Lachlan Scott Western Sydney WanderersGetty Images

Sydney derby smashed in television ratings by WBBL

The Sydney football derby has been heavily defeated by the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in the TV ratings war as interest continues to decline in the A-League.

A peak audience of 469,000 tuned in on Channel 10 to watch the WBBL cricket match between the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers on Saturday night, while only 55,000 watched Sydney FC romp to a 5-0 victory over the Western Sydney Wanderers on ONE HD.

The pay-TV figures for the derby weren't much better with only 81,000 flicking on Fox Sports' coverage.

It was only a little over 12 months ago that an A-League record 61,880 people packed into ANZ Stadium for the 13th Sydney derby - but on Saturday night for the 17th edition, there was only 36,433 in the stands at the same venue.

The dwindling interest in the A-League has been evident over the last few weeks with only one game out of the 10 matches in rounds eight and nine cracking a crowd of 10,000-plus.

Advertisement