HEAT DELIVER RECORD SEASON | Fans Inspire Off-Field Success

While the Heat’s hopes of going back-to-back in the BBL ended with a loss to the Melbourne Renegades last Saturday, finishing seventh on the ladder, the club enjoyed continued support from members and fans. 

The BBL|14 season saw record fan support at the Gabba, with the club setting a new membership record of 17,960, up from 14,379 in BBL|13. 

This helped translate into huge crowd numbers, with a total of 132,905 fans coming through the gates at the Gabba across five games at an average attendance of 26,581 per match, up from 24,353 in BBL|14.

A total of 141,458 fans attended BBL and WBBL games this summer, a 7% increase from 2023-24. 

This included two BBL sell outs, the first time the feat has been achieved in six seasons, plus a sold out WBBL semi-final at Allan Border Field.  

The Big Bash League kept its position as Australia’s most watched sporting competition on a per-game basis, enjoying a 20% year-on-year increase in viewership across Channel Seven and Foxtel. 

The Heat’s December 29 game against the Sydney Sixers at the Gabba was watched by an average of 1.09 million viewers, making it the club’s highest-rating home and away game since BBL|08. 

Additionally, WBBL viewership was up 38% per game year-on-year with the competition the most-watched sporting league in Australia across October – November.  

Heat fans were given a glimpse into the making of a BBL championship when ‘Reignite: A Brisbane Heat Story’ was released last November.

Reignite charts the story of the Heat’s rise from perennial entertainers in the early years of the Big Bash, to rock bottom after finishing equal last in BBL|11, to champions in BBL|13.

The feature length documentary explores the lives and personalities of the Heat’s players, and recounts highlights from the club’s march to the BBL title.   

Reignite’s release included a 2-week national cinema run through Event Cinemas, free-to-air publication on Channel 7, while also being available to stream on 7Plus and YouTube. Reignite has so far reached 4.5 million fans across all channels.  

The 2024-25 season also saw the Heat continue to entertain fans across all platforms while retaining the mantle as Australia’s most-followed club on social media, with 210 million video views.  

The season saw more money directly raised for charities and the Queensland Cricket Foundation. A total of $31,678 was raised via the Heat’s match-day 50-50 charity raffle, with benefactors including the KFC Youth Foundation, QC Foundation, Sware, Juiced TV, and community cricket clubs. 

Last Thursday’s game against the Hobart Hurricanes coincided with the club’s First Nations Round fixture and QC Foundation Giving Day. A total of $32,680 was raised on the night for the QC Foundation to fund Indigenous cricket programs across Queensland.

Brisbane Heat CEO Terry Svenson thanked Heat fans for their support. 

“We are incredibly grateful to the support our members and fans have shown us this summer,'' he said.

"The Heat’s purpose is to Bring Families Together, so we are proud to continue delivering family entertainment that inspires a new generation of fans and participants to love the game. 

“While we are disappointed to have missed finals, we are buoyed by the support we receive from our fans. This support will inspire us to climb back to the top of the Big Bash. 

“The Heat are also indebted to the support we receive from our commercial partners who help us deliver an incredible product to our fans and play a vital role in allowing Queensland Cricket to invest and support our community clubs, volunteers and participants.  

“We also thank our players for the work they put in to give back to the game. We know they appreciate the continued support from our fans and love playing in front of huge crowds,” Svenson said.