NFL’s First Australia Regular-Season Game Draws 18.5 Million U.S. Viewers
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The NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia averaged 18.5 million U.S. viewers on Netflix, providing the league with a sizable television audience as it continues efforts to expand its international presence.
The San Francisco 49ers-Los Angeles Rams matchup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground peaked at 21.3 million U.S. viewers between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Eastern, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel figures released by Netflix.
Netflix said the game ranked among the three most-streamed Thursday prime-time NFL games.
Among viewers ages 18 to 34, the game averaged 4 million U.S. viewers, which Netflix said was the largest streaming audience in that demographic for a non-Christmas NFL regular-season game.
Worldwide, the matchup averaged 21.7 million viewers, with audiences tuning in from more than 200 countries and territories, according to Netflix. The company also said the game became the most-watched NFL game in Australia.
The event generated more than 340 million social media impressions and 14.5 million engagements across Netflix and NFL social media channels, according to figures released by the organizations.
Official attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was 100,021, which organizers said ranked as the seventh-largest crowd for a regular-season game in NFL history.
The Melbourne game comes as the NFL continues to increase its international presence through regular-season games, marketing agreements and youth programs outside the United States.
The league’s Global Markets Program allows participating teams to conduct marketing, fan engagement and commercial activities in designated international markets. The NFL has also used initiatives such as NFL FLAG and the International Player Pathway program to develop participation and identify potential players outside the United States.
The international strategy provides the NFL and its teams with opportunities to develop audiences, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and media partnerships in markets beyond the United States.
The Melbourne matchup marked another step in that strategy by bringing a regular-season game to Australia for the first time and placing one of the league’s international events before audiences in the United States and around the world.
