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.
warren
Guest
So why aren't the TV channels lining up to pay the big $$$ for it? Events like the RWC semi last year got good ratings because there was an expectation of a great contest. It is like the Australian Open Tennis - I do not play the game but like many others stayed up to watch the final because of its significance in our sporting calendar. Before we give ourselves too many pats on the back lets see how the ratings go over the coming weeks when the NRL and AFL season starts. Me thinks many viewers last week were casual sporting fans. Once these other sports start the real contest will begin.
Ted Skinner
Guest
As a matter of comparison here are last year's Pay TV Ratings (Top 10) for the first 6 weeks when the Super RU Comp, was played: http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/39e2fc05ec30a045fe437ceab7adc6d1/ASTRAWeek8data.pdf Top 10 Sport Broadcasts 1 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 5 SYD V GC FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 20:55 312 - 1482 521 Week 1 Super 15 2 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 5 GWS V GC FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 21:50 287 - 1290 462 3 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 5 GWS V SYD FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 19:00 245 - 1347 568 4 LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: REBELS V WARATAHS FOX SPORTS 2 Fri 19:30 231 - 1312 516 5 LIVE: RUGBY LEAGUE: CHARITY SHIELD FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 19:03 224 - 1434 482 6 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 3 WC V HAW FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 19:30 185 - 1487 443 7 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 3 HAW V FRE FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 20:56 173 - 1406 363 8 LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: BRUMBIES V CHIEFS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 19:30 139 - 1447 408 9 LIVE: CRICKET: WORLD CUP WARM-UP FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 19:40 124 - 1258 572 10 LIVE: RUGBY LEAGUE: CHARITY SHIELD PRE GAME FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 18:30 121 - 1196 226 Week 2 Super15 http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/b26e2f4888a26cd71c44f90d509d81d3/ASTRAWeek9dataV2.pdf 1 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V ZIM S1 FOX SPORTS 3 Mon 20:00 290 - 1045 925 2LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 6 N MEL V WB FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 16:54 201 - 1346 341 3 LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: WARATAHS V REDS FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 19:30 186 - 1392 472 4 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 6 GEE V WB FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 18:05 172 - 1230 298 5LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V NZ FOX SPORTS 2 Fri 19:30 172 - 1213 1027 6LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP QF#1 MELB V ESSENDON FOX SPORTS 1 Thu 19:00 165 - 1144 507 7LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP POOL 6 GEE V N MEL FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 15:30 159 - 1227 293 8LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: REDS V FORCE FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 17:30 156 - 1254 399 9LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: PRE MATCH FOX SPORTS 3 Mon 19:30 131 - 1044 282 10 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V ZIM S2 FOX SPORTS 3 Mon 23:13 112 - 420 395 Week 3 Super15 http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/134087d320d3c9324ffc727879e39aa4/ASTRAWeek10.pdf 1 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 20:30 169 - 1404 536 2 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: SRI V AUS FOX SPORTS 3 Sat 21:00 158 - 1289 784 3LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: BRUMBIES V REDS FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 19:30 148 - 1483 410 4 LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: CHIEFS V REBELS FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 17:30 119 - 1223 361 5 LIVE: AFL: NAB CUP QF#4 W CST V G CST FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 19:30 119 - 1245 454 6ICC WORLD CUP: SRI V AUS S1 FOX SPORTS Sat 20:00 112 - 1490 267 7LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: CRUSADERS V WARATAHS FOX SPORTS 1 Fri 17:30 107 - 919 341 8LIVE: CRICKET: NATIONAL ONE DAY CUP FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 13:43 106 - 1220 639 9 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: IND V ENG FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 19:58 98 - 816 617 10 LIVE: RUGBY LEAGUE: WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE FOX SPORTS 3 Mon 6:00 80 - 286 186 Week 4 Super15, Round1 NRL http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/6710836f9e60ba2f218ead519ec55559/ASTRAWeek11.pdf Top 10 Sport Broadcasts 1 LIVE: NRL TITANS V DRAGONS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 19:30 329 - 1419 710 2 LIVE: NRL WARRIORS V EELS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 17:30 262 - 1241 634 3 NRL STORM V SEA EAGLES FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 21:20 165 - 1281 523 4 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: ENG V RSA FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 19:05 134 - 1087 950 5 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: IND V RSA FOX SPORTS 3 Sat 19:40 121 - 1241 680 6 LIVE: NRL SATURDAY PRE GAME SHOW FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 16:55 109 - 1170 230 7 LIVE: RUGBY LEAGUE: TOYOTA CUP FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 15:15 88 - 1177 275 8 