TV ratings: Who won the big weekend of sports?

Nathan Jolly

March 9, 2026 3:07

TV ratings: Who won the big weekend of sports?

The F1 in Melbourne led the pack this weekend

Over the weekend, sports-loving Australians with access to a working television were treated to the Formula 1 in Melbourne, a Matildas game in Sydney, and the (proper) start to both the NRL and the AFL seasons.

Assuming you correctly believe the true weekend begins on Thursday night, then there was another Tillies game, Thursday and Friday night AFL and NRL match-ups, an F1 qualifier, and a few practice runs around the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit to boot. And that’s just on free-to-air TV.

But who won the TV ratings, I hear you ask. Good question! Luckily, Oztam surveyed all 28 million Australians this morning, and have provided Mumbrella with the official ratings.

We’re going to go with the average viewership rather than the total reach to get a better read on the size of the engaged audience who was tuned in throughout, rather than those who skipped by on the way to some god-awful MAFS domestic.

Using this metric, Sunday’s Formula 1 on Ten was in pole position, drawing an average of 939,000 viewers (1.8m total reach), despite Aussie hopeful Oscar Piastri crashing on his way to the starting grid, and missing the race — like any good driver, he blamed his car for the accident.

Thursday night’s AFL season opener between Sydney and Carlton on Seven was the second highest-rating fixture of the weekend, with average audiences of 780,000 (2.25m total reach), while Friday night’s NRL match-up on Nine between 2025 grand finalists Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos drew average audiences of 736,000 (1.66m reach).

Sunday night saw the Matildas manage a 3-3 draw with group leaders South Korea in the Women’s Asian Cup, and average audiences of 722,000 (total 1.58m) on Ten.

The Matildas pulled big crowds for Ten

Thursday night’s NRL match between Paramatta and Melbourne (the non-Vegas season opener) pulled 675,000 average and 1.77m total audiences, ahead of Friday night’s AFL fixture between Gold Coast and Geelong, which managed an average of 608,000 (1.95m total).

Sunday afternoon NRL on Nine had an average viewership of 556,000 (total 1.23m) while the Matildas’ Thursday night 4-0 victory over Iran was viewed by an average of 466,000 people on Ten — the same average audience that tuned into Saturday’s Formula 1 qualifier on the same network. The Tillies drew total audiences of 1.24m, vs. F1’s 1.06m — plus it was a Thursday night against both the AFL and NRL — so they get the win.

Of course, Sunday night’s Married At First Sight beat absolutely everything else over the weekend, with an average of over 1.9m and more than 3m total viewers. I’m not sure what that says about the nation — I’d rather not analyse it.