The 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season has become an unmistakable streaming triumph on Kayo Sports, delivering unprecedented audience engagement and record-breaking figures as part of its revamped coverage strategy.
Streaming Boom: Minutes & Viewership Surge
As the AFL season neared its midpoint, Kayo Sports had already logged a staggering 3.4 billion minutes of AFL content streamed—a 25% increase over the same period in 2024. This growth underscores not just sustained interest in footy, but a growing appetite for elevated streaming experiences.
By early September, Kayo confirmed the 2025 season has become the most-watched AFL season ever on the platform — fans consumed 7.37 billion minutes, representing a 12% year-on-year increase in total minutes streamed across the season. This marks seven consecutive years of year-over-year audience growth.
Prime Time Icons: Thursday, Friday, Saturday Skyrocket
Viewership gains this season have been particularly fueled by prime-time matchups:
- Thursday Night Footy soared by 41% compared to last season, thanks in part to the dynamic commentary duo of Matt Hill and Mark Howard.
- Friday Night Footy, delivered by Anthony Hudson and Gerard Whateley, surged 30% year-on-year.
- Super Saturday LIVE, hosted by Kath Loughnan, Jack Riewoldt, and David King, produced Kayo’s most-streamed match of the season: Collingwood vs. Geelong in Round 8 averaged 389,000 viewers—a 27% lift from previous Saturdays.
- The ANZAC Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon drew 381,000 viewers, becoming the second highest streamed game.
These spikes in engagement highlight the impact of Fox Footy’s investment in tailored commentary, sharper visuals, and matching the energy of marquee matches.
The Strategy Behind the Surge
Kayo’s success this season isn’t a coincidence - it’s the result of a bold transformation in delivery and presentation:
- Every AFL match this season is available live, in 4K quality, and with no ad-breaks during play.
- Fox Footy took full creative control, deploying dedicated commentary for each game, bespoke graphics, and special programming like Super Saturday LIVE to elevate the viewing experience.
- Strategic scheduling - particularly doubling down on Thursday night fixtures, with 23 of the 25 rounds featuring Thursday matches - created consistent prime-time momentum for fans.
- The shift of Saturday matches away from free-to-air and into paywall territory (for Victoria and Tasmania) encouraged more fans to turn to Kayo and Foxtel subscriptions.
Executive Reflections & Future Direction
Cate Hefele, Executive Director of Kayo Sports, said: “We’ve seen an incredible surge in Kayo Sports viewing this AFL season... fans choosing our dedicated commentary teams, graphics, 4K and no ads during live play”.
Steve Crawley, Managing Director at Fox Sports, added: “We have loved the opportunity to bring fans the fresh Fox Footy look and sound... The numbers tell us we have hit the right note”.
Kayo’s CEO Julian Ogrin noted that viewership is up 16% year-on-year, notable given the platform emerged from an already record-breaking 2024 campaign, capped by a nearly 40% jump in viewing the previous year.
What It All Means
- Streaming’s AFL dominance: With multi-billion minute views and triple-digit growth rates, Kayo is central to how fans watch footy.
- Programming power: Enhanced production, commentary, and strategic scheduling have transformed how games are consumed.
- Digital shift affirmed: Fans are choosing high-quality live streams over traditional broadcast, cementing Kayo’s role in AFL’s future.
The 2025 AFL season has delivered a knockout performance for Kayo Sports - record audiences, a revolutionized viewing experience, and a clear signal that streaming is the future of football in Australia.
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