Lorenzo & Marquez
Please explain to me how the union WC can get cumulative world-wide TV audiences in the billions if the final in 2007 got 33 million (2003 it was 23 million).
(How many games were played int he tournament -was it 64?)
Most of the countries outside the major RU countries the tournament was only available on Pay TV.
One encouraging aspect of international RL is that the much maligned NZ v Australia test matches have out-rated the best union Bledisloe Cup figures by a wide margin over the past three years.
Posted by: Glen of Brisbane 10:50am today
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Ricky is correct; this world cup will be a great promo for the greatest game of all. I only hope that those players in the grand final are given adequate time to rest/celebrate etc. Cheers.
Posted by: Mac 11:29pm August 17, 2008
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In the 2003 Rugby World Cup 78,000 people went to watch France vs Scotland, 46,000 went to watch the U.S vs Scotland at Suncorp, 17,000 watched Fiji vs Japan at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville, 28,000 watched Georgia vs Uruguay at Aussie Stadium, Sydney and 80,000 watched NZ vs Wales at Telstra Stadium, Sydney. the Q/Finals, Semis and Finals averaged 60,000 in attendance with 82,000 each in attendance for the Semi Finals and the Final were 82,000 and 3.5billion watching world wide. In the ANZAC league test, only 35,000 attended at Suncorp and Sydney League test between the Kiwis and the Kangaroos. Even your Tri-Nations League can't pull crowds to the games. Only State of Origin can pull your crowds. And Glen of Brisbane, of course the television audience for the 2007 RWC would be mainly from the home nations, but 3.5billion viewers for 2007 says more came from outside the foundation unions. Hey how many would be watching the Rugby League World cup othe than the foundation nations England and Australia coz I'll tell you in NZ, no-one cares, all we care about is the State of Origin and the NRL finals. The Rugby League World Cup is a joke and the only game selling out is the final which in any sport always sells out. I will remember the sarcastic look on Matt Johns face on the Footy Show when he made the reference he had free tickets to the Rugby League World Cup that everyone wants, and gave that smile like he was saying 'yeah right, no-one gives a sh@t about the Rugby League World Cup.
Posted by: Marquez of Christchurch 9:21pm August 17, 2008
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Puh-lease. Ricky Stuart, once again hyping up a tournament that is a joke! How the heck can you compare the Rugby World Cup in 1987 to the R/League World Cup of 08? The Rugby World Cup is one of the largest international sporting events in the world, with only the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics exceeding it.The first World Cup, in 1987, had a cumulative world television audience of 300 million; its successor, the 1991 event in England, reached 1.75 billion. South Africa's 1995 tournament reached 2.67 billion, and the 1999 Welsh hosted event reached 3 billion.The 2003 tournament which was held in Australia had a cumulative world television audience of 3.5 billion,and the final, between Australia and England, became the most watched rugby union match in the history of Australian television.The event was broadcast in 205 countries. The 2003 event had 48 matches, with an average attendance of 38,282 and a total of 1,837,547. Nearly 4 billion people world wide watched the Rugby World Cup 07 which was staged in France. So the Rugby World Cup grew from strength to stength. the Worldwide partners for the 2007 tournament were Société Générale, GMF, Électricité de France, Peugeot, Visa and SNCF, and official sponsors include Heineken, Vediorbis, Capgemini, Orange, Toshiba and Emirates. The Rugby League World cup has had 12 tournaments prior to this years tournament and of the 12 World Cups the Aussies have won it 9 times with 6 wins in a row since 1975 to today. So how the hell can Stuart say the league World Cup is like the 85' Rugby World Cup? Rugby has nations like Japan, China, Argentina and Italy vying to bid for the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. Rugby League has no elements in it's game, it can't evolve. Unlike Rugby where you can add the ELVs or lessen the lineout or change the breakdown play and it can evolve into a completely different game without harmimg the nature of it. Where as League, all it could intorduce was the 40-20 kick rule and that was about it. Otherwise any other rules and you'll be more like Union.
Posted by: Lorenzo Seiuli of Auckland 9:01pm August 17, 2008
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You are right Ricky. On the field the RLWC final will easily surpass last year's union WC final as a spectacle. One might expect a few trys to be scored.
BTW union people vastly overstate the global reach of their game.
Read this:
www.puttingrugbyfirst.com
Extract:
"...Today, rugby union is popular in only a few countries, representing a tiny proportion of the world¿s population and economic value...
...Television audience data for the 2007 World Cup final, between South Africa and England, shows that 97% of the 33 million total viewers came from the Foundation Unions ¿ with just half a million viewers of the final spread amongst all the remaining nations where it was shown live. There are 115 members of the IRB ¿ but rugby is evidently not particularly popular in most of them.."
Posted by: Glen of Brisbane 7:02pm August 17, 2008
Comment 1 of 6
