Sports

BBL 10 most-watched tournament in league history

The recently-concluded 10th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) was the most-watched tournament in the league’s history, Cricket Australia informed on Monday.

Sentinel Digital Desk

SYDNEY: The recently-concluded 10th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL) was the most-watched tournament in the league's history, Cricket Australia informed on Monday.

An average audience of over 1.4 million watched the Sydney Sixers claim their third BBL title in thrilling fashion over the Perth Scorchers on Saturday night across Seven, Foxtel, and streaming services including Kayo.

That represented a 15 percent increase on the BBL 9 final and ranked as the fourth most-watched BBL game ever.

The BBL 10 final reached 2.5 million viewers on Seven and 669,000 on Foxtel, capping an extraordinary season in which players, officials, staff, and broadcast partners successfully navigated through the many challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the CA release stated.

Despite crowd restrictions, border closures, and the need to stage the tournament in a bio-secure hub, a total of 522,140 fans attended matches across Covid-safe venues in seven states and territories.

"The KFC BBL has the best fans in the country and we are grateful to the record number of Australians who tuned in to watch our tenth season," said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's Head of Big Bash Leagues.

"Bringing joy to our fans was the driving force for everyone across the league and clubs all season and we thank every one of them, whether they watched on TV or a device, listened on the radio, or attended at the stadium. We trust they enjoyed the incredible action on display in KFC BBL 10 and we can't wait to welcome them back next season, hopefully in a more relaxed public health environment," he added. IANS