On Sunday, after a delicious pub lunch I stumbled home, sat on the couch and turned on Channel Nine. But instead of having live NRL football to watch, I was shocked to see re-runs of hit reality show The Block.
Now The Block is a great show – be sure to watch it during the week in its designated time slot – but why from 1:30pm to 4:00pm on the middle of a beautiful Sunday afternoon am I forced to watch re-runs of a show most people have already tuned into during the week.
It is 2014 and Channel Nine still refuse to show live football on a Sunday. And people ask the question, why have the ratings dropped?
The NFL has set their schedule up so that during the NFL season most of America is committed to watching football all day Sunday and live.
And that is precisely what happens.
The staggered starting times at 1:00pm, 4:25pm and then a Sunday Night Football (SNF) game at 8:30pm ensure that football is on all day.
The NFL rates its butt off in America and the Super Bowl is the most watched sporting spectacle every year barring the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.
Channel Nine have the ability to mirror this in connection with its deal with Fox Sports but fail to do so.
Channel Nine do a great job of setting the day up with Wide World of Sports in the morning and then the Sunday Football Show over lunch.
So why not jump straight into a live game immediately after? Because it would make too much sense, that’s why.
Three live NRL games, across Channel Nine and Fox Sports (Fox show games live, thank god!), is what is needed on a Sunday.
Yes, I know Channel Nine only have the rights to one game on a Sunday but is the second game on a Friday night really necessary?
The second game is never live and it is on far too late because instead of having a pre-game show at 7:00pm, ensuring a precise 7:30pm kickoff, Channel Nine decide that yet another episode of that repetitive television show The Big Bang Theory would be more appropriate.
The point is that three live games in a row every Sunday is precisely what the NRL and television viewers need.
There is nothing better on a Sunday to sit back relax with a cold beverage of any variety and watch live sport.
Three games on a Sunday afternoon would also ensure great crowd numbers as Sunday is the best time for families to spend the day together and not be up late at night.
Channel Nine paid big money to ensure rugby league would be on their network, why not feature it more often and in primetime slots?
It baffles me that in 2014 on a Sunday the only free-to-air rugby league is delayed. It is something that needs to be addressed and addressed immediately.
After Round 1 a few other things drew the attention of the national media, one of those being dwindling crowd numbers.
In looking at the crowd numbers, I am not surprised to see them down on last year. The NRL has done a miserable job advertising the game.
The best rugby league ad this year was done by Foxtel, which featured the likes of Nathan Hindmarsh and done to the tune of Tina Turner – funnily enough it is the only place that shows live games on the weekend.
In 2013, the Round 1 crowd total was 158,678 and this year that number has dropped by over 40,000 to 112,193.
Even the A-League (16,870) had a higher crowd average over the past weekend than the NRL (15,824).
Late kickoff times on the Thursday night are partly to blame but in saying that, Thursday night football was successful last season.
The game of rugby league has improved despite what most punters think. Banning the shoulder charge is rough but player safety and longevity is of the utmost importance in any sporting league.
The new rule changes – including clock stoppages, quick taps from 40/20s and the seven tackle set – have made the game faster and more entertaining to watch.
So why are there no bums on seats?
It comes back to the advertising and season launch. The off-season of the NRL has no build up or suspense. It sort of just rolls up and begins. There is nothing at all.
The NRL should be on the front foot, promoting individual games and specials.
I would rather 50,000 people paying $10 a ticket than 27,000 thousand paying $30 a ticket. The results of this are twofold, firstly the atmosphere on television is infinitely better and secondly the more fans at the ground will see an increase in merchandise and food/beverage sales.
These problems the NRL are facing can be simply fixed. People will point to the rules such as the lack of shoulder charges and fights in the game as the reason for the round decrease but at the end of the day, fights are not the heart and soul of rugby league, well not the rugby league I grew up watching.
The game is a great game. It is certainly not the greatest game of all or in Australia for that matter but it has the potential to be.
The administration and organisation of a great sport is what is holding it back. Let’s hope the two Davids (Smith and Gyngell) can strap the boots on and get to work.
Follow Josh on Twitter @joshwye
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