The bumper TV ratings for Saturday’s grand final highlight why the AFL is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the two northern expansion teams.
The Western Bulldogs’s fairytale win over Sydney was the fourth most-watched game in AFL history.
The combined metro and regional average of 4.089 million viewers on the Seven Network was a whopping 16 per cent increase on last year’s Hawthorn v West Coast grand final.
It also means the top six games are all Sydney grand finals.
The record remains Sydney’s 1996 grand final loss to North Melbourne at 4.4 million, which narrowly beat their drought-breaking 2005 win over West Coast.
The Swans’ grand final loss to West Coast in 2006 is third at 4.15 million.
Sydney’s 2012 grand final win over Hawthorn and their ’14 loss to the Hawks fill the next two spots.
The AFL have set up the Giants and Gold Coast clubs as the cornerstones of a long-term strategy to strengthen the game’s presence in NSW and Queensland.
While the Suns are yet to make the top eight, the Giants narrowly lost their preliminary final to the Bulldogs.
Gyfox
Guest
Yes! Is that because Melbourne people just love sport (remember the quip that in Melbourne you would get a crowd for a game of twiddly-winks!). Or does it show that a night GF gets more viewers? However, there was a peak of 705,000 in Sydney for the AFL.
rjad
Guest
More people in Melbourne watched the Melbourne team in the NRL Grand Final (641,000 NRL GF viewers in Melbourne) than people in Sydney watching the Sydney team in the AFL Grand Final (534,000 AFL GF viewers in Sydney)
Anthony
Guest
Have just read 2 reports on viewing figures & arrived at following figures: NRL AFL National viewers 4.2 mill 6.5 mill (same % of population as Superbowl) Ave 3.7 mill 4 mill Peak 4.2 mill 5.16 mill Metro (5 cities) 2.64 mill 4.8 mill Melbourne 641,000 1.446 mill Sydney 1.059 mill 534,000
anon
Guest
Over 4 million - & they saw a great display of Australian Football with some wonderful skills on display. Am wondering if NRL got similar number for Melbourne viewers as AFL did in Sydney.