You keep in mind that it is Sydney. Australia is the only country that league has any support or real clout (My appologies to PNG). As other posters keep saying Union is crap, true but it still wont alter the facts that 45,000 turned up at wembly to watch a club game a couple of weeks ago. around 1,000,000 will watch the 6 nations live in the ground the 12 guiness (a top marque sponsor) premiorship have crowds nearing & somtimes bettering super league, they have TV deals better than League They get good coverage on terestial free to air channels. I agree that thier game is pants but a lot of people like it they are not worried about breaks in play or lack or trys. Union is a threat to league but the only wat we can strike back is by keeping the international game alive & pushing the game into schools & universities out side our heart lands.

45000 turned up at Wembly followed by 8000 at the next Saracens home game. People will flock to something put on at Wembly but so far it doesnt look like many are taking their interest further than that game at wembly.Union attendances still look like they are on the way up (Well in England anyway)

As for Australia, while i was in Brisbane it looked like all the other codes were playing catch up with rugby league. The amount of league coverage was unbelivable for someone coming from NI. Then i return home and have to live with limited coverage of the British game.

the NRL is played in NZ so really it should the the IRL.

when you include both crowds and TV viewers RL is number 1.

its good to see there is a single AFL fan in england. the code is growing

weve effectively killed off union in aus, nz is going backwards

so for a sport that claims to be global, having it weak in two major countries is a problem

but hey, the game is booming in japan and russia







union wont survive against union the way it is currently played

And how many turned up the week after and how many have turned up since?
The rugby union premiership teams should be getting much higher crowds than they are. As you pointed out, they get superb national media coverage and tons of free publicity therein. The fact that some are below Super League crowds is embarrassing.
Don't forget what we're always told, that rugby league is a northern minority sport. A minority sport that has comparable attendances with the all conquering, global leviathan that is rugby union.

So where is all the chest-beating now that it turns out that the original figures were wrong? From today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"The NRL's belief strong grand-final ratings last weekend would help their next TV deal was punctured slightly with the revelation yesterday the AFL's decider had in fact beaten its rugby league counterpart in national ratings, not the reverse as had been claimed originally. Recalibrated figures lifted the AFL's ratings by almost 400,000 nationally."

Personally I don't understand why anyone would watch Aussie Rules but there it is. Clearly the NRL is not doing a good enough job selling its superior product.

I think thats a load of crap top be honest.

They were beaten by 200,000, now they found 600,000 from SOMEWHERE?

That would be like finding the biggest audience in Sydney on any given night!



It would also go against all the other indicators which indicate the NRL was the bigger event.

You may be right that Union is in big trouble in Australia but in the scheme of things Australia is a small market in the world stage the figures for internationals alone in the northern hemisphere dwarf anything League can do can do, Add to that South Africa, Argentina, & the Pacific Islands & I have not mentioned NZ. I dont like it, like you I think it is a poor game compared with league but I can not argue that a hell of a lot more people know about & follow Union than League. I would also say that even in the hot bed of british League, Hull, the numbers playing Union in the surrounding areas well out number League players there are more teams in the East riding of Yorkshire that play union most of the clubs have purpose built modern grounds with numbers that make League look small. Remember that when league split away in 1895 around 80% stayed with the Union & have played ever since. there was also a big surge in the numbers of union clubs in the 1950/60's with the secondary education expansion after the war. As I have said before we are a minority sport even compared to Union & they are dwarfed by soccer. So what happens in two states of Australia is of little consequence in the big picture, except to say that if it had not been for the ARL being a strong hold I think League in the UK would have folded as a pro sport by now.

Except when the Union boys play Internationals well over a million will attend the six nation games. they get around the same money as League do from sky plus they have terestrial channels paying to show games, two multinational brewers sponsoring them add to that the Autum International programe they knock us into a cocked hat. & with a game that is a poor spectacle compared to League, Us not likeing it cant change the facts we are a minority sport except in two states of Australia & PNG.

the whole S14 is in trouble

after australia, NZ is next

the sport isnt growing anywhere

its rules are complicated, its game error strewn and boring

as more people see RL theyll forget about union

taking out the 6 Nations union has little going for it in england either

union has good reason to fear a sport like RL

look at all the publicity sale get and their crowds have what ? halved?

newcastle crowds have dropped too

with all the media they get, you cant flog a dead horse

union gets by on a bunch of people turning out for its internationals who have zero interest in the club game

union is a minority sport everywhere except nz, some pacific islands and maybe wales

the population of nsw and queensland exceeds those above where union is dominant

union is a small sport which has to lie about its popularity

they must be cousins with the union mob,the calculator must come in handy

The fact that the BBC pay rugby league lip service and ITV aren't interested is hardly the fault of the game. I'd be looking to lay the blame at the feet of the old boys who run the said television companies.

Like I said, rugby league is a minority sport and rugby union is a global monster. The very fact that we are able to compare the two is a tribute to rugby league.

As we all knew. AFL, australias number 1 sport

maybe the NRL should come out and add another 1.5 million to there tally,the pubs and clubs would have been buzzing in NSW and Queensland,and especially in victard also.

tv rating figures are always a bit odd.

I'm sure i read something earlier today from the heraldsun that said the AFL actually rated higher than the NRL GF.

amazing how a week later they come out with the extra numbers, when the NRL beat them hands down.

they must of payed off someone just so it can go in there favour.the AFL are a absolute sooky...can't handle the fact that we beat there sorry


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I dont blame the game & I agree it is a compliment to league to be even compared but the Aussies posting on here wont understand that their small little world down there is only a small part of the whole picture & they have no comprehension that France & the British Isles is 100 million people most of who dont even know league exists. they say Union/super 14 is dying, well probably more people watch it in Europe than Australia & NZ put together. those people dont ever see league & are quiet happy to watch a game thay they will have played as school kids. That is a lot of viewers to advertise to. I just find it a bit silly the Aussies squabling about viewing numbers when even if every man jack of them watched League they would still be a drop in the sea compared to Unions numbers world wide. Like you say it is a testamony to the devotion of League followers that we are still going.

its good you have so much faith in rU

ive got the same faith in RL

SL has only touched the tip of the iecberg in terms of its potential

once it gets to the standard of the NRL it will leave union well behind it

as i said before, newcastle and sale have seen massive crowd falls despite lots of media behind them. union is a dead horse

if RL had the same media how big would it be?

Me and Dally have had this argument a number of times. the sample group used for TV ratings is statistically insignificant (less than 0.05%) and the results as such are unrelaible and invalid. But hey ho it is the only area we beat AFL in so lets keep spouting the same old rubbish!

millions of dollars in advertising are based on it

maybe you should tell the uni professors that teach sampling methodology they are wrong

Bums on seats, TV revenues, corporate income, season ticket income there is only one winner in Australia and that is the AFL - why do you think Dally/Manley/GLF cling to the viewing figures - because it is the only area that RL "allegedly" beats the AFL.

It is a sad indictment of Sydney RL fans that the best supported sporting side in Sydney is the Swans!!!

They talk about Origin and how big it is - what they omit to mention is the AFL have 20+ club games that draw higher attendances than Origin that is the strength of the AFL the paying customer.

I would suggest then that AFL is an insular game for insular people.

It is played nowhere else in the world at a serious level.

Grid iron is the same.