Fans vote with their feet for footy on Good Friday

So a Brisbane Lions game(with the idiot Fevola) outrated the NRL Footy(which has had continual drops in ratings) Show wow! NRL pull down the shutters in Brisbane.All is lost.For more than a few the footy show is about as funny as the iron Chef. .And when of course should the Lions drop down the table substantailly ,the Tv ratings will be....... Tell us something new about AFL having bigger crowds,and discuss why the Swans v St Kilda game drew 31,000 supposedly which despite all the promotion including pre season games,was down on the 63,000 odd when the Swans(established for 30 years in Sydney) last played the same mob at Homebush.surely the remainder were not home watching the Iron Chef. Yet the poor old Storm with minimal hoo hah in comparison in Melbourne got 25,000,where apparently no one cares .Imagine what they would get in summer LOL.

Is that fair dinkum?? source please (not that I am doubting you)

It's going to be an interesting year in Brisbane. Lions have a lot of momentum (adding Fevola) 2 from 2 at the moment and Brown on fire. Meanwhile Broncos are rebuilding and could possibly miss the top 8 for the first time since.... I don't know it's been so long. They have already been thumped by Auckland, have a few injuries and 2 players just got in trouble for showing up late to training. Roar and Firebirds (0-3) are set for bad seasons... the Lions could be the cities only winning team. Long way to go yet though and the wild card is the Reds if they can get a home semi final.

Yes they do vote with their feet... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-has-hopes-of-record-season-after-first-two-rounds-draws-big-crowds/story-e6frf9io-1225850119554 Bris Lions game easily out rated the NRL Footy Show, if only Ch 9 showed Iron Chef against it. :-)

The Storm are worth money to the NRL from a Pay Tv and FTA perspective alone .Their presence is an intro to SOO and tests played in Victoria.eg the Rd 2 broncos v Storm clash in 09 ,is the highest rating regular season NRL match across the five cap cities to rd 25.(870,000) The highest rating Pay TV match on Fox in 09 was the rd11 Bulldogds v Storm,with an average 357,000 The 2009 SOO series was one of the most successful ever with more than 6.3million viewers across the 5 cap cities,and a further 3.3million in regional Australia.Plus the packed stadiums for the series, Funny how these stats are conveniently overloooked( throw in the odd test& all stars) when the AFL TV income and audience is thrown up.They ignore also the NZ market where the NRL have a team. The top 60 /1000 Tv programmes on Fox were rugby league. At the same time the critics ignore the fact ATM the NRL in particular ,is played at unfriendly hours in the non rl states. I suggest that the next TV contracts will be based on a national coverage,and a greater value,and then and only then can you compare the current AFL V NRL viewing figures and values. Crowds are indeed important and AFL is well ahead of rugby league,but that is but one factor.Eyeballs and potential eyeballs in the biggest and future markets are also more important.Rugby league has not even realised its position as a national sport,without Perth and Adelaide. RedB Don't worry about a little compettion from thestorm,be more concerned about soccer and the WC,just like the esteemed leader C.D. That is the beauty of rugby league,you can play it in summer overseas in a pro comp,and be paid handsomely for so doing.Alternatively like a growing number of Englishmen are doing ,playing in the NRL with its mild winters and leaving the summer behind in the UK.

Looks like I am being moderated, seems certain people on here have favoured treatment over others

The NRL will go some way to bridging the gap with the AFL on TV rights, but with the figure of $1.2 billion being bandied around quite readily, it's hard to imagine the NRL bridging it completely, but it could get close to a $1 billion figure. That's TV ratings, when we look at attendance, memberships and sponsorship, it's a completely different game. After two rounds, the AFL has attendances of some 656,000, or an average of 40,500 per game. To put that in some context, after only two rounds, with 20 more to come, the AFL has already over 20% of what the NRL can expect in attendances this year, and about 50% of what the A-League got in attendances in the season past. Lots of people are praying for a decline in the AFL's popularity - but on these sorts of figures, that's a long, long, long way away.

Interesting times ahead for NRL and AFL, I think the NRL will catch the AFL a lot quicker than redb realises.

Enjoy the next couple of years Redb while the NRL sets itself up with TV $ to pay the players what they deserve and keep them in the game. There will also be extra coverage from splitting deals with perhaps all three commercial stations. The free ride given to the AFL and Union following Super League is coming to an end. Soon you will be supporting Melbourne Storm yourself, meekly hiding in your bedroom.

ac.....its called being brainwashed

I tell you what Red, Storm will play in summer when AFL becomes a contact sport. BTW, plenty of ex storm players can and do play in our summer mate, its called the northern hemisphere!!!

Judging by his user icon, I'd say he's primarily a fan of Aussie rules.

Storm should play in summer it's the only time they get free space when the AFL is not on. Be intereresting to see the crowd when storm finish 11th like the swans did last year in future years?

Sorry, I should clarify the last line above, I"m talking about the Stawell Gift.

I celebrate Easter with a beer, choclate, sport, and a few days off work!!! I'm non chistian bring on some sport!

After today's game, we would have recorded an aggregate of 320,000 spectators during round 2 of the AFL. That's following the 336,000 recorded in round 1. A total of 656,000 spectators at an average of around 40,500 per game. Clearly the AFL doesn't need to host games on Good Friday to improve crowds - they are pretty good as it is thank you very much! I open up today's HS: footy on the front, middle and back pages, about 13 of the 15 sports pages dedicated to Australian Football - it's all good - no problems on that front - let the NRL and other sports use Good Friday, let them make the most of it, that's great, good for them, good for Victorians. Also let's not forget that Easter is another important time in Victoria in terms of an event with a long history.

Channel 10 could do the game if Channel 7 has the Charity Appeal in Victoria.

It was OK, I'm not a rugby league expert, but the first half appeard tight, and the second half was more open. In saying that, I think Melbourne Storm is a damn good team and probably doesn't get ther credit it deserves in its home town. I don't think many people realise how good the team actually is.

I'm surprised the AFL has let Good Friday slide for so long. The success of this NRL game will prompt them to change their thinking, I'm sure.

Bever, I was going to say just that. It seems the logical thing, doesn't upset anyone and suddendly becomes a big asset in regards to the TV rights.