Football fans give verdicts on much-derided Grand Final advert – IMG should note the responses

The Super League Grand Final advert has gone viral this week – and not particularly for the best of reasons.

We have a classic on our hands, Wigan vs Hull KR. Wigan are the reigning champions of literally everything and Hull KR have had their number this season at points. The Warriors are favourites but don’t for one second think this isn’t going to be close.

The Grand Final has also fallen in the period of the football international break, with Sky Sports attempting to inspire football fans to watch the big one on Saturday night with an advert this week which has been much talked about. No doubt IMG will be monitoring the response to it, or at least they should be.

‘It’s Grand Final week, mate!’ 😆

Everyone will be tuning in for Wigan Warriors vs Hull KR at Old Trafford on Saturday. You won’t want to miss it 🏉

Watch the Super League Grand Final live on Sky Sports from 5pm on Saturday October 12 📺 pic.twitter.com/N82FxkP2ho

— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) October 7, 2024

The advert shared on Sky Sports’ socials was vibrant but vomit worthy. Oh little old rugby league has a plucky final coming up. Let’s get every person and their dog in and out the studio to say it’s ‘Grand Final week, mate’. Eh? Then we’ll top it off by not mentioning or making visible Hull KR at all. Oh and one of the blokes sat down on the couch at the end is wearing a Salford shirt as the other is donning a Wigan version.

But it must be said, this advert is not designed for rugby league fans. We’ll already be there watching in person or on TV. So what do actual football fans, the targeted audience, think about the advert? We asked some of our football journalists at National World for their thoughts.

Georgia Goulding said: “I don’t really follow Rugby League so I’m just lapping up this big promo ad that sounds really exciting. If there’s a lot of attention being put on a major event, of course I’m going to be interested as a sports fan. But I don’t think it actually says who’s playing, does it?

“I watched twice to check and couldn’t see the team names. Also why is someone wearing a Salford shirt? It’s a great ad for creating a general buzz but it’s not all that informative for the audience they’re targeting, which I’m assuming is football fans who don’t watch much rugby. I didn’t really know much else about the match other than it’s ’the Grand Final, mate’. I had to Google who is playing, which on reflection, could be the whole idea of the advert — to get non-followers to search it up and ramp up the online traffic around this huge occasion.”

Jimmy Johnson shared this view: “I thought it came across quite ham fisted, I can’t lie. I guarantee Johnny Nelson won’t be watching it. He’s currently busy in Saudi Arabia. I felt like I was being told to watch it rather than being given reasons to watch it.”

Susanna Sealy added: “The advert has been watched and I enjoyed it. If I were free and looking for something to watch and saw the advert, then I would be inclined to watch the final. But I have no idea who is playing from the advert.”

Another added that the advert was a ‘good idea’ but was a ‘poor execution’, while pointing out the Salford shirt issue.

You may think we’ve gone overboard with coverage of the reaction to an advert. But the reality is rugby league really needs to turn football audiences into rugby league audiences at this time of year when a Grand Final falls in an international break. And this advert was perhaps an opportunity missed.