2026 TV and Streaming Ratings thread

[James Rick]

Sure, but suggesting they will impact the West Coast Eagles is like dropping a goldfish into the ocean and thinking it will have an impact on a Great White Shark.

People once said the same thing about the NZ Warriors being the goldfish and Rugby Union being the great white shark and look at how that turned out, have a look at the data it shows a trend of strong growth for Rugby League in WA over recent years long before the Bears were announced. It says a lot that participation for AFL is declining in WA given how they like to manipulate the participation figures so they're in their favour, and deep down you know the Bears have the potential to become the NZ Warriors of WA and rattle the AFL in WA the same way the NZ Warriors have rattled Rugby Union in NZ.

 

[The_Wookie]

Thursday #AuSportTV
#AFL
Lions/Pies
Margin: 54 points
Crowd: 36,648 at the Gabba (99% cap)
Seven 629k (BVOD 90k) Reach 1.85m
2025: 706k (BVOD 52k) Reach 1.894m
2026 Thu N Ave 689k (+6% YoY - 2025: 650k)

#NRL
Dolphins/Sea Eagles
Margin: 34 points
Crowd: TBA at Kayo Stadium
Nine 583k (BVOD 126k) Reach 1.391m
2025: 575k (BVOD 82k) Reach 1.383m
2026 Thu N Ave 692k (+5.3% YoY - 2025: 657k)

Data: VOZ O'Nights, Austadiums, http://AFL.com, http://NRL.com, @leagueunlimited

 

[i0Nic]

Thursday #AuSportTV
#AFL
Lions/Pies
Margin: 54 points
Crowd: 36,648 at the Gabba (99% cap)
Seven 629k (BVOD 90k) Reach 1.85m
2025: 706k (BVOD 52k) Reach 1.894m
2026 Thu N Ave 689k (+6% YoY - 2025: 650k)

#NRL
Dolphins/Sea Eagles
Margin: 34 points
Crowd: TBA at Kayo Stadium
Nine 583k (BVOD 126k) Reach 1.391m
2025: 575k (BVOD 82k) Reach 1.383m
2026 Thu N Ave 692k (+5.3% YoY - 2025: 657k)

Data: VOZ O'Nights, Austadiums, http://AFL.com, http://NRL.com, @leagueunlimited

Not a big difference in ratings considering the major headline clash in fumble with the most popular fumble team, with bvod included its practically the same result - not rating much more than an expansion team and club in crisis in a mid-bottom table NRL clash.

That fumble match up is one of their best for ratings and can barely scrape a win over dolphins and manly

 

[T-Boon]

I think the PVL years has clearly shown that the NRL has it in them and has the gameplay / rules flexibility to really increase the fans enjoyment of the game and thus increase ratings and crowds in a big way if they want to.
AFL and other codes would probably worry about that.

 

[The_Wookie]

US TV Ratings 18-22 March 2026
Times USEast, all games FS2

#AFL Crows/BulldogsRPL 3,000 (6am)
#AFL Crows/Bulldogs 2,000 (04:26)
#AFL Tigers/Suns 2,000 (10pm)
#AFL Giants/Saints 1,000 (1am)
#NRL Raiders/Bulldogs 1,000 (4:58am)

 

[Wb1234]

Obviously afl has been losing viewers to Fox since more games have gone behind a paywall

From a position where afl on fta to being a long way ahead to being mostly behind or on par isn’t good for them

From being a one off where our finals and gf are number one ir could bs a more regular thing

Especially once the bears have been around for a bit and Perth ratings jump up by 50 k a game or more

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

US TV Ratings 18-22 March 2026
Times USEast, all games FS2

#AFL Crows/BulldogsRPL 3,000 (6am)
#AFL Crows/Bulldogs 2,000 (04:26)
#AFL Tigers/Suns 2,000 (10pm)
#AFL Giants/Saints 1,000 (1am)
#NRL Raiders/Bulldogs 1,000 (4:58am)

I think we`re going to be seeing a lot of these rare wins for the fumbles.

