Sydney Metro has chosen oOh!Media as its out of home advertising partner across the Sydney Metro City and Southwest network from 2024.

The outdoor giant is believed to have beaten JCDecaux and QMS to the lucrative multi-million dollar contract, which runs for seven years with the option of a three-year extension.

oOh!media’s remit includes installing, operating and maintaining a new network of digital and motion-enabled screens across stations and rolling stock, including concourses and platforms.

This includes eight new CBD stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Waterloo and new Metro platforms at Central and Sydenham on the Metro City. oOh!Media Will also handle out of home duties at 11 stations between Sydenham and Bankstown once Metro services start at these locations. Both lines are due to open next year.

Although plans have not yet been finalised, Mi3 understands assets will include large and small format portraits and landscape screens “to give commuters an enhanced Out of Home experience and connect advertisers with audiences at scale to make brands unmissable”. 

Sources tell Mi3 the Sydney Metro City line offers advertisers “highly valuable audiences” due to the heavy footfall of commuters that are likely to travel through new stations in the CBD and Sydney’s Inner West. 

An out of home executive told Mi3 the contract could yield between $10 million to $20 million in annual advertising revenues with Sydney Metro owners likely to receive between 50 to 60 per cent of this amount.

Back on track in Sydney

For oOh!Media, the Sydney Metro City and South West contract is a welcome shot in the arm to its street rail portfolio after losing the $500 million Sydney Trains contract to JCDecaux in 2021; oOh!Media inherited that contract through its $570 million acquisition of Adshel in 2018.

Nonetheless, oOh!’s street furniture and rail business line remains the largest contributor of revenue, accounting for a third ($196.5 million) of its $592.6 million revenue pie, closely followed by road ($191 million). 

The addition of the Sydney Metro contract should keep its rail revenues steaming along in the right direction well into the 2030s.

“Sydney Metro is Australia’s largest public transport infrastructure project, presenting unrivalled opportunities for commuters to travel the city for work, shopping, and leisure. This is a monumental win for oOh! and will expand our Out of Home offering in Sydney’s CBD," said oOh! CEO Cathy O’Connor.

“Sydney Metro holds immense value to our network strategy and digital-first future of enhancing public spaces. The introduction of oOh!’s innovative suite of fully digitised assets will unlock new opportunities for advertisers to capture the attention of audiences within the heart of Sydney’s most vibrant locations. 

“In addition, our contract with Sydney Metro complements our existing rail portfolio in Melbourne, enabling advertisers to strategically target audiences in Australia’s two busiest capital cities, that jointly powers much of our national economic activity.”

oOh!Media is not the only advertising partner across the Sydney Metro network. Torch Media handles out of home along the Metro Northwest line, which opened in 2019. 

The last two lines to be built, Sydney Metro West (due to open in 2030) and Sydney Metro - Western Sydney Airport, are years away from an out of home advertising tender.