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Record Fans Tune Into NRL Round One

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Record Fans Tune Into NRL Round One

Foxtel and Kayo have recorded their highest-watched NRL round ever with last week’s season opening attaining an average audience of 463,000 per game.

Around 547,000 fans tuned in to watch Saturday’s Tigers v Storm game, making it the highest watched regular NRL season game ever on subscription television.

Sunday’s Cowboys v Bulldogs game held the second highest viewership, boasting an average audience of 473,000 fans nationally.

The round’s viewership was up 15% from its corresponding 2021 round and was 8% higher than the subscription services’ previous round record of 406,000 attained in 2021.

Fox Sports executive director, Steve Crawley, said he is excited to see how this year’s season and its viewership pans out.

“We have just come off the most successful season ever and we’re already seeing greater numbers and records,” Crawley said.

Proceeding a viewership plumet in 2020, the league saw record breaking growth over 2021.

The increase in viewership on Foxtel and Kayo stems off Fox League’s commitment to broadcast more games in 4K Ultra High definition than ever before, according to the network, and the NRL’s release of a topical 2022 advertisement and ‘UNREAL campaign.’ 

The $1 million advertisement celebrated the league’s athletes, featuring fan favourites like Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans, while also commenting on the game’s connection to grassroots, culture, and diversity.

Foxtel and Kayo’s broadcast success also reached into the AFL world, with this week’s season opener between the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs seeing a 25% increase in viewership compared to last year’s season opener.

The game was the highest rated AFL regular season match of all time for subscription television, with an average of 458,000 AFL fans tuning in.

The success follows the launch of this season’s ‘This Is Us’ platform.

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