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AFL has just won the opening salvo in the fight for ratings on pay television, but the battle is only beginning.
The blockbuster Super Rugby clash between NSW and Queensland at Homebush on Saturday was the top rating sports event on pay TV for week 8, securing a total people audience of 193,000 national viewers.
But second was the AFL’s NAB Cup game between Essendon and Fremantle with 161,000 national viewers and third was Essendon against West Coast with 160,000 viewers.
Next up was NAB clashes with Melbourne facing the Lions (147,000), Gold Coast versus Melbourne (141,000) and Sydney against Geelong (140,000).
In seventh place was the Brumbies opener against the Force with 112,000 followed by the Chiefs versus Highlanders with 79,000, Blues versus Crusaders with 67,000 and the Tahs-Reds post game show with 62,000.
What does this all tell us?
Well a game against the two best-supported Australian Super Rugby teams, from the two biggest heartlands and featuring the defending champions, was always going to rate well. No surprises there.
But what is surprising is the ratings for the NAB Cup. This was pre-season games up against rugby’s real thing, the 2012 Super Rugby season, and AFL did very well.
Fox Sports is investing a lot in AFL this year, with the launch of a new dedicated AFL channel Fox Footy and the rights to show live all AFL games this season except the grand final.
It’s pumping money into the code and has even hired motormouth Eddie McGuire to anchor its coverage, and so far the very early signs are good.
Last week Fox Sports trumped the fact that live NAB Cup broadcasts accounted for six of the top seven most watched programs on pay TV last week (two weeks ago), topped by the Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney clash which drew an average audience of 259,000 – the biggest audience for an opening round NAB Cup fixture in pay TV history.
2011 was a very good year for Australian rugby, Wallabies World Cup showing aside, with pay TV audiences up as the Queensland Reds romped away with the Super Rugby title. The ARU also recently spruiked their participation results which showed growth in both the number of junior and senior players.
But the ARU resting on their laurels now would be a good mistake. If anything, it should be doing more. With the Brumbies and Force fielding fairly weak squads this year, as well as the Rebels still being a work in progress, a lot is riding on the performances of the Reds and Waratahs to both be successful and entertain.
An expanded Tri-Nations this year brings in Argentina and more excitement, and considering the Wallabies have beaten both South Africa (repeatedly) and New Zealand last year, they will be expected to be contenders. Coming last or even third among the four-team tournament is not an option.
Meanwhile in two days’ time we see the opening game of the NRL season strangely on free-to-air TV, but league will return to pay TV screens this Saturday and Sunday.
With Super Rugby just starting and the A-League with still more than a month left to play, it will be fascinating to see what captures most people’s attention.
There will be a lot of head-to-head matches and the competition will be fierce. While TV viewers will be the ultimate winners, not every sport can be, and the costs of falling off the radar could big.
With the NRL and FFA now negotiating new TV deals, and a hell of a lot riding on those agreements, the pressure is only starting to build.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.