With the Betway Premiership set to kick off in mid-September, the 2023/24 season hit new football viewership heights
It’s no secret that sports-mad South Africans love soccer. According to Nielsen Sports SA data, national pride is still in the top spot, with the 2023/24 season of Betway Premiership dominating viewership.
The data highlights that SuperSport remains the go-to platform for the most comprehensive football coverage for a broad and diverse audience.
This is despite a downward trajectory in the general consumption of linear and pay TV.
Notably, over seven million fans tuned in to watch repeat or highlight broadcasts – a testament to the power of secondary broadcasts, and there are no signs of slowing down.
During the 2023/2024 season, live viewership rose by 27 per cent compared to that of the 2022/2023 season.
This represents two million unique viewers, which is significant given that eight fewer games were played and broadcast this year.
The average unique audience per game also reports an upward shift of over 18 per cent, revealing that the Betway Premiership is a healthy property, following the same trend, in overall rising football viewership on SuperSport.
Additionally, the 2023/2024 season saw secondary broadcasts increase by six per cent compared to the previous season.
FOOTBALL ATTRACTS MOST VIEWERS
This growth demonstrates the value of secondary broadcasts in allowing football fans to re-watch games or catch up on missed content.
An increase in broadcast hours year-over-year has led to a 10 per cent rise in overall consumption, with secondary broadcast consumption alone surging by 22 per cent.
Overall, football remains the sport with the highest unique viewership on SuperSport.
Apart from Afcon 2023, the 2023/24 season of the Betway Premiership captured more local viewers than any other football event, highlighting its value as a prime sports entertainment entity.
Additionally, during the 2023/2024 competition, SABC free-to-air channels hosted 11 broadcasts - 10 live broadcasts and one repeat.
In the previous season, however, the national broadcaster hosted 22 broadcasts, all of which were live, with no secondary broadcasts included for the season yielding a total unique audience for SABC exclusive broadcasts in 2023/2024 of 12 573 069.
This a three per cent drop compared to the previous season, with 50 per cent fewer broadcasts - Notably, the decrease in broadcasts meant that viewers had fewer opportunities to watch the tournament.
A positive outlook, though, is that the equivalent average unique live audience per match on SABC channels experienced a 31 per cent increase when compared to the previous season.
On SuperSport channels, there was a similar increase of 27 per cent in the total unique audience for live broadcasts.
These impressive audience numbers clearly demonstrate the growing appetite for the Betway Premiership broadcast content.
Tumelo Selikane, Managing Director at Nielsen Sports SA, explains that it isn’t just the fans who benefit from extensive football coverage but also brands that participate in advertising and sponsorship opportunities:
“The Betway Premiership’s continued strength and appeal reinforce local fans' dedication and passion for their home teams. While the DSTV Premium subscriber base reports the most significant downward shift, it did not affect viewership on the linear TV platform.
“The abundance of secondary broadcasts kept the event top of mind and Data shows that 91 per cent of the secondary content was broadcast on channels available on the DStv Compact package. This more accessible subscription package provides a massive potential audience for the Betway Premiership. “
DISKI CHALLENGE A FAN FAVOURITE
The popular PSL reserve league competition, the DStv Diski Challenge, has also emerged as a fan favourite.
This competition allows young and emerging football talent to showcase their skills and gain competitive experience.
Diski Challenge viewership for the 2023/2024 season reached a total unique audience of 5 006 128 viewers across five channels.
Overall, total consumption for the development tournament increased by three per cent in 2024.
This is driven by a stronger Average Minute Rating (AMR) performance than the previous season.
With over 150 million consumption hours on SuperSport and SABC, the Betway Premiership is still keeping more than 19 million unique viewers captivated.
Despite a reduction in the total number of broadcasts from 171 to 163 games compared to the previous season, the Betway Premiership continues to lead the pack – an opportunity both fans and sponsors can equally enjoy.