This article continues my series of monthly updates on the pay TV ratings and attendances of club football games in Australia across all four codes.
In a month where the NRL received some bullish news about the likely value of its next broadcast deal, it had the two most watched football club games on pay-TV in July.
Both games involved the Cowboys, who are a legitimate threat for the premiership this season.
The Saturday night game between Dragons and Cowboys attracted 302,000, while the most recent Monday night game saw the Cowboys versus the Eels achieve 293,000.
The AFL’s most watched game also reached 293,000, when the Magpies hosted the red-hot Hawks. In fourth spot on our table was a surprising fixture, with the Suns versus Kangaroos achieving 292,000.
Both competitions would be pleased in the spread of clubs getting good ratings, each having six fixtures in the top dozen football games. The AFL had 10 clubs appearing in their six highest rating matches, while the NRL had nine clubs appearing in theirs.
The AFL dominates attendances, with 22 of the top 25 most-attended matches, all 22 achieving an attendance in excess of 31,000, with all 18 clubs involved in at least one such match.
The best attended match was Collingwood’s hard-fought contest against Hawthorn (with an attendance of 75,880), which was also the AFL’s best-rating match.
The best-attended NRL match was the Broncos hosting the Tigers in Round 19 (37,260), which finished 16th on our list.
The pre-season football match between Adelaide United and Liverpool attracted 53,008 to the Adelaide Oval, and was the fourth best attended match for the month.
There were other pre-season games played during July, including one between the Roar and Liverpool which also attracted a large crowd, but I could not find an official attendance figure, so unfortunately I had to leave it off the list.
TV Ratings (‘000s)
1. St George Illawarra versus North Queensland: 302
2. North Queensland versus Parramatta: 293
3. Collingwood versus Hawthorn: 293
4. Gold Coast Suns versus North Melbourne: 292
5. Hawthorn versus Richmond: 285
6. Canterbury-Bankstown versus Brisbane Broncos: 271
7. Collingwood versus West Coast Eagles: 270
8. Richmond versus Fremantle: 261
9. Western Bulldogs versus Gold Coast Suns: 242
10. St George Illawarra versus Souths: 239
11. Wests Tigers versus Parramatta: 238
12. Manly versus North Queensland: 238
13. Melbourne Storm versus St George Illawarra: 236
14. West Coast Eagles versus Sydney Swans: 235
15. Souths versus Newcastle Knights: 231
16. Sydney Swans versus Port Adelaide: 229
17. Essendon versus Melbourne Demons: 227
18. Penrith versus Sydney Roosters: 226
19. Gold Coast Titans versus Manly: 218
20. Port Adelaide versus Collingwood: 215
21. Western Bulldogs versus Collingwood: 212
22. Essendon versus St Kilda : 209
23. Richmond versus GWS Giants: 207
24. Fremantle versus Brisbane: 201
25. Richmond versus Carlton: 192
26. New Zealand versus Melbourne Storm: 187
27. Western Bulldogs versus Carlton: 186
28. North Melbourne versus Essendon: 182
29. Canberra Raiders versus Cronulla: 180
30. Penrith versus Canberra Raiders: 179
31. St Kilda versus Richmond: 179
32. Carlton versus Hawthorn: 177
33. Sydney Swans versus Hawthorn: 170
34. West Coast Eagles versus Adelaide: 170
35. New Zealand Warriors versus Manly: 169
36. Newcastle Knights versus Gold Coast Titans: 169
37. Geelong versus Western Bulldogs: 158
38. Hawthorn versus Fremantle: 157
39. Brisbane Lions versus Sydney Swans: 156
40. Essendon versus Port Adelaide: 152
41. GWS Giants versus St Kilda: 151
42. Sydney Roosters versus New Zealand Warriors: 146
43. Port Adelaide versus Adelaide Crows: 145
Attendances
1. Collingwood versus Hawthorn: 75,880
2. Hawthorn versus Richmond: 66,305
3. Port Adelaide versus Adelaide Crows: 53,518
4. Adelaide United versus Liverpool FC: 53,008
5. Richmond versus Carlton: 52,564
6. St Kilda versus Richmond : 45,722
7. Port Adelaide versus Collingwood: 44,496
8. Adelaide Crows versus Gold Coast Suns: 41,715
9. Western Bulldogs versus Collingwood: 40,581
10. Richmond versus Fremantle: 39,777
11. Essendon versus Melbourne: 38,861
12. West Coast Eagles versus Sydney Swans: 38,760
13. West Coast Eagles versus Adelaide: 38,133
14. Essendon versus St Kilda: 38,020
15. Sydney Swans versus Hawthorn: 37,369
