Nine is gearing up for a massive summer of tennis early next year when Australia is expected to be out of lockdowns and tough restrictions.
Matt Granger, Nine director of sport sales, says the summer will likely be a major inflexion point as the nation hits key vaccination targets needed to significantly ease restrictions and allow for more travel across the nation.
“After almost two years of living with a pandemic, we believe the summer of 2022 will be a real turning point,” Granger says.
“We have seen this year that sport is the one thing which has brought us together as we cheer for and celebrate our heroic athletes. As we look ahead, the Australian Open will do just that and help to inspire a nation. The Australian Open is on the world stage in terms of timing, reach, impact and effectiveness.”
Next year will be the first time Nine can offer marketers and brands integrated solutions across TV, both metro and regional, print, radio, and digital.
“Nine has invested heavily to create an unrivalled content and total TV strategy,” Granger says.
“The blend of assets at Nine delivers our audiences something unique that no other media company in the world can offer. From print, radio, digital and now to TV, on both a metro and regional basis, we really have a powerful combination of touchpoints when it comes to tennis.”
Over the past three years, major brand partners such as Kia, Samsung, and Swinburne University have worked with the Australian Open. According to Nine’s Powered, all three brands saw significant uplifts in brand consideration, awareness, and purchase intent.
When looking at the average uplift across all brand metrics measured for its major sponsors, Nine says over the past three years the biggest impact is on perceptions of quality, trust, and innovation.
“We can’t wait for the Australian Open to kick-start 2022 before continuing the momentum into the other Grand Slams of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, all of which deliver highly engaged audiences for us,” says Nine director of sport Brent Williams.
“We saw Wimbledon smash records on Nine this year, with well over two million people tuning in to watch Ash Barty fulfil her childhood dream of winning the Wimbledon title.
“Those audiences will be tuning in for the Australian Open and Nine’s Summer of Tennis.”
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