Saints v Salford best viewing figures since 1996, report didn't give any figures.
Saints v Salford best viewing figures since 1996, report didn't give any figures.
There's a piece on Saints website. 43% higher than last years final
Sky saying it was a 43% increase on last years rating for Wigan v Wire. That pulled in 286,600 according to BARB so this seasons rating should be around 410,000.
I think it was the perfect storm for the RFL and Sky really. An underdog story that attracted alot of attention vs one of the sports great names back in the big game after 5 years. Two teams that play a decent style of RL (in opposition to some of the recent finals featuring Wigan) and the sense that the game wasn't a foregone conclusion also helped.
With United being absolutely terrible this is a good time for Salford. They could collect quite a few new supporters
There was no football Saturday which must have helped viewing figures a bit
GFs are always played on 'international weekends' anyway, so I don't think this is a factor. But I definitely agree that there was a certain United demographic to the 'floating' Salford support on Saturday evening. In terms of numbers this could be a benefit to Salford if some of them give it a go, but I was a bit wary of some of them descending into United-Liverpool rivarly style chants towards us once the game was done. I heard loads of 'Scouse •••••••s' chants and then watched loads leave because they couldn't bear to watch 'the Scousers' lift the trophy. Most of it was done for theatrics because I can't imagine many of them have had sleepless nights wondering about the terror of Saints winning a grand final, but the culture was certainly different.
One of my favourite moments of the grand final day was a family of Salford fans standing outside the Old Trafford Cricket Ground looking at a map of the cricket ground trying to work out where they were sitting for the match. They were a lovely family and as genuine people as you could meet but it still makes me chuckle. I did do the decent thing and tell them where the ground was.
That's really good news for the game. I've always said the top 5 is the best of the available playoff systems, and I think it really built up a momentum of excitement towards the final this year. Some people don't like the fact that you can end up playing the same team twice in the same playoff series, but I think it just adds to the talking points and drama. It's a shame about some of the crowds (Wigan's, especially), but the most important stat for SL in the build up to the negotations for the next TV deal will be viewing figures, not attendances.
I was going to say, having it on a Premier League free weekend, England football team played (i use that word loosely) on Friday and England's RU World cup game cancelled, it was a relatively free day for any sporting spectators.
It will be interesting to see how the viewing figs look for the upcoming internationals. Similarly will Salford now start to pick up more televised games given their end of season performances? It could help to drive interest, but at the same time could mean the potential "new" fans they found for the final might just settle for TV viewing instead.
Increase was due to Wire and Wigan fans watching and praying that we'd fall flat on our faces. Instead they got to watch us crowned champions
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RFL Championship / Super League (17) - 1931–32, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
Challenge Cup (13) - 1955–56, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021
World Club Challenge (3) - 2001, 2007, 2023
League Leader's Shield (9) - 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022
Are the world nines being televised in the UK?
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I put this on another thread about the positive media attention more widely:
Seems to have been a much more positive vibe around the GF this year, but I'm not sure who is behind it? Saints as a club have certainly been more active, but SL in general seem to have upped their marketing game. Could we be seeing the benefits of the 'new' behind-the-scenes set up?The media coverage, both before and after the final, was way higher than it's been for years. Yes, I'm going to notice more when we're involved, but this was a big jump.
Of course, the Salford fairytale dominated before the game (and I was glad they got such attention), but even afterwards it's been mentioned by media sources I wouldn't normally hear a peep about RL.
Not that I'm counting Radio Merseyside as one of those 'rarely mention RL' medias, but our win has been getting coverage on a wider programme base than normal there. I love the Monday Football Phone-In (hearing deluded bitter-blues ranting is a guilty pleasure ) and they interrupted the show to discuss our triumph - and had a live link to Holbrook. The two football pundits (one Liverpool, one Everton) both had unexpectedly great knowledge of the sport in general, the final specifically, and Saints in particular (the Everton one especially). And then, the following evening, in the show with Ian Snodin and Gary Gillespie, both again had an impressive knowledge of and admiration for the sport (and Wellens was on a live-link answering questions they and the host put to him)