No surprise really!

[chileman]

Union tops league in popularity contest

By Greg Growden
Tuesday, June 21, 2005


It is the moment rugby union administrators have dreamed of for decades - when their game passed rugby league as the more popular national sport.

The latest Sweeney Sports Report reveals 55 per cent of people are interested in AFL, followed by soccer (45 per cent), rugby (44 per cent) and league (41 per cent) - the first time in the report's 18-year history.

The survey of 1000 Australians aged between 16 and 65, who were interviewed between October and March, shows interest in rugby union - based on participation, match attendance and media following - was up 15 per cent and the gap between it and AFL had been cut from 20 points to 11.

The last Sweeney survey, in winter last year, showed league and union neck and neck on 42 per cent, behind AFL (53 per cent) and soccer (46 per cent).

Rugby now also has the second-highest level of press readership of all codes. AFL leads with 19 per cent, followed by rugby with 13 per cent and soccer and rugby league on 12 per cent.


In Sydney, league has a 20 per cent readership, with rugby on 17 per cent, soccer on 12 per cent and AFL on 11 per cent. In Brisbane, AFL, league and rugby are each on 15 per cent, and soccer 10 per cent. In Melbourne, AFL reigns supreme on 27 per cent, soccer on 13 per cent, rugby on 7 per cent and league on 4 per cent.

The survey showed that rugby was also watched more on television than league - 40 per cent to 38 per cent. However, rugby had enjoyed a 14 per cent increase since 1998, compared to soccer's 6 per cent, league's 5 per cent and AFL's 4 per cent rise.

Rugby has also enjoyed a 7 per cent increase in attendance since 1998, compared to 6 per cent (AFL), 4 per cent (soccer) and 3 per cent (league).

The Australian Rugby Union's managing director, Gary Flowers, said yesterday that the survey was "a great result for rugby".

"The 2003 World Cup tournament was obviously a watershed for the game in Australia. There were some sceptics who took the view that we wouldn't be able to retain the interest levels after the last World Cup," he said.

The sport that held the greatest national interest was swimming (59 per cent), followed by tennis, cricket and AFL (55 per cent). Then followed soccer, union, league, cycling, bushwalking/hiking, golf, running, gym workout, motor-car racing, athletics, snooker and basketball.

 

[bayrep]

Why is it no real surprise ? I thought League out stripped Union by a country mile when it came to interest in Aus. Especially if you go by all the posters on this site.

 

[chileman]

bayrep, League is only really popular in Queensland and NSW whereas Union seems to be followed all across Australia....but you can hardly take a survey of just 1000 people as the voice of Australia which is why I said there is no surprise....I follow League 1st followed by soccer, AFL and Union....have no problems or hangups with any of the codes as others seem to have....love to see them all successful actually but not at the expense of another code which some in Union and League seem to want to promote! Just mu opinion though...take it or leave it

 

[taipan]

The report has been rebutted by the NRL.Here is an example of their (Sweeney's incompetence).

The report is a Melbourne based sports poll based on 1,000 telephone interviews and no other actual data available.

They stated that rugby league crowds have grown 3% since 1998 ,and that more people watched rugby union on television than rugby league".
Wrong.According to official NRL sources crowd averages have risen 34% since 1998,setting record averages in 2003 and 2004,and is on track for another record year in 2005(Sweeney claims 3% in the same timeframe.
Rugby league is the highest rating Australian sport on subscription television(substantially ahead of rugby) with a growing audience.
Rugby league attracts around 2 million viewers a week on FTA across Friday and sunday.The game supplied the top 3 most watched programs in Brisbane in 2004,and 4 of the top 6 in Sydney,rugby did not produce one.
nationally league came in 12th,25th,30th,48th,rugby union came in 97th(somehow Sweeney appears to have rugby ahead in viewing).
league has more than 280,000 participants ,more than rugby and is growing faster than ever.
May saw 765,000 different people visit NRL.COM,making it the 2nd most popular sports website in the country(Nielsen ratings placed the highest ranking rugby site at 7th and the ARU site at 20th.
The rebuttal in the NRL official site summarises the Sweeney report"once again seems the equivalent of a small opinion poll that says Labor should have won the last election,even though ther votes went the other way".
Sweeeney you have been owned big time.
I accept that union is more popular in Oz than ever before,but for a survey organisation to make such erroneous announcements without a little more research,they have shown themselves to be real d...heads when it comes to accuracy.Meantime union officialdom in oz gets all wet and excited ,on a dicey report.Sweeney I hope werent the organisation predicting 3billion to watch the world cup on TV.

 

[gaterooze]

More Australians watch League in one single weekend than have watched EVERY UNION GAME THIS YEAR COMBINED.

More Australians watched a single Origin game than EVERY UNION GAME THIS YEAR COMBINED.

:lol:

 

[bayrep]

And yet you still feel threatened don't you gaterooze!

 

[gaterooze]

:lol: hardly.

"It is the moment rugby union administrators have dreamed of for decades - when their game passed rugby league as the more popular national sport."

Pissed myself when I read that.

