The viewing figures for the third and final Test of the rugby league Ashes have seen a marked decline on the opening two matches.
Australia completed a series whitewash over England as they won 30-8 at Headingley, wrapping up the first rugby league Ashes in 22 years with their most convincing win so far.
That was in terms of the scoreline anyway as England actually controlled the game for long periods, particularly in the second half but they couldn’t crack Australia’s defence and were ultimately punished.
Harry Grant’s try just after the hour mark made it 18-8 before a late Reece Walsh brace put the game well out of England’s reach, however, the series had already been lost in the first two Tests and that’s perhaps why the viewing figures for this third and final Test saw such a steep decline from the first two.
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Over 200,000 fewer fans watch third rugby league Ashes Test
Viewing figures for the third Test have been shared on X by renowned account Rugby League On TV and the figures make for poor reading in terms of the drop in views.
An average audience of 627,000 was reported meaning an audience share of 9.3% whilst the game peaked at 799,000 viewers, with both numbers considerably lower than the first and second Test.
It’s also worth noting that this Test had the lowest attendance of the series by more then 30,000 meaning it was watched by far fewer people.
The first and second Tests saw average audiences of over 800,000, which the third Test didn’t even peak at, whereas the previous peaks of 930,000 and 970,000 were a long way away from the figures on Saturday.
In total, over 200,000 fewer people watched the third Test on TV with the crowd also reduced due to capacity. It’s hard to pin down exactly why there was such a drop-off but the fact that the series had been won and England hadn’t showed much in the first two Tests would be one obvious explanation.
3rd Test on BBC 1
627,000 average
9.3% audience share
799,000 peak https://t.co/AlmyP0oMRp— RugbyLeagueonTV.com (@rugbyleagueontv) November 9, 2025
