A-Leagues Shine In Successful ‘Summer Of Football’

The A-Leagues’ ‘Summer of Football’ has once again been successful in engaging with more fans at home and in stadiums across the Ninja A-League and Isuzu UTE A-League.

The action-packed ‘Summer of Football’ saw 81 matches played across the A-Leagues, from December 19 to January 31, in a football feast for the family. Late drama, goals galore and unpredictable results headlined the on-field action, while off-field, strong crowds and broadcast growth highlighted the momentum across both competitions.

In the Isuzu UTE A-League, six clubs have seen year-on-year crowd growth, with the positive trajectory continuing across the ‘Summer of Football’ period with; sell out crowds at Coopers Stadium and Brisbane’s Kayo Stadium, Perth and Newcastle recording their highest home crowds since 2021 and the 2018 Grand Final respectively, the highest crowd for the season at the pulsating Sydney Derby, and year-on-year growth in the Big Blue crowd.

The ‘Summer of Football’ period also saw two of the top three highest attended rounds of the season, with Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners also recording their highest crowds of the season, and Auckland, Macarthur and the Western Sydney Wanderers registering their second best crowds of their campaign.

The festive football feast also saw more fans tune into A-League games, with free-to-air viewers on 10 Drama growing 5% and Paramount+ streaming minutes up 40% compared to last season’s ‘Summer of Football’.

The non-stop football entertainment for the family continued across the Ninja A-League Women with the highest standalone and doubleheader crowds recorded for the season. Overall, attendance grew 30% and Paramount+ streaming minutes increased by 50% compared to the 2024/25 ‘Summer of Football’.

A-League CEO Steve Rosich said: ”The ‘Summer of Football’ is a really important period for both leagues to grow momentum, and connect with more fans and families, and it certainly delivered again this year.”

“It is always a key period within our calendar, and it’s great to see the growth year-on-year, with uptick in marquee matches and many Clubs registering their highest crowds of the season, and in some cases in many years.”

“It’s testament to the entertaining football and the continued work by Clubs to find new ways to engage audiences, especially young families over the holiday period.”

“It sets up a really entertaining run home with six Ninja A-League and ten Isuzu UTE A-League rounds remaining. Both leagues are evenly poised - with just a few wins separating most of the ladder - which is exciting for fans and will see meaningful matches every week as teams push for every point to cement their finals place.”

For more information on the A-Leagues, head to www.aleagues.com.au.

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