2019 ratings

[T-Boon]

2/3rds of last year watched without the Storm being involved is the other way you could look at it!
What the other 85% of Sydney were doing rather than watching their local codes GF is a bigger worry.

Firstly there was not a popular Sydney team involved and secondly Sydney RL fans are not happy with the game play of rugby league circa 2019. Completions/structure/getting to kick/wrestle. It is not very entertaining.

 

[T-Boon]

The NRL really have a lot to work moving forward both in terms of crowds and ratings.

The game on the field is getting less and less entertaining. The sooner the NRL see's this and has a louder voice than the coaches who seem to think it is fine the better everyone will be.
People are not entertained by completions and getting to the kick and bombs and wrestling. It is hard to watch if you are anything short of a RL tragic with your team involved.

 

[Perth Red]

The game on the field is getting less and less entertaining. The sooner the NRL see's this and has a louder voice than the coaches who seem to think it is fine the better everyone will be.
People are not entertained by completions and getting to the kick and bombs and wrestling. It is hard to watch if you are anything short of a RL tragic with your team involved.

A big part of play that is hampering the entertainment is the lack of offloading in the tackle. I counted only one offload (by Canberra) in the whole of the first half! With no second phase play and defense on the back foot it is no wonder the game has become 70 minute slog and 10 min of entertainment. In the second half Canberra started to offload and low and behold they got on top and really should have won it.

Its no wonder TV is down given the style of play at the moment. Chuck in wrestling and the loss of the gladiatorial aspects of the game and we are on a very slippery slope.

 

[ReddFelon]

Ratings tell the most important story that people forget; it's not about the teams so much as the storyline going into it.

Origin always rates well because the storyline, no matter who's actually on the team, is always Queensland vs New South Wales.

The 2018 NRL Grand Final rated well because it was Sydney vs Melbourne, doesn't matter that Easts are limited in terms of how much of Sydney they actually represent, the big storyline was a tale of two cities. Same whenever Melbourne go up against a Sydney side, it's easily marketed as a battle of the cities.

When it's Brisbane vs a Sydney side, it's basically mini-Origin. When it was Cowboys/Brisbane, it was huge because both teams were made up of a ton of Queensland Origin players and it capped off that period of Queensland dominance with an almost Origin vs Origin team set up.


It's also true with the AFL, the games that rate highly are always a Melbourne based team vs a WA or SA team or the Swans. Collingwood vs West Coast worked because you've got an established historical club with huge support but also huge levels of hate from other fans, vs the most successful expansion side that has about 2/3rds of a State in support and similarly huge hate from others around the country and their own state. A storyline dream, compared to this years one of established club vs expansion team nobody likes.

Canberra vs Easts unfortunately, had an interesting storyline, but it doesn't come with that same aggression that you get when it's City vs City or unstoppable force (Brisbane/Melbourne) vs gritty underdog (Sharks/Cowboys).

 

[Chook Norris]

I'm surprised the game rated fairly low. Thought the whole raiders story would Jack people in.

Then again, the lack of hatred between the two teams doesnt bode well with traditional RL rivalry

 

[Parramatta1947]

I wasn't surprised by the ratings. The game didn't start until 7:40pm, there was very little of interest in between the womens game and the final. The AFL Grand Final was all over a third into it but the ratings were still very good. The NRL is too greedy with night timings for ratings.

 

[Chook Norris]

I wasn't surprised by the ratings. The game didn't start until 7:40pm, there was very little of interest in between the womens game and the final. The AFL Grand Final was all over a third into it but the ratings were still very good. The NRL is too greedy with night timings for ratings.

That doesn't explain the difference between this year and last year though. The main factor that changed were the teams in the final

 

[The_Wookie]

NRLW - 321,000 (FTA metro only), 109k Fox
State championship: 223,000 (FTA metro only)

on Nine in Brisbane & Sydney. GEM elsewhere.

Data source: Oztam.

 

[YoHadrian]

I'm surprised the game rated fairly low. Thought the whole raiders story would Jack people in.

Then again, the lack of hatred between the two teams doesnt bode well with traditional RL rivalry

City Ford v lol@souffs would have been a more 'classic' rivalry.

 

[taipan]

The biggest problem, I see, apart from which teams are involved, is the heavy influence of defence in a lot of games.It stifles the excitement of long attacking breaks and continuity (offloads).
Gang tackling is an eyesore.No more than two in a tackle.Then you'll see more offloads, and more attack.

It also needs another injection of new teams Perth and Brisbane, to bring further interest into the NRL.

I'm sure V'landis would have seen the debacle and sameness at times at the G/F.The game needs a rocket up it's entertainment a*se.Greenberg to realise this facts well as the rules committee.

 

[Perth Red]

Whats interesting about the GF figures is these are the casual fans, not the die hards that tune in every week. So if the game, be it the narrative of the clubs involved or the style of play, isnt capturing the general publics interest then that is a major issue for the game as that is where the new die hards get transformed from.

The biggest drop off was in Melbourne where 200k less people tuned in because the Storm werent involved. If this is a reflection on the promotion of the GF in Melbourne when Storm are not in it or a lack of interest in seeing two out of city clubs would be interesting to know.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Dark Corner]

The game on the field is getting less and less entertaining. The sooner the NRL see's this and has a louder voice than the coaches who seem to think it is fine the better everyone will be.
People are not entertained by completions and getting to the kick and bombs and wrestling. It is hard to watch if you are anything short of a RL tragic with your team involved.

I thought all SOO this year were fantastic.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Was the GF available to streaming like Kayo?

 

[beave]

Was the GF available to streaming like Kayo?

No, Kayo is just an extension of Fox.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Interesting.

Perhaps Nine's ratings, in part, are a wholesale rejection of their presentation and commentary.

Since Fox began simulcast of regular season games, I've noticed Nine increasingly become Hey, Hey, It's Saturday...

 

[no name]

The season totals show that people are going to different sources to watch sport.

I watched the GF on 9Now and would never have even thought of that as an option in previous years.

The NRL really needs to nail the next media deal and cover all bases.

 

[Perth Red]

Top 5 viewed games all featured Brisbane. If thats not a reason to get expansion happening nothing else is.

 

[Perth Red]

Great results for the NRLW viewing again. I wonder if they should expand the comp and play it over summer? Would it draw a bigger TV deal and more viewers if played Nov-Feb with games on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening? Production costs would go up for Fox but if it is puling more viewers than S15 and Aleague is that an issue?

 

[Usain Bolt]

What 2 teams would rate the best in a GF? I’m guessing Broncos v Eels