Brisbane Heat seek major sponsor

The Brisbane Heat are poised to convert a breakthrough summer into a bumper financial return with a rare opportunity up for grabs in 2024.

The Heat, winners of the KFC Big Bash League and runners-up in the Weber Women’s Big Bash League, are now in market for a new major partner following a decision by home goods retailer Betta Home Living to bring down the curtain on their sponsorship after 12 years with the club.

As major partner, Betta have occupied a highly visible spot on the club’s playing apparel for more than a decade as well as having a high profile at Heat home games over the years with the ‘Betta Ball Kids’ and ‘Betta Seats In The House’ sponsor activations.

Brisbane Heat general manager marketing and corporate affairs Peter Lock said the club was keen to extend the momentum from winning the BBL and being successful in the WBBL into off-field sponsorship triumph.

“It was a significant year for the club, coming off the back of encouraging numbers the previous year as well,’’ he said.

“We enjoyed fantastic support from the fans and we are looking forward to continuing to provide an outstanding experience for them in the future.”

“The Heat has had a rewarding relationship with Betta and thank them sincerely for their long-term commitment to the club and wish them every success in the future. We believe the Heat offers a new partner an excellent opportunity to join us in making the club even more successful in the future,” Lock said.

On the field, the Heat were the most successful club across the Big Bash League and Women’s Big Bash League in 2023-24 after finishing runners-up in the WBBL, complementing the club’s BBL|13 premiership. The 54-run victory over the Sydney Sixers last month to claim the BBL title marked the Heat’s second men’s championship.

The club averaged 25,787 attendees for its five BBL home games at the Gabba, a year-on-year increase of 35 percent.

Brisbane also set a new membership record with 14,507 members signing on across the WBBL and BBL.

The Heat also attracted a 21 percent increase in corporate support and hospitality.

With the Gabba unavailable for Finals, the Heat continued to grow the club’s fan base across Queensland as 20,919 fans attended the club’s Qualifier Final against the Sydney Sixers at a sold-out Gold Coast Stadium, setting a new cricket record for the Gold Coast.

Brisbane Heat merchandise also sold-out record levels, with BBL|13 representing the club’s biggest season in merchandise sales since BBL|07.

The Big Bash League continued to buck the trend of TV viewership with significant growth in national numbers. The BBL remains the most-watched Australian domestic sporting competition on a per-game basis, with the WBBL the fifth most-watched.

The Heat averaged 634k viewers per game across the BBL season with streaming numbers through Kayo, Foxtel Go and Foxtel Now not included.

Channel Seven’s free to air coverage was a particular highlight of the summer with Brisbane viewership for Heat matches increasing by 40 percent and metro TV numbers increasing by 8 percent. Kayo reported earlier in the season that viewing numbers are up 16 percent, while short form BBL content was up 112 percent, making it the most streamed BBL season to date.

Wednesday’s Final was watched by a national average of over 952,000 fans across Channel Seven and Fox Cricket, while Kayo’s coverage was the second highest ever streamed BBL game.  Channel Seven’s coverage also reached over 2.1 million people nationally on free to air TV.

The Heat’s WBBL Final against the Adelaide Strikers had an average national viewership of over 410k, the highest rating WBBL match in two seasons.

The Heat continued to lead the way in social media engagement with the club maintaining their position as Oceania’s most followed club across all social channels, with engagement growing by 37 percent.