Rugby league celebrates 25 Years of Origin at Suncorp Stadium this evening with a viewing audience that will spread across most of the globe.
As well as the three million plus fans who will see the game in metropolitan and regional Australia on the Nine Network, the opening match of the Harvey Norman State of Origin series will be telecast live into the UK through Sky Sports.
In the USA Fox Sports will carry a live telecast across America and also through their affiliated networks in Canada and the Middle East.
Canal Plus in France, will carry the match live to France, Monaco and Africa, while the ABC's Asia Pacific Service's signal will take State of Origin I throughout the Pacific Islands and as far as China, Hong Kong, Japan Indonesia, India as well as a long list of other countries in the region.
Closer to home Sky Network Sports in New Zealand will deliver a live telecast of the game along with EMTV in Papua New Guinea.
"The international telecast footprint is a reminder of the growth of the Origin concept over 25 years," ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said today.
"Clearly the sport is hardly a household name in many of these areas but the fact that broadcasters see it as a significant sporting event exposes the game to an enormous audience."
