In late 2015, the NRL announced their monster $1.8 billion television broadcast deal involving the Nine Network, News Corp, Fox Sports and Telstra.
It was a landmark moment for the game, 70 per cent greater than the previous broadcast deal and with the potential to set rugby league in Australia up for a long, long time.
Part of the arrangement was for a regular Thursday night fixture to kick off each round. But has the time slot delivered for all parties?
Some issues immediately came to mind when Thursday was mooted – families can’t go to the game or watch at home because it’s a school night and by the time a 7:50pm kickoff rolls around, the game’s next generation are sound asleep.
Workers might watch at home, but wouldn’t be at the stadium because they’ve got to get up to go earn a dollar the next morning.
The players especially struggle to come good in time. They’re often turning out on five or six days rest and this shows in the end product, which in the main are lacklustre, forgettable experiences – for example, Thursday games come with a weekly average of 61 missed tackles and 21 errors.
It’s not great fun watching two gassed teams do their best when they’re obviously struggling to get up for the contest. Rest and recovery is more important than ever these days and a Thursday game just doesn’t give players enough time to perform at their usual level.
It’s a timeslot obviously designed for TV but in 2019 it’s proving unpopular, and this poor reception is starting to affect the NRL’s key metrics.
Brisbane is the benchmark for big crowds in the NRL but this year their home-ground attendance has dipped under 30,000 for the first time since 2004, largely due to three Thursday games.
The Broncos average crowd on a Thursday is 22,099 people. That’s 10,000 less than the 32,391 they average for their other home games.
Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
Brisbane’s crowds also significantly buttress the midweek game’s overall number – the average attendance is 14,082 and if you remove the Broncos from that it drops to 9938.
Those numbers aren’t sustainable. It causes a poor atmosphere at the ground, and looks and sounds shocking on the telecast, which is starting to encounter its own problems.
The evening’s free-to-air television ratings are also dropping right away. Last week’s Cronulla versus North Queensland game was watched by just 575,000 viewers across the Australian metro and regional markets. The week previous, Brisbane and Canterbury only drew 597,000 viewers.
To put that in ratings context, it’s out of the top ten watched shows on the night and behind shows the likes of The Chase Australia – even less than legendary Aussie soap opera Home and Away. And some Thursday games this year have fared even worse.
The Broncos are a ratings behemoth, that’s why Channel Nine want them in the primetime slots. This season Brisbane have seven Friday night matches and seven Thursday night matches, but even their drawing power isn’t giving Thursdays a kick along.
So what should the NRL do? Their hands are tied by Nine and Fox, who have preferred teams for the big timeslots like Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Can the NRL throw marquee fixtures at the failing time slot to try breathe life into things?
They’re better off getting rid of Thursday games altogether (outside of public holidays like Anzac Day) and adding a Saturday afternoon game back into the weekly fixture.
A 3pm start on a Saturday afternoon gives families enough time to get to the game after junior league in the mornings (and to be home before the kids are too knackered to manage). It lets those of us who like a drink have some lunch and a couple of cans and, probably most importantly, it rolls beautifully into the 5:30pm game for the broadcasters to keep the attention of couch-bound fans.
When the latest broadcast deal was struck, Nine kicked in a $925 million outlay which gave them free-to-air rights for one of the Saturday games.
The deal also allowed them to on-sell the match to Fox Sports, which they duly did. It’s how networks recover some of the costs when joint broadcast deals are done.
Nine also have free-to-air rights to broadcast the last five Saturday night games of the season as well.
So with the deal not expiring until 2022, there would be some negotiating to do to make a Saturday afternoon game a regular event. It may not be too difficult though, as the case for Thursday night grows weaker each passing round.
Just as the unpopular Monday night games fell by the wayside, the future of Thursday nights should surely be under serious consideration.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Yep. I have always thought that.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Nat. They televise the nsw comp don’t they with a Lower level of broadcast (less camera’s, less commentators, surely be a smaller production crew)
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Duncan. I would actually love that. Take some work evening out the draw.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi BA. What percentage of viewers buyers are watching every game live? (I’m not meaning that rude)
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Tegan. Cricket does. BBL in summer dictating, day/night tests played in states where it changes viewer times. I don’t get how each station now has two or three channels, and they still can’t give people viewing they want.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi sheek. I agree. Both media and nrl are the problem though. NRL let them dictate cause they want as much dollar as possible, rather then put in a few rules with the second/lower tv deal but have more say. Both are messing it up
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
Thursday nights are about the ratings, not anything else. Should be the 6pm friday game to be scrapped. 1 thurs, 1 fri, 3 sat and 3 sun. Thats the best way to squeeze 8 games.
