State of Origin set to be highest rated TV show of the year in Australia

[Pulga]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/roosters-storm-clash-breaks-tv-ratings-records-for-nrl-as-afl-grand-final-flounders-20190929-p52vyd.html

 

https://twitter.com/MediaweekAUS/status/1178094982508335104?s=20

[Pulga]

I probably should have added "again" to the title.

Was last year too.

 

[Dunbar]

As a lifelong Rugby League (amateur) player and fan in the UK it always amazes me when a Rugby League match is not only the highest viewed sport in Australia but the highest viewed programme of the year.

No wonder the NRL based English players have a completely different profile over there than they would have here.

[Pulga]

2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

As a lifelong Rugby League (amateur) player and fan in the UK it always amazes me when a Rugby League match is not only the highest viewed sport in Australia but the highest viewed programme of the year.

No wonder the NRL based English players have a completely different profile over there than they would have here.

Sam Burgess is a genuine household name. I was going to compare him to a current English soccer star but I don't know any. 

 

Guys like James Graham, the Burgess twins and Gareth Widdop are also pretty well known. All the Canberra boys are trending upwards too.

The NRL is the main game in the country even though AFL is very close behind.

[Mr Wind Up]

It feels like every time we talk about Australia, it needs to be mentioned that Australia is unlike any country on the planet when it comes to sport. I have no knowledge of any country that is split down the middle as Australia in terms of its sporting preference. The NRL is like football is in the UK in New South Wales and Queensland, whereas the AFL is like football is in the UK in Victoria, South Australia and West Australia.

The difference is like walking from one country into another, and it can't be overstated enough. The good news for RL is that NSW and Queensland are two of the three biggest states. 

Good result for RL, but considering coverage of the sport is akin to football in England, it should come as no surprise that Englishmen, or any RL player for that matter, are household names. They're on the back pages every day.

[Rupert Prince]

I'm not 100% sure this is so obvious. Nearly 2 million watched the Canberra game and nearly 3 million saw the Richmond game. 

True the AFL numbers were down on last season (is that because Collingwood were included... I don't know) and intretest will be be on Canberra.  But is the headline a bit hyperbolic?

I am all for RL getting it's deserved kodos though!  And I will rub it in with my AFL mate!!

[Dunbar]

Does someone have last years Grand Final number and donmar we think that will be beaten this year.

Again, the place of State of Origin in the Australian sporting landscape is important to remember.

[Mr Wind Up]

1 minute ago, Rupert Prince said:

I'm not 100% sure this is so obvious. Nearly 2 millionwatcjed the Canberra game and  early 3 million saw the Richmond game. 

True the AFL numbers were down on last season (is that because Collingwood were included... I don't know) and intretest will be be on Canberra.  But is the headline a bit hyperbolic?

I am all for RL getting it's deserved kodos though!

The Canberra game was a preliminary final, the AFL game was a grand final. 

The headline clearly states State of Origin set to be highest rated show of the year, which it will be, so what's hyperbolic about it? 

[Mr Wind Up]

Just now, Dunbar said:

Does someone have last years Grand Final number and donmar we think that will be beaten this year.

 

Last year's final was Roosters Melbourne, two teams from the two biggest cities. This year Canberra is in it. I give it a 2% chance of beating last year's, as most of Victoria will tune out now that Storm are done. 

[Pulga]

43 minutes ago, Mr Wind Up said:

Last year's final was Roosters Melbourne, two teams from the two biggest cities. This year Canberra is in it. I give it a 2% chance of beating last year's, as most of Victoria will tune out now that Storm are done. 

Rooster and Storm are also some of the most hated teams plus the Victorian viewers normally make up the minority between Qld and NSW.

I'm a Qlder and firmly on the Canberra bandwagon. I'm not sure it will beat last years' final but I can't see why not.

[Pulga]

52 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Does someone have last years Grand Final number and donmar we think that will be beaten this year.

Again, the place of State of Origin in the Australian sporting landscape is important to remember.

3.034m

 

 

 

[Cdd]

If only the NRL had spent the last few decades putting successful franchises into Perth and Adelaide, then it would be a truly national sport that the AFL probably wouldn’t compete with. 

As it stands the AFL is pretty strong in its lesser regions of NSW and Queensland and the NRL has pretty much zero presence in Perth or Adelaide.

The NRL should have expanded to those areas when it was cheaper to set up a franchise and the salary cap was lower. 

