The first round of the NRL season has drawn the biggest rugby league audiences for Foxtel and Kayo Sports ever, as viewers tune in to an expanded lineup of matches in 4K Ultra-High Definition.
More than 4.1 million league fans tuned in to the opening round on Fox League.
Across the entire round, average audience numbers were 523,000, up 17 per cent on last year.
Sharks vs Rabbitohs drew more than 630,000 viewers, the highest-ever ratings for a regular season game, while daily records were set across the entire weekend:
- Dolphins v Roosters brought in more than 567,000 viewers, making it the #1 rating NRL regular season game on a Sunday Afternoon across Foxtel Group.
- Panthers v Broncos brought in more than 552,000 viewers, making it the #1 rating NRL regular season Friday game of all-time across Foxtel Group.
- Eels v Storm brought in more than 546,000 viewers, making it the #1 rating opening NRL match of all-time across the Foxtel Group.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany credits a “ground-breaking push around further expansion in Queensland” by Peter V’landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, for the strong start to the season.
“[V’landys] believed at the time that extra teams in Queensland would stimulate the total market for NRL in Australia and the extraordinary start of the season for all four Queensland teams puts this vision on track to achieve those goals,” Delany said.
The new expansion club, Redcliffe Dolphins, saw record numbers for a Sunday afternoon game.
“The numbers are wonderful, it’s a great result for rugby league,” Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said of the ratings.
“I’ve been informed of the figures by our CEO Terry Reader and they are massive, I’m blown away.
“He came under fire at times but he always believed in expansion and this is a great result for the NRL and rugby league in Queensland.”
Patrick Delany notes “there have been many team expansions in other sports but they are not always as successful as what we saw on the weekend.
“It has been fantastic to see Queensland supporters make the most of the opportunity with record audiences across all of our platforms over the weekend making this the biggest round of NRL on Foxtel and Kayo Sports ever.
“It’s great endorsement of what our Fox Sports team are doing to bring the magic of this sport to the screen of millions of Australians every single week.
“We will keep changing the game together with the NRL, and there is no doubt this season is only going to get bigger.”
