So which teams should be given Monday night games?

[yankeeboy]

I would expect them to take away one of the Saturday 7:30 games for the bye, not the Monday night game.

Which game do they take away now when there is the triple bye?

And giving away free tix doesn't help...teams need to know if Perth is profitable, not if people will go to see free footy.

And I don't see why families wouldn't take their kids to the footy on Monday night...we do it in the states all the time.

 

[Thunderstruck]

I would expect them to take away one of the Saturday 7:30 games for the bye, not the Monday night game.

Which game do they take away now when there is the triple bye?

And giving away free tix doesn't help...teams need to know if Perth is profitable, not if people will go to see free footy.

And I don't see why families wouldn't take their kids to the footy on Monday night...we do it in the states all the time.

No saturday games will be taken away because it's part of the Super Saturday juggernaut on FoxSports 1. If not MNF, it'll be Sunday as it has been the last few years.

The triple bye is usually around origin time. IIRC, the most recent one was before Origin 2 in round 14, Panthers, Dogs, & Roosters. They could easily have a split round where no football is being played before Origin.

The NFL has had MNF since 1969 but it's always been reserved for the best teams that will attract the most fans. The NRL's scheduling have always been dictated by Channel 9 who gets to pick the games they show on Friday nights and Sunday afternoon.

I don't know how the NFL scheduling works, but 9 picks teams that they think will draw the best ratings five weeks in advance, so for example, in 2004, we got the Broncos, Roosters, Panthers, and Eels every other week on Friday, the Cowboys only had their first ever game on channel 9 since 1995 and the Raiders, despite having performed strongly in the competition, had less than a handful of games on free-to-air.

 

[yankeeboy]

Most NFL games will sell out regardless of when or where they are played. They will always get at least 65,000 for every NFL game, or else it can't be televised locally.

The NFL choose the teams who they will think have the biggest advertising potential...however, they do the entire draw before the season, and they can always end up with teams that under-perform.

I would expect that a MNF game anywhere in Australia or NZ would be able to draw at least 20k. I would also hope that it could beat whatever else was being shown against it across the country...or would Victorians, and people from SA and WA really rather watch Big Brother?

 

[Thunderstruck]

If BB even exists by that time.

Most NFL games may well sell out but NRL games very rarely do and the TV deals are completely different. There's no such thing as local broadcast in that sense. MNF would get roughly 15-18K, max 25K based on this season's figures and popularity.

Monday Night NRL in Melbourne would get probably 10K. We got abut that much back in 2001 when the Storm had to play on Monday due to stadium commitments.

 

[steaming stormer]

That was with little to no promotion though... my problem with MNF is that if you have a team that is not from the area, there will be little to no travelling fans, as people will have to work.

 

[Razor]

or we could have one or two rounds without MNF due to byes.

All the teams have the bye the same week sometime mid-season.

 

[yankeeboy]

No, they won't.

If all teams get a week off, they won't call it a bye. They will call it "the week between round X and round Y where we don't play a game."

The bye will either be 4 x 4 or 8 x 2. There will not be a week with no footy...David Gallop, Nine, and Foxtel are not that stupid.

 

[Southern Rooster]

I remember two Monday night games i went to at the SFS in around 95 or 96. One game was against the Broncos and it was jam-packed ... i went after work and after a few drinks at the club with some work friends (who werent league fans .. one was a Saints fan so he came along too). They were instantly hooked to League by the atmosphere at the ground, even though we got there so late the only seats we could get was in the corner directly underneath the scoreboard, so we couldnt even see the replays lol. But they loved it.

So they came along to the Roosters- Manly match later in the year as well ... that too must have been over 36k at the SFS. They loved the atmosphere.

Then along came superleague, and destroyed all my hard work in trying to get people interested in league ...

Oh well but the point is this ... Monday night games, especially involving the Roosters (and we werent even a good club back then, it was Freddy's first year i think), Broncos and Manly always seem to attract big crowds.

They'd be crazy to stop these 3 teams having only 3 games on monday nights i believe.

Yep we played 3 Monday night games that year and got over 28,000 to all of them. It was 1996.

28,000 v Cronulla (a loss)
34,000 v Brisbane (a win thanks Andrew Gee)
36,000 v Manly a thumping loss.

Great nights though and would be good to get them back again.

 

[Razor]

No, they won't.

If all teams get a week off, they won't call it a bye. They will call it "the week between round X and round Y where we don't play a game."

The bye will either be 4 x 4 or 8 x 2. There will not be a week with no footy...David Gallop, Nine, and Foxtel are not that stupid.

No, the NRL has confirmed that there will a bye week mid-season, with all teams having the break at the same time.

