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ESL Average Viewing Figures

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Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
Usually around 150k for an average Super League game on Sky. Bigger games get upwards of 200k. After football, RL is the second best rating sport domestically and usually provides the highest viewing figures of the week for Sky during the football off-season. Union and cricket get a lot more viewers for their international matches, which is obviously not something RL can compete with just yet. However, Super League dwarfs the equivalent domestic leagues in those sports.

Challenge Cup games on the BBC get around a million or so I think.
 
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Sam_the_man

First Grade
Messages
5,095
RedVee said:
Gee, that is good.
Just need to get them along to a couple of games.
Click to expand...

Growth of the game from London to the south has been huge. Over 1000 kids now playing the game in London and over 80 new teams involved in the national conference from the south as of last season.
 
Chook Norris

Chook Norris

First Grade
Messages
8,319
I haven't seen the viewing figures as of late for the ESL, but generally they are at the top of their list.
 
E

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
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7,178
RedVee said:
Gee, that is good.
Just need to get them along to a couple of games.
Click to expand...
I don't understand why people think all Southerners should be Harlequins fans. The South is not a small place, and the majority of fans probably feel no affinity to Harlequins and would have to travel for hours to get to a game. Also, there is a big difference between watching and enjoying on TV and actually putting the time, effort and money into going to a game, especially if you would have to travel for two or three hours there and back.
 
RedVee

RedVee

First Grade
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7,163
No, but the next step is to see a game live. I would say that it is an enjoyable experience for the new fan and it could help the game. Who knows, they may attend to support the Harlequins opponents. Yes, if it is too far, or the weather is sh*tty, of course they won't go. But who'se to say that if they were nearby for other reasons (not only in London) they may not take the step of attending a game that they have become interested in?
 
E

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
I know what you're saying, it's just that I think sometimes people forget that the South is not just London, and even to cross London can take as long as it takes to get from Hull to Warrington. If the tables were turned and the only RL team in the North was in Hull or somewhere, I would not feel any affinity to the team and would certainly not go and watch them. We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that all Southerners should be watching Harlequins, but for most they are just as 'local' as Leeds or Wigan, and are understandably seen as just another team.
 
Lambretta

Lambretta

First Grade
Messages
8,689
What EH is saying is true.

I am from Milton Keynes, so geographically the Harlequins are my closest team yet my Super League is Warrington who are based in Cheshire (used to be Lancs).

There are a few reasons for this. #1, the London team used to be the Broncos and there was no way I was supporting a team called the Broncos. #2, Nathan Wood (ex-Rooster) was at the Wolves. #3, Warrington is on a direct train line from Milton Keynes without need of transferring etc so it's probably a similar travelling time to get to as the Stoop. So if I am back in the UK it would be as simple to travel to Warrington as the Harlequins.

My dad caught a train from MK to Manchester and it took 90 minutes. Warrington is about the same distance from MK as Manchester.

Whilst Euston in London takes about 50 minutes to get to by train, crossing London can take an hour or more with transfers etc.


On another note - the fact there's 1000 kids playing League in the London is amazing news and it's really made my day. Physical sports such as boxing have always been popular in London and there's no reason why League cant be a huge success there given time.
 
Lambretta

Lambretta

First Grade
Messages
8,689
Does anyone know if the viewer numbers for Super League on Channel 9 has grown?

The Sunday Super League game is one of my weekends highlights - virtually every game for the past 2 months has been an absolute cracker!

Wigans stirling effort against Leeds on Sunday had me grinning from ear to ear. (yeah, I know they're Warrington's local enemy - but bugger me that was a great display from the Cherry and Whites)
 
VictoryFC

VictoryFC

Bench
Messages
3,786
Here in Australia, League and AFL games anywhere between 200,000-300,000 on Foxtel. And Foxtel has roughly 1.5 million subscribers. Sports underlines the subscription base. BSkyB has almost 9.5 million subscribers, and only 200k tune in? Football gets what, anywhere between 1-3 million depending on teams (with higher peaks)?

From those figures, comparatively it doesn't really seem like Super League does any better than the A-League does over here (and A-League figures are fairly ordinary); especially considering both sports are played in the respective summers.
 
S

St.John

Juniors
Messages
263
VictoryFC said:
BSkyB has almost 9.5 million subscribers, and only 200k tune in? Football gets what, anywhere between 1-3 million depending on teams (with higher peaks)?
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You don't get the sports channels for free with a BSkyB subscription, you have to pay extra and not everyone does.

Also, the I think the SL can be shown on various channels ( Sports 1, Sports 2, Sports 3) not all of which come as standard in the sports package. You may have to spend even more for all the channels the SL can appear on, si it's not a simply question of "9.5m subscribers to BSkyB, why are the viewing figures low?"
 
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St.John

Juniors
Messages
263
Oh, and the last and most important point - RL gets basically ZERO promotion or coverage in the media in the UK. It's quite astonishing that the viewing figures are as good as they are (and they are good; it regularly trounces RU's Guinness Premiership despite the acres of RU coverage and promotion in the UK).
 
ali

ali

Bench
Messages
4,962
I heard today the RFL is funding another 5 full-time development officers in London for next year. So for mine it wont take long to double from 1,000 to 2,000.
 
S

SteveM

Juniors
Messages
212
Sam_the_man said:
Growth of the game from London to the south has been huge. Over 1000 kids now playing the game in London and over 80 new teams involved in the national conference from the south as of last season.
Click to expand...

80 teams ?. You are lucky if there are 80 teams in the whole national conference. Your figures seem wrong.

What are your sources ?
 
RedVee

RedVee

First Grade
Messages
7,163
Lambretta said:
Does anyone know if the viewer numbers for Super League on Channel 9 has grown?

The Sunday Super League game is one of my weekends highlights - virtually every game for the past 2 months has been an absolute cracker!

Wigans stirling effort against Leeds on Sunday had me grinning from ear to ear. (yeah, I know they're Warrington's local enemy - but bugger me that was a great display from the Cherry and Whites)
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm finding the games and bits of games that I'm watching very enjoyable. More enjoyable than a lot of the NRL games, for instance I can't watch Cronulla games (they bore the tripe out of me).
The Wigan - Leeds game on the weekend was excellent & was a great lead in for the Saints - NZ Warriors game. Gave me a great afternoon of footy.
 
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