 

[Copa]

The survey showed that rugby was also watched more on television than league

It really is a strange thing to say RU is more popular on TV than RL. Like Gaterooze has said .....in one weekend alone RL has as many TV viewers that S12 has for an entire season.

 

[Polynesian Warrior]

Two years ago some one eye leaguie paranoia's were laughing and made fun at rugby fans because the sweeney's reports had league ahead of rugby .
I guess they are not laughing now .

 

[Copa]

:lol: Still laughing - now laughing at Sweeney also.

 

[taipan]

Two years ago some one eye leaguie paranoia's were laughing and made fun at rugby fans because the sweeney's reports had league ahead of rugby .
I guess they are not laughing now .

Yeah that would be right.For the past few years the NRL have stated (by Gallop) that the Sweeney report has shown so many errors,that the NRL have
had little faith or reliance in it.Make fun of rugby fans ? why would they do that league is rugby as is union.
Mate they cant get the rugby league particaption numbers right for starters,they ignored the TV ratings ,and they were so far out in crowd increases in rugby league ,thatSweeney survey condemned themselves into a joke survey.They shot themselves in the bum no one else with either dumb errors or blatant lies take your pick.
As a matter of fact ,we havent stopped laughing at the so called survey.The only sad part about it ,these gooses get paid for it.

 

[Parra_Eels]

dude 100 people - that is so piss weak for the aru to claim that as a victory

 

[Copa]

A friend of mine in Adelaide thinks the Wallabies are the NRL's rep team. There are others like him all over.

 

[Polynesian Warrior]

Really ! This is not from the same mate who refuse to do the Haka ? This kind of league opologist post is really old mate .
I mean you are not talking to ten years old here Copa . Everyone knows that in Adelaide , Perth etc .
Everyone knows who the Wallabies is . Not many people would know what the NRL is .

 

[Thomas]

Mind you, there are some really insular folk in Adelaide and Melbourne

 

[taipan]

Really ! This is not from the same mate who refuse to do the Haka ? This kind of league opologist post is really old mate .
I mean you are not talking to ten years old here Copa . Everyone knows that in Adelaide , Perth etc .
Everyone knows who the Wallabies is . Not many people would know what the NRL is .

Steady there dont use the term everyone,because no one knows that if that is so.Have you consulted everyone in SA or Perth.
BTW more people(not everyone LOL) will be aware of the NRL in SA WA over the next few years,with the new TV contract money.

 

[Copa]

Really ! This is not from the same mate who refuse to do the Haka ? This kind of league opologist post is really old mate .
I mean you are not talking to ten years old here Copa . Everyone knows that in Adelaide , Perth etc .
Everyone knows who the Wallabies is . Not many people would know what the NRL is .

You are wrong. Perhaps you should hang around some regular folk from Adelaide... if you're brave enough that is. I agree...many do know who the Walabies are... but some of the folk I know think they come from the NRL. Nationally broadcast sports programs, and breakfast programs talk about the NRL all the time and have done so for years...

My mate said he would not be interested in doing the Haka. He has never done it.

 

[Polynesian Warrior]

I use to live in Perth for 6 years and play league with Syd Eru Copa . And trust me son noone is awake when NRL is shown on TV in Perth .
Once again your opologist post doesn't cut it with me . Thats up there with my workmate and my Kiwi neigbour or my sister's kiwi husband who told me that the NRL is big in SA and WA .
While the Wallabies are in new A-League soccer comp .

No Taipan I haven't consulted everyone in WA or SA but I know that the Wallabies and rugby is big in Perth than the NRL .

 

[Polynesian Warrior]

So maybe your mate doesn't want to do the haka because he hasn't been taught or school in NZ .

Apologies about the last post on the other threadTe kaha !

 

[taipan]

I use to live in Perth for 6 years and play league with Syd Eru Copa . And trust me son noone is awake when NRL is shown on TV in Perth .
Once again your opologist post doesn't cut it with me . Thats up there with my workmate and my Kiwi neigbour or my sister's kiwi husband who told me that the NRL is big in SA and WA .
While the Wallabies are in new A-League soccer comp .

No Taipan I haven't consulted everyone in WA or SA but I know that the Wallabies and rugby is big in Perth than the NRL .

I used to spend time at the Gold Coast (and rugby league was not as popular)and a lot changes with time.Rest assured old son with the contract monies in the pipeline,there will be many changes.For starters pay TV will have an extra game on Fox/Optus into Perth,the ARL will be allocating more monies for development Australia wide(which they were very restricted in the past to do because they were screwed by CH9 after the SL war),there will be a push for internationals to be shown at better hours,plus SOO.Rugby is big in Sydney also with the NRL.
For example the Pilbara and Kalgoorlie want to join the Perth rugby league competition next year to increase the comp to 8,and these teams are set to have Qantaslink as sponsors.
The Perth competition and rugby league has been neglected since 1998,that aint going to happen anymore.
The Wallabies/ARU have had plenty of money to promote,whereas the ARL(repeat ARL) didnt until the new contract.So Perth will hear a little bit more about rugby league,as will SA and Vic.