SOO might be the unique event that grips a couple of states every year but in terms of attendances throughout the year the AFL looks like the far more successful league to me. 

[Mr Wind Up]

23 minutes ago, Pulga said:

Rooster and Storm are also some of the most hated teams plus the Victorian viewers normally make up the minority between Qld and NSW.

I'm a Qlder and firmly on the Canberra bandwagon. I'm not sure it will beat last years' final but I can't see why not.

 

 

Quote

https://mumbrella.com.au/nrl-grand-final-wins-sunday-tv-ratings-but-fails-to-beat-saturdays-afl-final-543618

 with 1.247m Melburnians tuning into watch the the West Coast Eagles defeat Collingwood compared to just 551,000 for the Melbourne Storm vs Sydney Roosters showdown.

550k in Melbourne watched last year's GF. A fraction of that will watch this year's with no Storm. There's just no way it'll be able to make up the difference. The only salvation might have been a Queensland side making the GF. 

[Pulga]

3 minutes ago, Cdd said:

If only the NRL had spent the last few decades putting successful franchises into Perth and Adelaide, then it would be a truly national sport that the AFL probably wouldn’t compete with. 

As it stands the AFL is pretty strong in its lesser regions of NSW and Queensland and the NRL has pretty much zero presence in Perth or Adelaide.

The NRL should have expanded to those areas when it was cheaper to set up a franchise and the salary cap was lower. 

SOO might be the unique event that grips a couple of states every year but in terms of attendances throughout the year the AFL looks like the far more successful league to me. 

I honestly don't see AFL having almost any reach in Qld. Look at the viewership breakdown for the grand final. Sydney actually had a team in it and were still ⅓ of Melbourne.

The NRL smashes the cumulative total viewership of the AFL regularly with one fewer games per week. 

Also look at social media. The NRL has twice the Facebook audience.

[Allora]

15 minutes ago, Cdd said:

If only the NRL had spent the last few decades putting successful franchises into Perth and Adelaide, then it would be a truly national sport that the AFL probably wouldn’t compete with. 

As it stands the AFL is pretty strong in its lesser regions of NSW and Queensland and the NRL has pretty much zero presence in Perth or Adelaide.

The NRL should have expanded to those areas when it was cheaper to set up a franchise and the salary cap was lower. 

SOO might be the unique event that grips a couple of states every year but in terms of attendances throughout the year the AFL looks like the far more successful league to me. 

You must be a youngster and missed the Oz Super League Wars.

They had teams in Adelaide and Perth and two in Newcastle and two in Brisbane.

I doubt Adelaide would work well going forward but Perth can not be far away once the NRL expands

[Pulga]

37 minutes ago, Mr Wind Up said:

 

 

550k in Melbourne watched last year's GF. A fraction of that will watch this year's with no Storm. There's just no way it'll be able to make up the difference. The only salvation might have been a Queensland side making the GF. 

How would you account for 2015's all Qld final with 3.739m?

Shouldn't NSW and Vic completely shut off?

It doesn't always work as black and white. I think Canberra making their first GF in 25 years is going add something to it this year. Plus the Roosters have a chance of going back-to-back which has never been done before.

[Dunbar]

I have a real love hate relationship with State of Origin. It is wonderful that Rugby League is the most viewed programme, let alone sport, in Australia but I do feel that it has played a role in suppressing international League.

It is absolutely Great Britains fault that through the 1980's the Australian game developed so far that we were miles behind but SOO stepping into the void and providing the Australian public with a tough 3 game series every year meant that as a sport we were less motivated to try and build test rugby as the ultimate prize.

I will stress that I don't see any of this as a fault of Australian League.

[Rupert Prince]

2 hours ago, Mr Wind Up said:

The Canberra game was a preliminary final, the AFL game was a grand final. 

The headline clearly states State of Origin set to be highest rated show of the year, which it will be, so what's hyperbolic about it? 

All true.  I still stand with my own point .. which I qualified as a "bit" hyperbolic. 

[DC77]

On 29/09/2019 at 11:14, Mr Wind Up said:

It feels like every time we talk about Australia, it needs to be mentioned that Australia is unlike any country on the planet when it comes to sport. I have no knowledge of any country that is split down the middle as Australia in terms of its sporting preference. The NRL is like football is in the UK in New South Wales and Queensland, whereas the AFL is like football is in the UK in Victoria, South Australia and West Australia.

The difference is like walking from one country into another, and it can't be overstated enough. The good news for RL is that NSW and Queensland are two of the three biggest states. 