CRICKET: WORLD SERIES CLASSICS FOX SPORTS 1 Sun 18:33 84 - 1069 199 9 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: NZ V PAK FOX SPORTS 3 Tue 19:40 81 - 856 599 10 LIVE: SUPER RUGBY: REBELS V SHARKS FOX SPORTS 1 Fri 19:30 75 - 1070 307 Week 5 Super15, Round 2 NRL http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/c42be65af09e0e3112bf22969664eaf4/ASTRAWeek12.pdf Top 10 Sport Broadcasts 1 LIVE: NRL BULLDOGS V WESTS TIGERS FOX SPORTS 2 Mon 19:00 365 - 1243 798 2 LIVE: NRL WESTS TIGERS V WARRIORS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 19:30 310 - 1446 668 3 LIVE: NRL STORM V TITANS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 17:30 267 - 1231 649 4 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V KEN S1 FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 20:02 250 - 1116 1000 5 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL FOX SPORTS 3 Sun 17:00 232 - 1219 718 6 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V CAN S1 FOX SPORTS 3 Wed 20:00 215 - 1089 861 7 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: AUS V PAK FOX SPORTS 3 Sat 20:00 197 - 1357 990 8 LIVE: NRL COWBOYS V KNIGHTS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 21:30 197 - 1266 547 9 LIVE: NRL RAIDERS V SHARKS FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 14:00 194 - 1203 486 10 LIVE: NRL MONDAY POST GAME SHOW FOX SPORTS 2 Mon 20:50 122 - 1124 459 Week 6 Super15 Round 3 NRL http://assets.astra.org.au.s3.amazonaws.com/6f8efa01c9065480fa2c8e17d4d12a62/ASTRAWeek13.pdf Top 10 Sport Broadcasts 1 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: QF#2 AUS V IND FOX SPORTS 3 Thu 20:00 391 - 1162 1201 2 LIVE: NRL SHARKS V DRAGONS FOX SPORTS 2 Mon 19:00 339 - 1232 670 3 LIVE: NRL WESTS TIGERS V RAIDERS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 19:30 307 - 1397 709 4 LIVE: NRL PANTHERS V SHARKS FOX SPORTS 2 Sat 17:30 234 - 1152 595 5 LIVE: NRL RABBITOHS V BULLDOGS FOX SPORTS 2 Sun 14:00 222 - 1173 460 6 LIVE: AFL COLLINGWOOD V PORT ADELAIDE FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 14:00 205 - 1125 486 7 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: QF#2 AUS V IND FOX SPORTS 3 Thu 23:40 179 - 488 608 8 LIVE: AFL BRISBANE LIONS V FREMANTLE FOX SPORTS 1 Sat 20:00 162 - 1316 593 9 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC WORLD CUP: QF#2 FOX SPORTS 3 Fri 02:00 114 - 233 213 10 LIVE: NRL MONDAY POST GAME SHOW FOX SPORTS 2 Mon 20:55 112 - 1068 430
Ted Skinner
Guest
Supply the notes. I betch you can't.
simon
Guest
That's right Wookie. I don't think many Rugby fans would argue with that. I think everyone is aware rugby isn't about to compete on the same level as AFL. I think most rugby fans on the Roar would be happy enough if rugby just tries to be the best it can be.
simon
Guest
The Cattery, can I just say that I think you are one of the most encouraging writers on the Roar. Well done.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
To do exactly that. Entice people to take up the offer. The key will be for them to maintain it next season.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Sanity and Republican have not been familiar with one another for some time now.
Jaceman
Guest
I think the upgrade to HD will be the other big winner for Fox as FTA wont have HD...but the season will tell...
Jaceman
Guest
Its true some Aussie derbies are teeth extraction - I prefer NZ teams in SA where there is really a contest of high skill and a cut and thrust game where NZ teams have a go. SA teams in NZ not so much...
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'm not sure, I think the number would exceed 15.
kovana
Guest
Its because both codes live in Reality and dont believe their games are only playable by Supermen. I myself have no animosity for AFL or soccer because they are different games from rugby. They cater to different audiences.
kovana
Guest
Yes there were. Whats your point? The crowds and TV ratings are up this season for Rd 1 compared to Last season round 1.
google
Guest
SO? AFL is bigger than rugby in OZ. Just liek Baseball and NFL are bigger in the USA. No big deal, AFL got about 12 fans outside of Australia...all of them expats
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Pro/rel is simply incredibly unfair, that's why I'm opposed to it. Not to mention I'm yet to hear a truly compelling argument in favour of it from its supporters (many of whom seem to think that because international conpetitions utilise it, so should the AFL).
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Its the preseason, the AFL has been beaten by Super Rugby AND Cricket on several occasions. How about we wait until the regular AFL/NRL seasons are under way before we start going on about ratings improvements.
Jiggles
Roar Guru
logic and Republican are seldom hand in hand...
me, I like football
Guest
No they are not
jeznez
Roar Guru
Republican, based upon what you say I am rather surprised that the Blues v Crusaders games wasn't the most watched item on pay tv. Very strange that all these Kiwis living in Oz decided to watch the Aussie local derby instead of the NZ one isn't it?
db swannie
Guest
I dont think the uptake numbers are quite what Fox hoped they would be .. Why else would they be giving away FREE AFL memberships (worth $670) to entice people to sign up.?
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Oh for the love of little green apples. I can't be the only one whose eyes glaze over whenever Republican comes face to face with his age old mortal foe (Homo Novozealandicus), right? You have your entitlement to an opinion but it is forever the same opinion, unaltered by circumstance, event, reason or the grinding hands of time. Once the screed has been read the once than like hieroglyphics set in granite, you know it isn't going to be any different the next time you see it.