Melbourne Cup TV audience rises again in Nine’s third year with the race
Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup averaged 2.216 million viewers on Nine and 9Now, up 6.6 per cent on 2025., while streaming grew by almost a quarter, adding value to the VRC, Tabcorp and Nine rights deal that runs to 2029.
The Melbourne Cup drew a national average television audience of 2.216 million on Nine and 9Now on Tuesday, up 6.6 per cent on last year. It is the third consecutive rise in Nine’s three years broadcasting the carnival.
The race reached 2.399 million viewers and Nine said it was the highest Melbourne Cup race audience recorded under the VOZ measurement system.
Streaming drove much of the growth: 9Now’s audience for the race rose 24.6 per cent year-on-year to 578,000, a figure counted within the national total.
The 2025 race averaged 2.079 million and the 2024 edition 1.910 million, which puts this year’s audience about 16 per cent ahead of Nine’s first Cup.
Among viewers aged 25–54, the race averaged 762,000, including 329,000 on 9Now, and it ranked first for the day in that demographic.
The trophy presentation reached 2.284 million and averaged 1.735 million. Mounting-yard coverage reached 2.131 million and the early-morning broadcast 1.566 million.
The audience lift came on a day when Flemington drew a crowd of 97,112, its largest Cup Day attendance since 2016.
Seven again ran its own racing coverage, including Randwick, against Nine’s Cup broadcast. “Seven’s Horse Racing 2026” reached 790,000 and averaged 226,000, while its later racing coverage reached 1.4 million and averaged 241,000.
The Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Tabcorp and Nine announced an agreement in February 2024, which covers the 2024 to 2029 carnivals.
Tabcorp paid the VRC more than $100 million for the rights, on condition that it on-sell them to a free-to-air network. Under the deal, Tabcorp is Nine’s sole wagering integration partner for its coverage, which also runs on Sky platforms and the TAB app.
Network 10, which held the rights from 2019 to 2023, did not bid in 2024, citing commercial constraints Tabcorp had placed on the deal.
Under 10, the race drew national audiences of 1.695 million in 2021, 1.35 million in 2022 and 1.68 million in 2023, on the figures reported at the time.
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