Australia’s landmarks lit up in support of the Matildas ahead of their Women’s World Cup win against Denmark. The sails of the Sydney Opera House and the front of the Parliament House were seen coloured green and gold.

The team’s two-nil victory over Denmark on Monday night drew a national audience of 3.18 million viewers, official figures from ratings firm OzTAM showed, including 2.294 million viewers in the five major cities and 885,000 in the regional cities.

In addition to this another 384,000 viewers watched the match live on Seven’s streaming platform 7plus, a record for the service.

The Matildas’ TV audience on Monday also trounced the 2022 NRL grand final between Penrith and Parramatta which aired on Channel 9 and drew an average audience of 2.75 million viewers.

Ash Barty’s historic Australian Open victory in 2022 which aired on Nine drew 3.6 million viewers nationally, official OzTAM data showed, and it drew another 241,000 viewers on Nine’s streaming channel 9Now.

The victory at the sold-out event at Stadium Australia in Sydney included the much-hyped return of captain Sam Kerr and the viewership exceeded the team’s previous matches in the FIFA World Cup and booked the Matildas a spot in the quarterfinals.

The previous matches included the Matildas’ 4-0 win over Canada last week which drew an average audience of 2.42 million viewers, its shock 3-2 loss to Nigeria on July 27 (1.49 million viewers) and its opening match against Ireland which they won 1-0 and drew 1.93 million viewers.

Optus Sport provides World Cup tournament access to subscribers who can view all 64 games of the series live however it has an agreement with free-to-air broadcaster Seven that allows 15 matches to be shared including all the matches the Matildas participate in.

Optus Sport has not revealed its viewing numbers for Monday night’s victory but industry experts say it could be anywhere between another 100,000 to 200,000 viewers.

The commercial arrangements between Optus Sport and Seven have not been made public but as the Matildas edge closer to World Cup glory, the success for the broadcasters has been immense and Monday night’s match exceeded the viewership for the 2022 AFL grand final which drew 3.06 million viewers.

The Matildas will play the winner of France and Morocco on Saturday in Brisbane.

Global Media & Sports director Colin Smith said the latest ratings figures show Australians are embracing women’s sport and it has proved to be a roaring success for Optus and Seven.

“It shows you Australians embrace the best of the best in the world for women’s sport and the balance of having matches behind the paywall and free-to-air works really well,” he said.

“Channel 7 will be loving these viewing numbers and any free-to-air broadcaster would be wanting these numbers, however it doesn’t mean it will necessarily flow onto the women’s domestic sporting leagues.”