16. Brisbane Broncos versus Wests Tigers: 37,260
17. Collingwood versus West Coast Eagles: 36,527
18. Richmond versus GWS Giants: 35,968
19. Fremantle versus Carlton: 33,581
20. Fremantle versus Brisbane Lions: 32,970
21. Western Bulldogs versus Carlton: 31,445
22. North Melbourne versus Geelong: 31,270
23. North Melbourne versus Essendon: 31,025
24. Sydney Swans versus Port Adelaide: 28,316
25. Brisbane Broncos versus Gold Coast Titans: 27,665
26. Carlton versus Hawthorn: 26,815
27. Melbourne Demons versus Brisbane Lions: 25,149
28. Geelong versus Western Bulldogs: 25,041
29. Essendon versus Port Adelaide: 23,705
30. Melbourne Demons versus St Kilda: 22,945
31. Canterbury-Bankstown versus Cronulla: 19,005
32. St George Illawarra versus Souths: 18,217
33. New Zealand Warriors versus Melbourne Storm: 17,278
34. Parramatta versus Canterbury-Bankstown: 17,082
35. Brisbane Lions versus Sydney Swans: 16,936
36. Sydney Roosters versus New Zealand Warriors: 16,301
37. New Zealand Warriors versus Manly: 15,812
38. Brisbane Lions versus North Melbourne: 15,563
39. Manly versus Cronulla: 14,881
40. GWS Giants versus Geelong: 14,667
41. Souths versus Newcastle Knights: 14,603
42. Melbourne Storm versus St George Illawarra: 14,532
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Forgetting of course the regionals in the Northern states,not included in the main FTA figures.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Kirk Let me give you an example I am very familiar with (being of Italian background). The Serie A is one of the worlds big sporting competitions, but it only averages crowds of around 19,000 (in a country with a population of around 60 million and where there is essentially zero competition to soccer). So if the NRL can be a financially prosperous competition (which it is) on the back of average crowds of 15k to 16k, then that's more than acceptable.
Kirk
Guest
The NRL falls into the trap of comparing itself to the AFL in terms of crowds and therefor thinks it needs to be much higher, but the AFL is an anomaly. In a country of 22 million maybe it is unfeasible to expect 20k+ to every game in a 16 team competition, especially when 9 of those teams share a city of 4.5 million. The stats show that crowds have stagnated over the last 10 years but how does compare to all sports around the world? People have more options of things to spend there time and money on these days. I would say the commitment of supporting your team live at the game week after weeks is lost on the younger generations.
chris
Guest
Maybe the capacity of most NRL grounds are too generous maybe they should be 12000-16000, perfect stadium for me is Northampton Saints Franklin Gardens which is a touch over 13000 and is perfect for viewing and comes across good on TV as it's always full....nothing worse then watching a game on TV when it si full of empty seats.
Jackso
Guest
The new NRL rights deal story seems to be driven by News who seem to be upset the Swans have paid for marketing in the Fairfax papers and putting pressure on Nine who have most to lose by Fox showing the current FTA games jointly so everyone could miss the ads. Seven has hardly lost any ratings by Fox and Seven showing FTA games at the same time in most markets whereas the high pay TV penetration in NSW/Qld will mean lots of punters watching Fox rather than Nine for the previous Friday night/Sunday FTA games only. The basis of the TV rights deal was nil.... o
Jackso
Guest
And the Townsville hotel/motels get the benefit
clipper
Guest
Very interesting analysis, numbers man. If you factor in population growth, the real drop is even greater. If, in the new deal they have all games live, the numbers could drop even further.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Ten teams are bunched together in that 12k to 16k band of home averages, which is more than reasonable. If the NRL pocket another $1.7 billion in TV rights for the next five years, I don't think they'll be too worried about any small dip in crowds or ratings. Thereafter? Well who knows...will Pay TV be throwing cash around to remain relevant or will they have given up? Perhaps they too would have transitioned fully to new platforms and finally sports fans will be able to pay for sport, and sport alone. Will that mean a decline in TV money? It might.
