Support for the NRL is at an all-time high, despite the global COVID-19 pandemic keeping people at home and away from games.
According to data collected by Roy Morgan, the NRL supporter base has grown 0.5% since last year, reaching almost 6.4 million Aussies of ages 14 and older.
The NRL has consistently rated as one of the countries most watched tv products, with 28.4%, or around 6 million Australians watching on TV, a 1.1% increase over last year, despite sports streaming services such as Kayo and 9Now making it easier to watch without a television.
10 of the 16 clubs saw increases in support, with the Melbourne Storm topping the list at 1,199,000 (+1.7%) and the Brisbane Broncos following at 1,025,000 (+0.7%).
The Paramatta Eels were the most popular NSW team, coming in third with less than half of the support of the two leaders, with 460,000 (+0.4%), whilst also being the team with the longest premiership drought, not having won since 1986. Despite this, NSW is still considered the biggest market for NRL.
The biggest growth in support was seen by the Penrith Panthers, who jumped up to 307,000 (+38.9%), likely as a result of their 2021 premiership win.
According to Nine, the 2021 Premiership was the most watched NRL Grand Final in five years, with Channel 9 and 9Now achieving a cross platform audience of 3.596 million. 9Now secure the largest Live BVOD audience in Australia, with a 363,000 large audience, and a growth of 108% year on year, with ages 25-54 seeing a growth of 96% year on year.
The first round of 2022 was the highest rating opening NRL round in subscription television history, and the second highest rating NRL Round ever, with an average audience of 547,000, a 47% jump from 2021’s 372,000. This was a Foxtel/Kayo exclusive, which is demonstrating the changing pattern of how people watch live sport.
