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The Australians have arrived and cricket is winning the competition for attendances and ratings in an extremely cluttered sports market.
With Super 14 well underway and extensive coverage of the winter Olympics, the opening two matches of the Australian tour of New Zealand – two Twenty20 internationals – were competing for both time and money.
Close to 50,000 people attended the two games in Wellington and Christchurch and cricket also dominated television audiences.
More than 170,000 people followed the BLACKCAPS’s heroics at AMI Stadium on Sunday night to tie up the two-match series with a dramatic Super over victory. Average live Super 14 viewership over the weekend was 67,000.
Although Sunday’s match had a higher audience against the 5+ population, Friday night’s tour opener at Westpac Stadium grabbed a higher proportion of the 18-49 demographic.
The strong interest in the opening games reflects recent market research conducted of New Zealand Cricket’s online community.
More than 2000 people completed the research, with 47% indicating that Australia was their favourite team to tour New Zealand. Well back in second spot was England, with support form 20% of the respondents to the www.blackcaps.co.nz survey.
Sales interest in the five match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series of One-Day Internationals also reflects this trend, with sell-outs expected in at least three of the matches.
New Zealand Cricket urges fans to buy the tickets in advance and get to the ground early to avoid queuing.
