Women’s AFL All-Stars exhibition game pulls in huge TV ratings
WOMEN’S football has been given a massive tick by the Melbourne public, with more people tuning in to watch than any other Saturday night AFL game this season.
WOMEN’S football has been given a massive tick by the Melbourne public, with more people tuning in to watch the exhibition match than any other Saturday night AFL game this season.
The women took centre stage at Whitten Oval and showed their clout on a night where there were no AFL games, attracting an average of 387,000 viewers in Melbourne.
A tweet from AFL media manager Patrick Keane revealed the game between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne topped the best Saturday night average of the 2016 season.
Last night's Melb/WBull drew a 387k Melb avg tv audience.
— Patrick Keane (@AFL_PKeane) September 4, 2016
As comparison:
- Best Sat n avg in '16, 347k (StK/Gee)
- dreamtime Sat avg, 331k
That game, which averaged 345,000 viewers, was a June 25 thriller that ended with St Kilda topping Geelong by three points, giving the Saints their first win over the Cats in six years.
The women’s game figure also dwarfed the Dreamtime games, traditionally big raters for the AFL, with this season’s Saturday night clash averaging 331,000 viewers.
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The viewers were not disappointed either, seeing plenty of bash and crash and watching the emergence of a superstar in Moana Hope, who booted six goals as the Dogs ran out 39-point victors, 14.6 (90) to 7.9 (51).
This is no flash in the pan, either.
The last big exhibition match — on a Sunday in August last year — attracted an average of 175,000 viewers in Melbourne, easily winning it’s timeslot.
It even had more viewings than that weekend’s clash between Essendon and Adelaide — a 112-point loss for the Bombers.
Originally published as Women’s AFL All-Stars exhibition game pulls in huge TV ratings
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