 

[i0Nic]

US TV Ratings 18-22 March 2026
Times USEast, all games FS2

#AFL Crows/BulldogsRPL 3,000 (6am)
#AFL Crows/Bulldogs 2,000 (04:26)
#AFL Tigers/Suns 2,000 (10pm)
#AFL Giants/Saints 1,000 (1am)
#NRL Raiders/Bulldogs 1,000 (4:58am)

What’s the relevance of these miniscule insignificant numbers of overnight games being played on minor pay tv channels in the US? Other than to show afl games are rating a whopping double (2,000 vs 1,000)? Just meaningless numbers except to put forward an agenda

 

[i0Nic]

When afl fans have to start pulling into minor US pay tv channels to scrape a win you know they’re desperate

 

[Wb1234]

US TV Ratings 18-22 March 2026
Times USEast, all games FS2

#AFL Crows/BulldogsRPL 3,000 (6am)
#AFL Crows/Bulldogs 2,000 (04:26)
#AFL Tigers/Suns 2,000 (10pm)
#AFL Giants/Saints 1,000 (1am)
#NRL Raiders/Bulldogs 1,000 (4:58am)

What about the ratings from India ?

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

What about the ratings from India ?

PNG ?

 

[i0Nic]

Obviously afl has been losing viewers to Fox since more games have gone behind a paywall

From a position where afl on fta to being a long way ahead to being mostly behind or on par isn’t good for them

From being a one off where our finals and gf are number one ir could bs a more regular thing

Especially once the bears have been around for a bit and Perth ratings jump up by 50 k a game or more

The general trend is NRL is up for all games not just finals and grand final. The afl have some rare wins now - that’s the best they can manage. This trend will continue and when Perth comes in and WA ratings go from 10k to 20k to 40k - it will be hard nigh impossible for afl to catch up.

that’s why they’re desperate to win qld and nsw because they know that’s the only way they can compete. So they rig their comp by stacking teams like lions and suns with their best players. It will backfire on them though.

 

[Wb1234]

PNG ?

Been seeing more and more png fans commenting on stories about the chiefs which I’ve never seen before

Awesome stuff

These idiots don’t realise we’ve got Australian and international growth coming now whilst they are maxed out

 

[i0Nic]

Regardless of nrl expansion the simple math is this - if you’re a small fish in nsw and qld, two of the three big states in the country - you can’t compete.

Now that the nrl have got its shit together and re-activated latent fanbases and re-energised fans, afl know that they need to portray that they are at least on par with nrl in someway in these states. Hence all the “afl has taken over qld” talk, over-inflating participation numbers, stacking their northern teams, pumping overs in central funding to well established teams like Lions.

it’s a perception thing - they’ve long sold themselves as the nations game. They need to sell this dream, to their fans, to advertisers, to media companies. But how can they be if they don’t rate in nsw and qld? That’s half of Australia right there.

 

[The_Wookie]

What’s the relevance of these miniscule insignificant numbers of overnight games being played on minor pay tv channels in the US? Other than to show afl games are rating a whopping double (2,000 vs 1,000)? Just meaningless numbers except to put forward an agenda

its literally data, and its the ionly data for either code from a foreign country that we receive regular reports from. I have always said I will publish overseas data for the relevant codes if it was available. My agenda here is to publish data. I did not and have not put an opinion out on the US data.

 

[The_Wookie]

What about the ratings from India ?

if there were ratings available from ANY other country Id have published them too.

 

[The_Wookie]

When afl fans have to start pulling into minor US pay tv channels to scrape a win you know they’re desperate

when NRL fans claim merely releasing ratings data is an agenda, its pathetic.

 

[i0Nic]

when NRL fans claim merely releasing ratings data is an agenda, its pathetic.

If you’re going to do Us why not do other markets as well, like NZ, PNG or UK? Or do you just pick and choose.

 

[i0Nic]

May as well report what the cock fighting championships in Brazil rated in the US, probably still higher than either afl or nrl overnight ratings did

 

[Wb1234]

if there were ratings available from ANY other country Id have published them too.

If I was an afl fan the last thing I would want to do is try and talk about anything international and focus on Australia only

But hey it’s hella amusing

Nrl vegas really gets to the people who think league should stay in its lane