Melbourne: Australian Open 2025 smashed attendance records, attracted 1.9 billion global fans and drew 2.3 billion social impressions while also delivering record economic benefits to Victoria.
The event injected $565.8 million into the state’s economy, according to a new IER report.
Over the past 10 years the Australian Open has generated more than $3.46 billion for Victoria.
“The Australian Open remains a major economic driver for Victoria, attracting hundreds of thousands of fans from across Australia and around the world,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said.
“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.”
The number of full-time jobs generated by the Australian Open increased 15.78 per cent to 2722, the highest on record. The Grand Slam resulted in an extra 775 jobs in the accommodation, hotels and café sector, 182 jobs in trade services, 103 jobs in road transport and another 85 jobs in construction.
Visitors to AO25 booked 442,887 nights in Victorian hotels, with the average daily spend per visitor $243.92.
62.7 per cent of all Australian Open attendees were locals from Melbourne, 19 per cent from interstate, 10.3 per cent intrastate and 8 per cent from overseas.
The Australian Open 2025 had a global cumulative reach of 1.9 billion, with 758 million hours viewed globally across a cross-platform audience.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos welcomed the strong figures made possible by the Labor Government’s investment in major events and sporting infrastructure.
“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.”
The Summer of Tennis 2025 including the Australian Open generated a total expenditure stimulus in excess of $623 million which represents all money spent in each region attributable to the events across the country, including attendee spend and the event organiser spend to host the events.
Key Economic Benefits
- The Australian Open total expenditure stimulus in 2025 is $565.8 million – this uplift is generated by Australian Open activity nationally, plus event organisers and attendee spend at the AO
- The Australian Open generated $424.4 million for the Melbourne economy
- Australian Open 2025 generated more than $414.3 million for the Victorian economy
- The Australian Open has generated more than $3.46 billion for Victoria over the past 10 years.
Jobs
- The number of full-time equivalent jobs generated increased 15.78 per cent to 2722 – the highest figure on record
- Australian Open 2025 resulted in 775 jobs in the accommodation, hotels and café sector, 182 jobs in trade services, 103 in road transport and 85 jobs in construction services.
Tourism facts
- 442,887 bed nights were booked in Victorian hotels
- The 2025 average daily spend per visitor was $243.92
- 62.7 per cent of all Australian Open attendees were from Melbourne, 19 per cent from interstate, 10.3 per cent from intrastate and 8 per cent from overseas
- Social activities were the most popular leisure activities with 72 per cent of visitors participating. A further 40 per cent took part in arts and culture activities, 38 per cent enjoyed outdoor and nature activities, and 29 per cent took an organised tour or visited an attraction.
Attendance
- Australian Open 2025 smashed previous attendance records with 1,218,831 fans attending across the three-week event including 116,528 people in AO Opening Week
- More than 1.5 million people attended events across the AO and Australian Summer of Tennis
- More than 7.5 million people have attended the Australian Open over the last 10 years
- Friday 17 January was the highest attended day/night in the history of the Australian Open, with 97,123 fans through the gates
- Records were broken for nine individual sessions and 11 day/night totals.
Key perception benefits
- 97.7 per cent of Victorian attendees surveyed believe that is important for Victoria to host the AO each year
- 74.7 per cent of visitors who attended the Australian Open 2025 agree that the AO is a major highlight in the sporting calendar and 72.8 per cent believe that it puts the attention of the world onto Australia during the event
- 68 per cent of attendees would recommend visiting Victoria, indicating a positive perception of the region
- More than half of visitors to the Australian Open from interstate reported that their perception of Victoria changed for the better
- According to 65 per cent of attendees, the attributes most associated with the Australian Open are ‘welcoming’ and ‘iconic’.
Global viewership
- Australian Open 2025 reached a cumulative global audience of 1.91 billion people
- 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, USA, Japan and Italy
- The two countries represented in the men’s singles final both had strong growth in AO hours viewed with Germany up 15 per cent vs the four-year average and Italy up 42 per cent vs the four-year average
- In Italy, an average audience of 3.5 million watched Jannik Sinner defend his AO men’s singles title, with the men’s final enjoying a 33 per cent audience share across Eurosport and FTA channel Nove
- In Germany, the average audience for the men’s final was 1.81 million, across Eurosport and FTA Channel RTL
- There was a 34 per cent year on year increase in Japanese hours viewed, driven by the return of Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka to the AO.
Domestic broadcast highlights
- 13.07 million people were reached across the 9Network’s coverage of Australian Open 2025, up two per cent year-on-year
- 150 million domestic hours viewed (cross-platform), up 8 per cent year-on-year
- Audiences on streaming platforms continue to grow, with 23.3 per cent of all domestic hours viewed coming through 9Now and Stan – up 5.7 percentage points from AO24
- The 9Network was the number one BVOD commercial free-to-air network by share of voice on all 15 days of AO25
- Among 16-39 year-olds, 9Now’s BVOD commercial free-to-air audience share averaged over 62 per cent across AO25
- The two most watched matches of AO25 on total TV were the men’s singles final (2 million average audience) and the women’s singles final (1.6 million average)
- Among matches featuring Australian players, the most watched were Alex de Minaur’s quarterfinal vs Jannik Sinner (1.3 million) and his fourth round match vs Alex Michelsen (1.2 million).