Good result for RL, but considering coverage of the sport is akin to football in England, it should come as no surprise that Englishmen, or any RL player for that matter, are household names. They're on the back pages every day.

So basically football in the UK is the equivalent of RL and Aussie rules combined in Oz. 

The way you mention Oz being split with one part following RL and the other part following Aussie rules has similarities in Ireland in that Gaelic football is the priority of about 3/4 of the country while hurling is followed by the other quarter (especially the far south). The north of Ireland for instance has very little interest in hurling (no county has come close to winning an All-Ireland, plus I think there is only one northern county that enters the competition), Gaelic football dominates.

On 29/09/2019 at 11:01, Dunbar said:

As a lifelong Rugby League (amateur) player and fan in the UK it always amazes me when a Rugby League match is not only the highest viewed sport in Australia but the highest viewed programme of the year.

No wonder the NRL based English players have a completely different profile over there than they would have here.

If you are an English player and are good enough to play in Oz you’d be mad to stay in the UK. Some might like the anonymity they get in the UK but I’m sure most would enjoy having a profile and public recognition (never mind the higher wages)..

[Dunbar]

15 minutes ago, DC77 said:

If you are an English player and are good enough to play in Oz you’d be mad to stay in the UK. Some might like the anonymity they get in the UK but I’m sure most would enjoy having a profile and public recognition (never mind the higher wages)..

I think there are other factors in play (extended family if you have kids etc) but in general I agree with you.

[Mister Ting]

On 29/09/2019 at 11:16, Rupert Prince said:

I'm not 100% sure this is so obvious. Nearly 2 million watched the Canberra game and nearly 3 million saw the Richmond game. 

True the AFL numbers were down on last season (is that because Collingwood were included... I don't know) and intretest will be be on Canberra.  But is the headline a bit hyperbolic?

I am all for RL getting it's deserved kodos though!  And I will rub it in with my AFL mate!!

Richmond have more supporters than Collingwood, that's not just a recent thing. The fact is Richmond were sh#te for almost four decades.

Last season saw two sides from genuine Aussie Rules States. This season included a team from Western Sydney with a small fanbase.

Richmond v Collingwood would have been massive.

[Themusician_2]

On 29/09/2019 at 12:08, Pulga said:

Sam Burgess is a genuine household name. I was going to compare him to a current English soccer star but I don't know any. 

 

Guys like James Graham, the Burgess twins and Gareth Widdop are also pretty well known. All the Canberra boys are trending upwards too.

The NRL is the main game in the country even though AFL is very close behind.

Not the case in Melbourne

[Dunbar]

Can I ask our Australian friends a question.

When people use the term 'NRL' as in the phrase 'NRL is the biggest sport in Australia ', has NRL overtaken Rugby League as a descriptor of the overall sport in much the same way that NFL is seemingly used as a descriptor for American Football now? The vast majority of Rugby League played in Australia every weekend is not NRL.

I see on the Australian news sites that tennis, cricket etc. are listed as sports but not Rugby League, it is just NRL (and AFL as well).

Does a 14 year old kid at the weekend say they are going to play 'NRL', or 'League' or 'Rugby League' or 'Footy' (I am guessing they would not just say 'Rugby' as they say here).

[Themusician_2]

4 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Can I ask our Australian friends a question.

When people use the term 'NRL' as in the phrase 'NRL is the biggest sport in Australia ', has NRL overtaken Rugby League as a descriptor of the overall sport in much the same way that NFL is seemingly used as a descriptor for American Football now? The vast majority of Rugby League played in Australia every weekend is not NRL.

I see on the Australian news sites that tennis, cricket etc. are listed as sports but not Rugby League, it is just NRL (and AFL as well).

Does a 14 year old kid at the weekend say they are going to play 'NRL', or 'League' or 'Rugby League' or 'Footy' (I am guessing they would not just say 'Rugby' as they say here).

I'm not Australian but you can pick up their jargon from twitter rugby league there is refereed to as footy, football and rugby league.

[Rupert Prince]

21 minutes ago, Mister Ting said:

Richmond have more supporters than Collingwood, that's not just a recent thing. The fact is Richmond were sh#te for almost four decades.

Last season saw two sides from genuine Aussie Rules States. This season included a team from Western Sydney with a small fanbase.

Richmond v Collingwood would have been massive.

It's been many many  years since I have seen "The Club", great film.  It was based around "Collingwood" I think.  In so far I dont follow AFL, I do have a soft spot for Collingwood...