Seven is gearing up for its biggest cricket season yet, with major brands including KFC, Toyota, Westpac, Woolworths and NRMA joining an expanded roster of sponsors across The Ashes, BBL and WBBL. With 17.65 million viewers last summer and huge ticket sales, advertisers are capitalising on cricket’s unmatched national reach.
As Australia prepares for another sun-soaked summer of sport, Seven is already calling the upcoming months its biggest cricket season on record. With The Ashes, the Big Bash League (BBL) and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) all lining up for an intense stretch of cricket, the network is witnessing a surge of commercial momentum rarely seen even in the country’s cricket-obsessed landscape. Brands are flocking to the crease in anticipation, and Seven’s sales team is navigating one of its busiest seasons as marketers move quickly to secure space in a sport that continues to demonstrate unmatched reach and emotional currency.
The confidence from advertisers isn’t unfounded. Seven’s cricket broadcast—across its free-to-air network and the growing footprint of 7plus Sport—reached 17.65 million Australians last summer. This enormous viewership, coupled with the palpable excitement around the return of The Ashes and strong BBL and WBBL line-ups, has created a perfect storm for commercial demand. Adding to the buzz is the fact that more than 700,000 tickets for The Ashes have already been snapped up, signalling a bumper season both in the stadiums and on the screens.
Against this backdrop, Seven has unveiled a heavyweight roster of returning and new brand partners, confirming a commercial line-up that rivals the sporting one. For the 2025–26 season, KFC, Toyota, Harvey Norman and Woolworths lead the list of repeat sponsors reaffirming their long-standing association with summer cricket. Their return underscores an ongoing trust in cricket’s steadfast ability to deliver mass-scale exposure across diverse consumer segments.
One of the notable additions this season is Westpac, which enters as Seven’s Summer of Cricket partner. The bank’s decision follows its new principal partnership with Cricket Australia, marking a strategic entry into a space deeply embedded in Australian culture. With cricket functioning not only as entertainment but as a national ritual, the bank sees its involvement as a bridge to strengthen emotional and community ties.
The commercial line-up extends even further for The Ashes, one of Australian sport’s most valuable broadcast properties. NRMA Insurance, Lion, Bunnings and Chemist Warehouse will feature throughout the coverage, capitalising on the enormous audience magnetism of the historic series. For the BBL and WBBL, Seven has confirmed Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, Youi Insurance, Anaconda and Weber among the brands stepping in, further broadening the advertiser ecosystem.
Beyond headline sponsorships, a wide range of integrated packages has also returned. Liquorland, Mitsubishi Electric Australia, BKT and Cancer Council Australia are back on board, joined this time by new participants including REA Group, bet365, Drummond Golf and Aussie Beef. This assortment of categories—from retail and finance to beverages, insurance and home appliances—reflects both cricket’s broad audience demographics and Seven’s ability to offer multi-layered brand exposure.
Seven’s National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, describes the commercial uplift as a direct reflection of the sentiment surrounding The Ashes. The combination of record ticket sales, high broadcast anticipation and growing interest in women’s cricket has collectively strengthened the market, she says, producing a level of advertiser confidence that extends beyond the sporting domain.
If the scale of the partnerships is impressive, the reasoning behind them is equally compelling. According to Seven’s National Sport Sales Director, Rob Maclean, the consistency of cricket audiences across the summer creates an advertising environment unlike any other. “7Cricket offers something for advertisers of all budgets and all audiences,” he said. “Every week, across every demo, brands can access mass audience and immediate reach.”
Maclean highlights that Seven’s cricket coverage from the first Test to the end of the BBL delivers an expected average weekly reach of more than 6.5 million people for 11 consecutive weeks. This continuity is virtually unmatched in the Australian advertising calendar, offering brands a prolonged runway of visibility during a period traditionally dominated by leisure, travel, shopping and holiday activity.
The synergy between formats also plays a crucial strategic role. “When bought in conjunction with Test cricket, BBL delivers approximately 38% incremental reach for people aged 18 to 54,” Maclean said. This incremental audience is key for brands seeking younger demographics that increasingly gravitate towards shorter formats, night-time fixtures and digital platforms. The complementary nature of audiences across Test cricket, BBL and WBBL enables advertisers to fine-tune their reach and engagement, drawing value from cross-format exposure.
The influx of advertisers this season also reflects the evolving dynamics of the cricket audience. With digital consumption rising rapidly and platforms like 7plus expanding their sports catalogues, brands are increasingly looking for integrated broadcast-streaming ecosystems. Seven’s multichannel offering ensures that advertisers are not only present on traditional free-to-air television but also seamlessly embedded across streaming environments where younger viewers and mobile-first fans now congregate.
Westpac’s entry into the cricket space provides a glimpse into how brands are framing their involvement as more than just conventional sponsorship. Michelle Klein, the bank’s Chief Growth Brand and Marketing Officer, said the partnership with Cricket Australia is deeply aligned with community engagement. “Cricket has a unique way of bringing Australians together, and our partnership allows us to be part of those moments,” she said. The bank plans to use the association to support grassroots programs and create experiences that extend beyond the boundary, reflecting the growing trend among marketers to embed themselves into cultural and emotional touchpoints rather than relying solely on logo visibility.
Community-led approaches have become increasingly important in sports partnerships, especially as brands seek authenticity at a time when audiences are more attuned than ever to performative sponsorship. Cricket’s cross-generational appeal gives it a rare advantage in this respect. Whether it’s families watching Test matches through long summer afternoons, young fans filling BBL stadiums under floodlights, or grassroots players inspired by the WBBL, the sport offers an expansive canvas for brands to situate themselves within shared moments of national identity.
The expanding prominence of women’s cricket has also contributed significantly to advertiser enthusiasm. With the WBBL continuing to break attendance and broadcast records, brands are eager to align with women’s sport as public momentum and commercial viability strengthen side by side. The increasing integration of WBBL sponsorships into larger cricket packages demonstrates that advertisers now view women’s sport as central, not supplementary, to their summer strategy.
Seven’s strong commercial performance this season can also be attributed to a broader trend in the media landscape: the resurgence of live sports as a reliable driver of mass viewership in an era of fragmented streaming consumption. While on-demand content continues to dominate entertainment preferences, live sports remain one of the few appointment-viewing genres capable of attracting millions simultaneously. For advertisers, this represents a rare guarantee of attention and immediacy—factors that are becoming harder to secure in today’s crowded digital environment.
As the countdown to the first ball begins, Seven’s Summer of Cricket stands as a testament to how sport, culture and commerce intersect during the Australian summer. With a stacked roster of brands, an energised fan base and a programming schedule that promises continuity and scale, the network is preparing for a season that could redefine benchmarks for audience engagement and advertiser confidence. For now, as more brands crowd the boundary rope, the message is clear: the summer of 2025–26 isn’t just shaping up to be a cricket season. It’s shaping up to be a commercial phenomenon.
