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The Adelaide Thunderbirds’ triumph in last Saturday’s Suncorp Super Netball grand final capped a ground-breaking 2023 season in which the competition broke attendance and viewership records.

The Thunderbirds claimed their first national league title in 10 years with a thrilling 60-59 extra time win over the NSW Swifts, in front of a sold-out crowd of 9,622 at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena.

The Grand Final turnout marked the largest crowd yet to attend a match at John Cain Arena in the Suncorp Super Netball League era and followed record breaking crowd attendance across the first two weeks of finals. 

The 2023 Grand Final - which was competing for the first time in the Saturday night primetime slot against the AFL, NRL and The Ashes - was also the most watched Suncorp Super Netball match ever on Foxtel, with Fox Sports linear audiences up 14% compared to last year’s decider.

The match was also available to stream free on Kayo Freebies and was the second most streamed Suncorp Super Netball match of all time.

Fox Sports Australia provided live and on-demand coverage of every match of the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball season via Foxtel and Kayo Sports, with viewership this season up 10% compared to 2022. This growth included a 9% increase in audiences watching on Fox Sports on Foxtel, and an 11% increase in streaming audiences across Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go/Now. In addition, viewership of Kayo Minis doubled compared to the 2022 season and the audience watching matches available on Kayo Freebies grew 18%.

International fans’ appetite for Suncorp Super Netball ascended in 2023 with 144 countries accessing matches via Netball Australia TV, 23 more than last year. Viewership via the streaming service was up 202% compared to the 2022 season, and an increase of 274% to the minutes watched.

Growth of the game was also demonstrated in the stands with attendance across the home and away season up by 25% compared to 2022, and club memberships reaching increasing by 20% with 30,675 members across the eight Suncorp Super Netball clubs.

This was achieved despite the Collingwood team announcing that it will not competed in the competition next season, leaving Netball Australia needing to find a new team for 2024.

Commenting on the season, Netball Australia Chief Executive, Kelly Ryan advised “this year’s Suncorp Super Netball season captured fans on a whole new level and Saturday night’s spectacular Grand Final was the perfect ending to the seventh edition of the world’s best netball league.

“The overall Grand Final experience was unlike anything we’ve seen to date with the inclusion of a sold out Grand Final lunch and The Clubhouse fan activation meant there was something for everyone on Grand Final Day.

“Our partnership with the Foxtel Group has continued to flourish across 2023 to bring the stories of our elite athletes and the netball community to life each and every week of the season.”

The Foxtel Group’s coverage of netball will continue throughout 2023 with the Netball World Cup from 28th July to 6th August in South Africa and the Constellation Cup between the Australian Diamonds and the New Zealand Silver Ferns in October.

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