 

[yankeeboy]

Source?

And this doesn't mean that they won't have a bye round where others play but they don't. If they have a bye week, then it won't be part of the 25 rounds. They will simply skip a week and pick up. Round 13 will not be a bye week, it would simply be the round after the break.

But again, I think you are misinterpreting the press release.

 

[lockyno1]

The one team that jumps to my head is - MELBOURNE! There are no AFL games on Monday so it would be a perfect slot for them to play! They need something to increase crowd numbers!

 

[hybrideel]

Parra wouldn't be too bad as the stadium is a few minutes walk from the parra cbd. would have potential.

 

[bomberman]

I want to know what will happen if Monday Night footy turns into a flop. Will they add a Saturday Night game on NINE?

 

[Striker]

I feel MNF every week is the best thing the NRL has introduced since since David Gallop. The concecpt of 4 nights a week containing rugby league is great! With the closeness of the competition over the past few seasons, there is very rarely a crappy game and nearly every single match will have a major influence on the competition table. I feel that the NRL needs to push channel 9 into not favouring teams for the friday night and sunday afternoon matches so that there is interest for all clubs and sponsorship potential as well.

Its obvious that most of the major sponsors would have the opinion it is only worth getting involved with a few of the teams as they are the ones with the free to air presence. My ideal match time slot each week would be:

Friday: 7:30 Live Channel 9
Saturday: 17:30 Live Fox Sports
Saturday: 19:30 Live Fox Sports
Saturday: 21:30 Delayed Fox Sports
Sunday: 13:00 Live Fox Sports (this would accomodate a 15:00 NZ game)
Sunday: 15:00 Live Channel 9
Sunday: 17:00 Delayed Fox Sports
Monday: 19:30 Live Fox Sports

** and no games the weekend before origins!!

I can dream can't I?

 

[Green Machine]

I remember two Monday night games i went to at the SFS in around 95 or 96. One game was against the Broncos and it was jam-packed ... i went after work and after a few drinks at the club with some work friends (who werent league fans .. one was a Saints fan so he came along too). They were instantly hooked to League by the atmosphere at the ground, even though we got there so late the only seats we could get was in the corner directly underneath the scoreboard, so we couldnt even see the replays lol. But they loved it.

So they came along to the Roosters- Manly match later in the year as well ... that too must have been over 36k at the SFS. They loved the atmosphere.

Must have got a hand full of those free tickets.

Then along came superleague, and destroyed all my hard work in trying to get people interested in league ...

No, don’t blame the destruction of a Sunday Night institution, that was butchered down to 47 mins on channel 9. Like everything else, blame Super League

Oh well but the point is this ... Monday night games, especially involving the Roosters (and we werent even a good club back then, it was Freddy's first year i think), Broncos and Manly always seem to attract big crowds.

1996 Season
1 Manly 36
2 Brisbane 34
3 Norths 32
4 Easts 31
5 Cronulla 30
6 Canberra 27
7 St George 27
8 Wests 25

They'd be crazy to stop these 3 teams having only 3 games on monday nights i believe.

How many Monday Night games has the Rooster requested from the NRL since 1998?

 

[yakstorm]

Yankeeboy there are 8 guarenteed games each week, as stated by the press release, the NRL has said all teams will recieve a bye at the same time.

 

[Razor]

I want to know what will happen if Monday Night footy turns into a flop. Will they add a Saturday Night game on NINE?

There will never be football Saturday Night on fta on Nine. Fox Sports have an exclusivity deal for Super Saturday

Monday night is a Fox Sports match anyway, not a Nine match. Nine are only showing the 3 matches a week (2 Friday, 1 Sunday)

 

[Dr Crane]

Warriors would be better suited on the delayed Friday game, or the normal timeslots at the moment.

If i wasn't a mad Warriors fan i wouldn't look forward to driving into Penrose on a Monday afternoon.

 

[Parra_Eels]

i seem to remember the last mnf game being about 98,99 i think it was souths vs canberra and it drew a decent crowd. could work if promoted well

 

[Green Machine]

I think it would work if it was not every week. The point raised about games in School Holidays is a good. In 1994, the Kangaroos played France at Parramatta Stadium, mid week before a big crowd. This was right in the middle of the school holidays. With two Friday games, three Saturday and two Sunday games that leaves one more time slot. I think they would be better to have no Monday night games the week the Warriors play at home (12.00pm EST). Also, on public holiday weekends, for the eighth match, I think they should go with either a Sunday night match or a Monday afternoon game. Also, the Anzac Day game between the Roosters and Saints needs to be considered. I would prefer this game “Live” on Channel 9.