A crowd of 1500 rolled through the Veneto Club gates in Bulleen on Monday while the online audience tripled the 2016 NPL Victoria Grand Final between South and Oakleigh Cannons at Lakeside Stadium.

Over 15,000 watched Monday night’s match on NPL Victoria’s Facebook Live broadcast for at least 30 seconds. The stream received 93,000 clicks in total.

Football Federation Victoria (FFV) General Manager, Commercial and Media Anthony Grima indicated the response was a sign of the league’s increasing popularity and profile.

The Facebook Live broadcast is the first FFV social network post to top one million reach, while video viewership records also increased heavily.

Grima also believed the numbers of fans engaging with matches online was evidence of the growing interest of the NPL in Victoria.

“It is a credit to FC Bulleen Lions for their enthusiasm to get PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria in front of as many eyes as possible, collaborating with FFV's media team to do so,” Grima said.

“Tens of thousands of viewers have seen a full ground and an exciting game in a professional and well presented online broadcast provided by the FFV media team in conjunction with NMS Media's Nathan Sakellariou.

“I have no doubt many who watched and enjoyed the quality of football and entertainment will now want to come and experience PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria in person at the ground.

“To have one million reach on the match post shows the power of live streaming and what it can do to raise the profile of FFV's competitions and commercial partners.

“It shows the enthusiasm for Victorian football at present, which is also being reflected in the state's rapidly growing participation numbers and commercial investment in the game.”

FFV will live video stream all four Victorian Round Seven matches of Westfield FFA Cup Qualifying, where winners will advance to the National Round of 32.

Also set to be live video streamed this season are the Dockerty Cup and Team App Cup Finals, and both the men’s and women’s NPL VIC Grand Finals.

Additional games to be considered depending on scheduling, resources and budget include FFA Cup Victorian Rounds Four to Six, Dockerty Cup and Team App Cup Semi-Finals and men's and women's minor finals of NPL VIC.

Header Photo: Natasha Morello