New data shows Australian Open 2025 smashed attendance records, attracted 1.9 billion global fans and delivered record economic benefits to Victoria’s hospitality industry and epic awareness for drinks brands partnering with the event.
The event more than 1.2 million tennis fans who spent hundreds of millions in Melbourne’s pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants.
Among the drinks partners who worked on their serves during the Australian Open were Canadian Club, Piper-Heidsieck, Grey Goose, Luzhou Laojiao Jiaoling Baijiu, Aperol Spritz, Peroni, Somersby and Squealing Pig.
In total, the event injected $565.8 million into the state’s economy, according to a new IER report.
“The Australian Open remains a major economic driver for Victoria, attracting hundreds of thousands of fans from across Australia and around the world,” said Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley.
“We’re proud to see the tournament growing not just in attendance and global reach, but in the direct impact it has on local jobs and businesses.
“This is more than just a tennis tournament – it’s a world-class event that drives tourism, boosts hospitality, and showcases Melbourne as a premier destination.”
Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said: “The Australian Open is a global event like no other – drawing visitors from across the world to the heart of Melbourne and reinforcing Victoria’s reputation as the sporting and major events capital of Australia.
“Our near $1 billion investment in the Melbourne Park precinct is helping the Australian Open reach new heights every year – breaking records, driving tourism and delivering major benefits to the economy.”
Fast facts
- The number of full-time jobs generated by the Australian Open increased 15.78% to 2722, the highest on record
- The Grand Slam resulted in an extra 775 jobs in the accommodation, hotels and café sector
- Visitors to AO25 booked 442,887 nights in Victorian hotels, with the average daily spend per visitor $243.92
- 62.7% of all Australian Open attendees were locals from Melbourne, 19% from interstate, 10.3% intrastate and 8% from overseas
- 74.7% of visitors who attended the Australian Open 2025 agree that the AO is a major highlight in the sporting calendar and 72.8% believe that it puts the attention of the world onto Australia during the event
- A record 124,589 global broadcast coverage hours were produced for AO25
- There were more than 758 million hours viewed globally of the Australian Open 2025 (cross-platform audience)
- The top five countries by total hours viewed were Australia, China, United States, Japan and Italy
- 13.07 million people were reached across the 9Network’s coverage of Australian Open 2025, up 2% year-on-year
- There were 18.9 million total AO social followers – an increase of 15% on 2024
- There were more than 40 million AO web and app visits
- AO social channels had 2.32 billion impressions – up 11% year-on-year
- 453.8 million impressions generated by AO influencers.
Nine’s director of content partnerships for sport, Olympic and Paralympic Games Anne Gruber told AdNews: “”AO sponsorships deliver unmatched brand impact across brand awareness, consideration and viewer attention.”
Tennis Australia’s director of partnerships and international business Roddy Campbell told The Australian: “Most people don’t realise that the Australian Open is the biggest Grand Slam in terms of attendance and audience. The AO is bigger than the US Open and bigger than Wimbledon. So pure media reach for global brands is a big part of the appeal of an event like ours.”
He said the ambition was to establish the Australian Open as the most “pioneering festival in the world”.
“The Australian Open is so much more than tennis,” he said. “You can come and have a drink in the sunshine, you can bring your kids to the ballpark. You can come and watch music festivals. We conquered the tennis fan a decade ago and have been on a journey of segmenting and creating this festival atmosphere with the best food, restaurant pop ups, bars, stores, activations, we’ve even got a tech incubator that goes on during the AO.”