take on England in the Semi Final, to be played at Stadium Australia in Sydney this Wednesday, 16 August, with coverage on Seven and 7plus starting at 7.00pm AEST.

* The official OzTAM broadcast audience numbers released this morning are preliminary data and do not take into account the fact the game ran into overtime. The adjusted audience numbers will be released on Tuesday.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ Semi Final:

Matildas v England: From 7.00pm AEST, Wednesday 16 August, live and free on Seven and 7plus