Numbers Man
Guest
I think we can safely say that there is no more growth available for the NRL in crowd numbers, I think they have hit saturation point. Averages this year Brisbane are the rock of the NRL with average of 32,000 been dipping but slightly growing Bulldogs 21,000 have shown real growth and doing well Cowboys - 16K has been as high as 20,000 for quite a few year dropped to 14 K last 3 good return this year Souths 16K Parra - 14K New - 14K Roosters - 14K has pretty much been at this since 1968 New Zealand 14K Storm 14K St G - 13K - Tiger -12K - have dropped badly since 2010 Penrith 12K - steady as she goes been the same number up and down 2000 since 1999 Titans 11K - This is the basket case of the NRL since the 2nd year been dropping 2000 a year Cronulla - 10K once got as high as 19,000 but been pretty flat since 1998 Manly - 10K Canberra - 9K Generally the trend has been up and down for most clubs what I have noticed is the bounce back from a bad year is never as high since 2006. The trend data as I read show the NRL has flat lined for the past 10 years and now is in decline. I am concerned because the first point of contact for a up and coming generation should be live games. They make more impact and are what people remember more. I think of the NRL doesn't address this soon the TV rating will dive in turn. I think that in 5 years the rating will be down as much as 20%. 2015 looks like being down 6% 2014 down 1% 2013 down 4% 2012 up 1% 2011 down 1% 2010 up 2% 2009 up3% 2008 down 6% 2007 up 12% 2006 down 6% 2005 up 12%
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The NRL broadcast rights are about to jump 70% - we're talking real money there - the sort of money that is never going to be covered by attendances. One thing I can say about the NRL attendances is that there is a rock solid consistent core attendance figure that sits between 12,000 and 15,000, and there is nothing wrong with that because at most grounds, that sort of crowd is taking up all the best seating along the wings.
duecer
Guest
You have conveniently left out Souths, which is the 2nd best attended team in Sydney and in the top four and of course the Broncos, always the best attended team, having a great season. Although perhaps Sydney is the key, with the extra competition from other codes, it may be there isn't the numbers to support as many teams and time to think of relocation.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Attendences are down due to the performances of Parramatta, Dragons, Wests Tigers and, to a lesser extent, Newcastle. The former three, along with the Bulldogs, are the most popular teams in Sydney. You can track NRL crowds by how well these teams are going Go back and look at the best season for NRL crowds and look how these teams performed
conchie
Roar Rookie
I understand they are down 10%, that is not just a fluctuation of a couple of % up or down but a real drop. I also understand that as a TV game, it is not the end of the world, but it is a pretty bad backdrop to watching.
Correction
Guest
Time to cable cut and watch the free streams of footy over the internet. Murdoch has stiched this country up for decades, time for payback!
chris
Guest
NRL crowds are pretty bad
Numbers Man
Guest
Interesting stats - It wonderful to see the TV ratings are going through the roof. I guess it make up for the attendance record this year which are not the greatest. Across the season 7 games have exceeded the corresponding rounds last year and if the prediction are correct. The NRL wont get to the 3 million mark. It could be as much as 5-7% down on last year. I am thinking it will be around the 2.7 - 2.8 million. I don't know what happening but it will be looking to have the same crowd numbers as 2006. The problem is that there were only 180 games played in 2006 where are 2015 we are playing 192. But the NRL needs to get people to the game. Or the NRL is stoked about the TV ratings and not really worried about attendance when the real $$ is TV advertising.
Brett
Guest
The heat is one reason. The other reason why the Cowboys usually get home games on Saturday is to allow regional fans to travel to Townsville.
Josh
Guest
Crowds on monday are poor for the same reason tv figures are good. People dont like going out on Monday. Thursdsy night will have better crowds and perhaps tv nearly as good so should be a winner.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
cc At first, I used to label these articles as other sports, but the eds would put it into one of the football codes, so over time, I opted for whoever had the highest rating game, as that would generally be the start of the article.
P.Marlowe
Guest
As a Roar fan, its painful enough just sitting in the Eastern stand on a afternoon game.