A record number of fans flocked to the Perth Stadium for the much-anticipated opening of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, with the highest ever day attendance for Test cricket in Perth recorded on days one and two. Attendance at the Perth Test was up 63% on last year. In addition, according to Cricket Australia, average viewership has increased by 30% compared to last year, reflecting the huge interest in the match. Cricket Australia also reported record levels of activity on its digital channels, highlighting widespread excitement and engagement for the event both at the stadium and across Australia.
Days one and two at Perth Stadium set attendance records for any Test match in Perth, with 31,302 and 32,368 people passing through the gates respectively. The total attendance was 96,463, the second highest attendance ever recorded in Perth and the highest ever at Perth Stadium.
The Perth Scorchers also set a record attendance for their Weber WBBL match played at the WACA Ground on the evening of the second day of the West Test, meaning over 100,000 people attended cricket over the four days.
According to Cricket Australia, ticket sales for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series are more than 2.5 times higher than the 2018-19 tour of India, with tickets already sold out for the first day at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Large crowds are also predicted for Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and fans are advised to buy tickets as soon as possible.
The Perth Test dominated television ratings on each of the first three days, with seven sessions averaging over 1 million viewers across all platforms (Seven, 7plus Sport, Foxtel, Foxtel Go, Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports), including 1.6 million viewers at the national level for the third session of Day 1.
Average daily viewership increased by 30% during last year’s Perth Test against Pakistan in the first three days. This was the first time fans were able to stream Test Cricket on 7plus Sport in addition to Kayo Sports, Foxtel Go and Foxtel Now.
Cricket Australia’s digital channels saw a surge in engagement, with 2.7 million Australian people visiting cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live app for the Test, as well as 8.4 million users worldwide.
Records were also broken in videos viewed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live app, with Australian views up 30% from the first Test last summer.
The series’ enormous global reach was also evident, with the video being viewed 259 million times on Cricket Australia’s social media channels during the Test match.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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