KFC hits it out of the park with Big Bash sponsorship
Fast food retailer KFC has reaped the dividends of its long-term naming rights sponsorship of Australia’s Big Bash League with over 4.2 million Australians, equivalent to 21% of the Australian population aged 14 or older, associating KFC with the Big Bash in the year to September 2018.
For Australians who watch cricket on TV almost always or occasionally the association of KFC with the Big Bash rises to 40% - nearly double the rate of the average Australian.
It’s daylight between KFC and other companies and brands when it comes to the Big Bash. Only 3% of TV cricket watchers associate Pay TV company Fox Sports and long-term cricketing sponsor the Commonwealth Bank with the Big Bash.
The Commonwealth Bank is associated far more strongly with Test Cricket for which the bank had a long-term sponsorship arrangement. The final ‘Commonwealth Bank’ Test series ended in early 2017 but 24% of TV cricket watchers associate the bank with Test Cricket ahead of the official Fast Food Restaurant of Cricket Australia KFC on 22%.
Another long-term former sponsor, CUB’s Victoria Bitter (VB), is still heavily associated with Test Cricket by 15% of TV cricket watchers. VB ended a more than 20 year sponsorship of Australian under two years ago early in 2017.
Other brands to have an association with Test Cricket as mentioned by TV cricket watchers include XXXX Gold, Qantas, Fox Sports, Swisse, Asics, Vodafone, Bunnings Warehouse and Toyota.
Top 3 Companies/Brands associated with Cricket by Australians who watch Cricket on TV
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2017-September 2018. Base: Australians who almost always watch cricket on TV (including Test Cricket, One-Day Cricket and Big Bash Cricket). n=3,399.
KFC recall for Big Bash highest for attendees ahead of cricket players and TV cricket viewers
Analysing brand association for Big Bash naming rights sponsor KFC shows that Australians that go to the cricket, and particularly Big Bash cricket, are well aware of KFC’s involvement with the competition.
Over three-fifths (61%) of Australians who attended a Big Bash game in the last year associate KFC with the Big Bash and 53% of Australians who have attended any professional cricket match in the last year (including Big Bash, Test and One-Day International) associate KFC with the Big Bash.
Australians who play cricket also have very high association of KFC with the Big Bash. A majority of 51% of Australians who regularly play cricket associate KFC with the Big Bash and even 44% of those who only play cricket occasionally associate KFC with the Big Bash.
As highlighted earlier two-fifths of Australians who almost always watch cricket on TV associate KFC with the Big Bash and over a third of Australians who only watch cricket on TV occasionally also associate the fast-food company with the league.
KFC’s Big Bash sponsor association for cricket attendees, players & viewers
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2017-September 2018. Base: Australians 14+. n=15,009.
Michele Levine, Chief Executive Officer, Roy Morgan, says it can take time for sponsors of major sports to reap the rewards of their sponsorship but the example provided by Big Bash naming rights sponsor KFC shows a long-term commitment can pay off:
“KFC has been the naming rights sponsor for Twenty20 Cricket in Australia for over a decade now beginning with the fast-food company’s sponsorship of the inaugural KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in 2005/06 and continuing through the first eight years of the ‘KFC Big Bash League’.
“Over 4.2 million Australians now associate KFC with the Big Bash League and when you start analysing people who have a declared interest in cricket whether by playing, attending, or watching on TV this penetration rises dramatically.
“A majority of Australians who have attended a Big Bash League game in the last year (61%) or regularly play cricket (51%) associate KFC with the Big Bash and 40% of those who almost always watch cricket on TV also recognise KFC’s involvement with the Big Bash.
“Despite scaling down its involvement with Australian cricket over the last two years the Commonwealth Bank is still heavily associated with Test Cricket and One-Day International Cricket. Nearly a quarter of viewers on cricket on TV (24%) associate the Commonwealth Bank with Test Cricket despite the bank’s naming rights sponsorship ending in 2017.
“In saying that, the Commonwealth Bank does have a long-term association with Australian cricket stretching back over 30 years and is still heavily involved with sponsoring the sport. The Commonwealth Bank is the official sponsor of the Australian Women’s Cricket team and sponsors the Australian Country Cricket and National Indigenous Championships.
“Cricket has been a growing sport amongst Australian women which is a trend Roy Morgan explored in more depth here and is Australia’s second most watched annual sport on TV according to Roy Morgan estimates last year watched by over 7.4 million Australians.
“The high visibility that KFC and the Commonwealth Bank have achieved through long-term sponsorship arrangements with Cricket of various forms in Australia are a significant positive outcome for new and potential sponsors of the sport to draw upon.
“In the last year Alinta Energy has signed a four year deal as a shirt sponsor of the Australian Men’s Cricket Team and real estate property portal Domain has also signed on for four years as a naming rights sponsor. The recent Test series between Australia and visiting teams India and Sri Lanka were the first under the Domain sponsorship.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
