NRL’s Vegas opener pips the Tillies in TV ratings
The Vegas opener to the NRL season was a ratings winner for Nine
The glitzy, Vegas-based return of the NRL season drew over 1.5m viewers to Nine on Sunday afternoon, just beating that evening’s Women’s Asian Cup opener for total viewers and average audience numbers.
The NRL season opened on Sunday with a double-header in Las Vegas. This marks the third year in a row the regular season has launched in the gambling capital, part of a larger push to draw international audiences to the sport.
Nine only had the broadcast rights to the 3.30pm Bulldogs v Dragons matchup, which drew 1.52m viewers, with average audiences of 647,000 throughout. The post-match coverage drew over 1m viewers, with an average of 579,000 — mostly due to the match going into golden point, and thereby running overtime.
Averages tell more than big numbers. The 1.52m viewers watched, but their average game viewing of 579k was 43% of the broadcast.