NRL grand finals, Nathan Cleary and a NSW win a ratings boon for Nine
Three games, the controversial inclusion of an NBA superstar and a ode to Tina Turner saw the NRL deliver a ratings win for Nine on Sunday.
The nailbiting NRL grand final between the Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos proved a ratings boon for Nine on Sunday night.
Nine won the Sunday TV ratings with more than 2m people tuning in to watch Panthers star Nathan Clearly score in the dying minutes to reclaim the lead and achieve Penrith’s historic come from behind win.
More than 854,000 tuned in from Sydney, with 623,000 viewers from Brisbane watching the second grand final defeat for the Sunshine State over the weekend.
The “wild” match already drew in fans from Melbourne with 349,000 tuning in after a mammoth AFL grand final between Collingwood and Brisbane on Saturday.
More than 132,000 also switched on in Perth – an AFL state – to watch the decider.
It was also a record breaking match for streaming, attracting 605,000 viewers who logged onto 9Now. According to the platform’s boss Hamish Turner – it was the largest audience for a rugby league game in history.
“(This year’s) ncredible NRL Grand Final reached 4.6 million and further highlighted 9Now as the No. 1 destination for big event live sport with a 56 per cent year on year uplift,” Mr Turner said.
The game, touted by league commentators as one of the greatest of all time, saw the Panthers complete a three-peat with a 26-24 win over the Broncos.
League fans were treated to three massive matches on Sunday and rewarded the host broadcaster for the experience.
More than 232,000 watched the State Cup Championship grand final on Nine where the Brisbane Tigers took on the Rabbitohs, 42-22, during a sweltering grand final day at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Close to half a million fans then watched Dally M winner Tamika Upton lead the Newcastle Knights to a 24-18 win over the Gold Coast Titans. More than 414,000 people tuned in to watch the Knights going back to back in the NRLW competition.
The marathon broadcast included the pre-game entertainment, where close to 1.2m people watched the league’s tribute to the late Tina Turner and her iconic Simply the Best campaign.
However some on social media complained the NRL relied on a cover by the cast of the new Tina Turner musical instead of bringing in a global act, like the AFL leveraged with rock gods Kiss performing at the MCG on Saturday.
Social media also lit up during half time when NBA legend Scottie Pippen was recruited to appear on the panel instead of the presenters analysing the first half of the game.
Fans fired up online with Nine’s decision to instead interview the Chicago Bulls legend, who is in Australia as an ambassador for the NBL.
Soon after #ScottiePippen was trending on X with NRL fans furious at his inclusion.
Having Scottie Pippen on the half time panel is like asking Cameron Smith his thoughts in the nbl gf series. Completely pointless. #nrlgf
— Jon Tuxworth (@Tuxy81) October 1, 2023
The post match coverage was also a winner for Nine with more than 1m people sticking with the broadcast after the winning try.
The NRLW grand final and its post game analysis also rated well, both finishing in the top 10 most watched programs on Sunday beating out Seven’s My Kitchen Rules and ABC News.
The 2023 NRL grand final bounced back well for Nine in the ratings. In 2022 the match between two NSW clubs only pulled in 1.6m viewers – the worst metro audience record in the OzTAM ratings era.
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