The Australian Open - Post Event Analysis

An analysis of the Australian Open, including a look at its sponsorship portfolio, attendance, and broadcast viewing figures

The event was overshadowed by the significant controversies surrounding Novak Djokovic's eligibility to play after he refused the COVID-19 vaccine. While he was initially granted an exemption, this decision was eventually overturned after he was detained for several days, and he was eventually deported. The lack of COVID-19 testing at the event despite the rampant spread of the Omicron variant also drew criticism, but the event managed to go ahead without any significant COVID-19 related delays. Viewing figures for the tournament were strong, driven by the success of Australian Ashleigh Barty, who won her first ever Grand Slam in her home country.

Key Highlights

• The event saw a return for audiences to the event, with a total of 346,468 fans attending over the duration of the two weeks. Prior to the event, crowds were capped at 50%, before being increased to 65% and 80% for the semi-finals and the finals respectively. The year-on-year growth in attendance was significant, which only had a cumulative attendance of 130,374 that was impacted by a five-day lockdown that took place in the midst of the tournament. Despite the impressive audiences for 2022, they are some way off the total of 812,174 people that attended the 2020 edition.
• TV ratings for the event were strong, particularly domestically where viewing figures were driven by the success of Australian Ashleigh Barty, who defeated Danielle Collins to win her first ever Grand Slam. Domestically, the women’s final attracted a peak audience of 4.26m viewers, with an average of 3.58m.
• Despite the relative success of the Australian Open in terms of viewership and attendance, the beginning of the tournament was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Novak Djokovic’s vaccination status, and his eligibility to compete given Australia’s strict COVID-19 measures. While Djokovic arrived in Australia with a ‘vaccine exemption’, he was denied entry at the airport and subsequently detained for nine hours. Djokovic’s visa was eventually cancelled as it didn’t allow for medical exemptions, and he was then moved to quarantine at a hotel while his team appealed the decision. Five days after Djokovic flew to Australia, a judge from the Federal Circuit Court of Australia quashed the visa cancellation and ordered Djokovic's release from quarantine within half an hour. Four days afterwards, immigration minister Alex Hawke personally reimposed the penalty, and Djokovic lost the subsequent appeal, resulting in his deportation from Australia.

Scope

• This report provides an overview of the event including the sponsorship activation, analysis of the COVID-19 situation, as well as a look at the attendance and general viewership of the event.
• It identifies approximately the amount of sponsorship revenue the tournament was able to generate.
• Also provided is a thorough breakdown of the series of events that led to star Novak Djokovic being deported by the Australian government.
• A look at the attendance of the event, as sport continues to rebuild in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reasons to Buy

• For those wanting an in depth analysis of how the first Grand Slam performed, in the sense of both business and popularity.
• The report closely analyses how important the success of a hometown player can be, as evidenced by the strong viewing figures for the tournament.