When the Sydney Sixers brought Babar Azam into the BBL, it wasn’t only a cricket signing. It was a business move designed to pull the club into a bigger conversation: bigger crowds, bigger audiences, bigger digital numbers, and bigger commercial value.
And the data around the Sixers’ recent growth shows why a global name like Babar is so valuable.
Membership growth is already on a record trajectory-and star power accelerates it:
The Sixers reported 9,800 members in January 2024.
By January 2025, that rose to 13,867 members.
That’s a jump of 41.5% year-on-year (9,800 → 13,867).
A player like Babar doesn’t just add fans for one night. He gives people a reason to become “Sixers people” for the season. Especially casual fans and international fans who usually don’t follow a BBL club closely.
Stadium demand: the Sixers already pull big crowds-and marquee names lift the ceiling:
The Sixers’ BBL average crowd in 2024-25 was 21,675, their highest average attendance since BBL|07. They also recorded 31,165 at the SCG for a regular season match (outside a Sydney Smash) on January 11.
In the current season, SCG crowd figures include:
• 40,114 for Sixers vs Thunder on 16 January 2026
• 30,090 for Sixers vs Hurricanes on 11 January 2026
• 25,589 for Sixers vs Stars on 26 December 2025
These are “event-level” crowds, the kind clubs love because it boosts matchday revenue (tickets, food, merch) and creates the loud TV atmosphere that makes the product look premium.
Ticketing and matchday revenue: clear year-on-year uplift signals real money:
The Sixers previously reported:
• Average BBL tickets sold at the SCG up 18% year-on-year
• Merchandise sales at venues up 44% year-on-year
That’s important because it’s not “social media hype” money-it’s real, direct cashflow that comes from fans showing up and spending.
TV and streaming audiences: the BBL product gets stronger when stars show up:
The Sixers reported that BBL|14 average audience per game was 742,000, and that overall viewership was up more than 20% on the previous season.
They also reported their Boxing Day match vs the Stars delivered an audience of 1.24 million, the highest-rating regular season match in the current Seven/Foxtel broadcast era.
This is exactly where a Babar-type signing matters: broadcasters and streaming platforms love “must-watch” names, because they lift ratings, minutes watched, and highlight consumption.
Digital performance: the Sixers were already growing-Babar turns it into a different scale:
Before the Babar boost, the Sixers had already reported strong year-on-year digital growth:
• 18.45 million fans reached through Sixers social channels, up 24% from the previous year
• Engagement up 48% from last summer
• Followers up 23,000 across all channels
Now compare that to the reported post-signing surge attributed to Babar’s arrival:
• 70+ million impressions
• 18+ million video views
• 230,000+ new followers
Even allowing for different measurement windows, the contrast is huge. On followers alone, 23,000 (prior summer) versus 230,000+ (post-signing burst) is roughly 10x, or about a 900% uplift in follower growth scale.