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NRL games must go live into Victoria

Roar Guru
8th May, 2010
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Roar Guru
8th May, 2010
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If Channel 9 or the NRL needed more convincing that Friday night football should be shown into Melbourne then hopefully they have finally got the message following the success of the ANZAC Test.

30,000 fans attended the new AAMI Park for the Australia and New Zealand match which was shown live and watched by 257,000 fans in the city.

I think the old saying that “nobody in Melbourne cares about rugby league” has now run its course and it’s time the administrators finally, after 12 years of the Melbourne Storm in the competition, get serious about
broadcasting the game into the southern capital.

It was a winner for rugby league in the ratings with the match watched by over 560,000 fans in Sydney
and just shy of 400,000 fans in Brisbane. Adding in the Melbourne figure, the match was the third most watched show of the night with over 1.2 million people watching.

Yes, Better Homes and Gardens out-rated the match Friday night, but I think the fact the game still achieved over 250,000 fans shows the public in Melbourne do actually like to watch the game.

The issues in the game at the moment aren’t good, obviously, but we have to remember the game has withstood a lot more than what’s happened with the Storm.

The great line “if you build it they will come” was certainly on show Friday night in the rain. But perhaps for the NRL
the message is “if you show it live they will watch”.

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