just reading the article again, the following has come to me :

RL has beaten AFL despite the following not being included :

1. NZ TV ratings. ie only 15 nrl clubs vs 16 AFL clubs
2. ignoring 40% of RL viewers in regional areas

More than half of the entire population of Australia live in 2 states. NSW and QLD. ie. the ones were RL is far more popular. Does that bear any significance with the figures?

It's a bit like saying that in the UK, more people in England watched the EPL than people in Wales watched Welsh Rugby Union isn't it?

So there should be no real surprises that it's Number One then.

So why do people harp on about it all the time?

It gives Dally a hard on! He has a serious inferiority complex re other sports and needs to trumpet whenever a story of this nature comes out!

As a film once saidhttps://www.giant-media.co.uk/images/show-me-the-money.jpg" >

AFL fans and admin people lie

if RL people dont correct them it carries over

a few years ago i was emailing journos telling them RL beats AFL on TV and we should get better TV deals. i also emailed russell crowe and the RLPA.

now it seems the message is getting out

any real RL fan would get happy over this news.

andrew demetriou isnt afraid to talk his sport up, even to the point of lieing.

im sick of people lieing about other sports vs RL.

demetriou says AFL is australias number 1 sport despite having less fans.

he should stop lieing

Do you not think we've lied in League?

Let he who is without sin etc. etc.

RL doesnt lie about its appeal, it underestimates

That's why we were recently told that clubs inflate their attendance figures by a grass at Parra.

i read the article, storm in a teacup

if you mean some clubs boosting crowds by 2% is the same as lieing about how popular the whole sport is well i dont.

thats what i like about RL is its honesty vs other sports

when you are this good, you dont need to lie

[iRugby league's television deal is worth around $500 million over six years, compared to the AFL's which is worth $780 million over five years.[/i

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

look the only conclusion its safe to make is that AFL is bigger than RL in melbourne.

Dally - the only safe conclusion you can draw are these:

Rules is by far the most popular spectator sport in Australia

Rules has the biggest directly derived income streams of any sport in Australia

Rules has by far the best TV deal of any sport in Australia

The Swans are the best supported professional sporting club in Sydney - their average attendances are almost twice the size of virtually every RL club in Sydney. Yes there is only one Rules side in Sydney, but their is also only one RL side in Melbourne and the RL side's attendances are the lowest of any professional sporting club in Melbourne.

So your assertion the RL is the most popular sport in Australia needs tempering with some hard facts - if you think these facts are incorrect then please show us why/where they don't stack up

we get 4million more couch potatoes watching the game (allegedly) in NSW and Q'land so it must be the popular sport in Australia!