Richard POWELL
Roar Rookie
Just get Kayo and leave it all as it is
Cigar Field Sobers
Roar Rookie
Nothing wrong with that.
Don
Roar Rookie
If you read my original comment I said neither “always” nor “never” anywhere. I said “far and away the highest rating program on Fox on Thursday nights” and it is. The outlying example you provided doesn’t make my original comment false.
clipper
Roar Rookie
Thanks, Don - that does clarify it - sometimes it's not the best idea to say 'always' or 'never'
Don
Roar Rookie
Ease up! Sorry. Let me clarify for the AFL fans out there. NRL is consistently the highest rating program on Thursday nights except for the random game when AFL is on at the same time on a Thursday and also once in a while rates better than the NRL. You know.... for every Thursday night AFL example like the one offered by clipper beating NRL by 18k, there’s a comparable example like 27.6.19 when NRL had 239k and AFL had 174k at the same time.
clipper
Roar Rookie
I had to back to June, as they often don't play on the same night. Still, excuses aside, how does that disprove what I've stated. Don stated 'The NRL game is far and away the highest rating show on Fox on Thursday nights'. I've proven him wrong.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Very nice. And how many Thursday night AFL games played in a season compared to the NRL ? Raiders v Sharks hardly big drawing games on TV by comparison to other NRL clubs.Just saying.
clipper
Roar Rookie
Really Don? Here's a figure from when the NRL and AFL were both on Thursday night 1 LIVE: AFL ADELAIDE V RICHMOND FOX FOOTY 215,000 2 LIVE: NRL RAIDERS V SHARKS FOX LEAGUE 197,000
sheek
Roar Guru
Funnily enough AJ, I had this conversation with a fellow sports fan recently. Once upon a time TV broadcasters fell over themselves to fit in with sport. Whatever the administrative body scheduled was okay with them, just as long as they got to televise it, & not someone else. But now the landscape has changed, & the TV broadcasters have the whip hand. It is no longer about fitting in with the sport, but forcing the sport to comply with the broadcaster's wishes. This is a long-winded way of saying Thursday night footy is a nonsense, just as Monday night footy is also a nonsense. And while I'm at it, throw in golden point for drawn home & away matches. That's also a nonsense. Make that utter nonsense. Thursday & Monday nights might work in the US NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL, which all have upwards of 30 teams split into two conferences & six divisions across the country. Spreading 15-16 weekly matches across 4 days makes sense over there. But the NRL has only half as many teams & games. All you need is Friday night, Saturday afternoon & evening, & Sunday afternoon & maybe evening, to televise 8 matches. Anything more than that is just a nonsense. Often we end up with crappy decisions, because the fans are too apathetic to argue their case & demand their preferences. Ultimately, the fans dictate. But if we just follow along like meek sheep, then we get precisely what we deserve - crappy nonsense.
Ben Lewis
Roar Pro
I don’t understand how the NRL could have possibly thought that Thursday night football would be any more successful than Monday night football.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Can't speak for everyone obviously but I have Kayo so sometimes it comes down to who is calling the game for both broadcasters and I if prefer the team on Fox/Kayo, I watch it on Kayo. Or if I can't get infront of the TV until 8:15, then I watch it from the start on Kayo. I think either of those scenarios would apply to a few people.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
You get my vote AJ. No more Thursday night football and NO return to Monday night football. In fact, if I had my way I would scrap night football altogether. But I'm a traditionalist and enough of an economic realist to understand that the NRL still has to create revenue for their broadcasters through advertising and more commercially viable timeslots. But can we at least have the finals and Grand Finals played in the daytime without the need for lights at any point? Is that really asking too much?
Jimmy
Roar Guru
I think it was just two terrible teams, and I’m a Sharks fan. One of the best rating regular season games ever was a Thursday game, I’m just saying I think Overall it probably helps the ratings. I don’t think Thursdays are going anywhere that’s just my opinion