RFL report increasing viewing figures despite decreasing TV revenue

For most fans there’s nothing better in sport than heading to a game and standing on the terraces watching their side win, however for many that’s not possible, practical or even a preference hence the important of televised rugby league.

Not only does rugby league on TV provide a boost for fans at home but it also spreads the game wider to new audiences, something that the Rugby League World Cup in 2022 did massively.

Coupling this with the two terrestrial TV deals that the BBC and Channel 4 both own and there’s a whole new audience to just those with Sky Sports subscriptions.

The RFL have released their 2022 report which details television viewing figures, something being branded as ‘Headline Statistics’.

It’s revealed that the opening round of Super League in 2022, which saw four games broadcast, hit 1,046,200 cumulative views which is the third highest for a single round on record.

That was followed up by 968,200 viewers the following week whilst the first Channel 4 fixture saw an average of 564,700 viewers and a peak of over three quarters of a million.

Both Magic Weekend and the Grand Final saw boosts in viewership at 25% and 11% respectively from the previous years, whilst the Super League playoffs almost broke a record for viewership with 1,389,450 viewers being the second highest audience on record.

Onto the World Cup and England vs Samoa in the semi-final drew in audience share of 21.7% peaking at over 2.5 million viewers, whilst the women’s and wheelchair matches peaked at 1,277,700 and 1,303,600 respectively.

Matchday viewing at the ground also improved with attendances for Magic Weekend and the Grand Final being boosted 2% and 35% respectively, whilst the World Cup total attendance figure was 473,606.

All that indicates rugby league being in a brilliant position but it was also confirmed that the TV deal has declined significantly, with that money being one of the key factors in sides signing star players.

The report reads: “New BBC and Sky broadcast contracts also commenced in 2022. Overall broadcast income decreased from £9,434k in 2021 to £7,839k in
2022. This represents a decrease of 17 per cent.”

With a TV deal yet to be announced for 2024 and beyond it remains unclear if this figure will drop yet again, and what consequence that will have on the sport itself, despite what appears to be a growing thirst to watch and consume the game.