NRL night grand finals here to stay

The record ratings for the NRL grand final have effectively killed off any hope of the game being returned to a daytime slot.

The decider between South Sydney and Canterbury was a ratings bonanza for the Nine Network, which secured a five-city average audience of 2,597,000 and a peak of 3,098,000. Those figures are the highest for an NRL game since OzTam ratings began.

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[Nuttybott]

Ask the fans and the majority would say they want Sunday afternoon...

Personally, I would prefer to go back to Saturday afternoon, the way it used to be up until 1980. Many younger fans don't realise that Sunday Grand Finals began as recently as 1981.

Saturday just feels like a more natural day for a football final than Sunday to me...maybe I am just showing my age. 🙁

 

[Captain Moondog]

Ask the fans and the majority would say they want Sunday afternoon...

Personally, I would prefer to go back to Saturday afternoon, the way it used to be up until 1980. Many younger fans don't realise that Sunday Grand Finals began as recently as 1981.

Saturday just feels like a more natural day for a football final than Sunday to me...maybe I am just showing my age. 🙁

Not at all. Only reason I'm not in favour of Saturday afternoon is my days off are Sunday and Monday. Saturday would be ideal for most people though.

 

[Nuttybott]

Not at all. Only reason I'm not in favour of Saturday afternoon is my days off are Sunday and Monday. Saturday would be ideal for most people though.

Why did they shift the GF from Saturday to Sunday in the first place? Does anyone know?

 

[Jethro]

Not at all. Only reason I'm not in favour of Saturday afternoon is my days off are Sunday and Monday. Saturday would be ideal for most people though.

Why did they shift the GF from Saturday to Sunday in the first place? Does anyone know?

I'm not sure, but it used to be on the last weekend of September before they moved it to the October long weekend so maybe it had something to do with that

 

[Nuttybott]

I'm not sure, but it used to be on the last weekend of September before they moved it to the October long weekend so maybe it had something to do with that...

It wasn't always at the end of September either. Back in the 1970s the GF was usually played just after the middle of the month. For example, the 1970 GF was played on 19th September, the 1971 decider was on the 18th September, and our first Premiership win in 1972 was on the 16th September.

 

[Snake]

The ridiculous thing about the entire arguement, is that the record TV ratings, and the record crowd, had everything to do with the popularity of the two teams playing in the GF, and nothing to do with the time slot. There was no record TV rating, or record crowd at last years final because everyone that doesn't go for Manly hates Manly, and the Roosters have one of the smallest supporter bases in the league, yet it was played at the same time, at the same venue?!

They could have played last weeks GF at 3am on a Tuesday morning, and the fans would have lapped it up. My god, this Greenberg is lacking some brain cells.

A Sunday afternoon game makes for a better spectacle, allows all age groups to enjoy the game, and creates a better atmosphere. Daytime football IS rugby league, so it makes sense to play the biggest game of the year, in the best conditions. The only people that like night time RL are the TV networks.

 

[Jethro]

I'm not sure, but it used to be on the last weekend of September before they moved it to the October long weekend so maybe it had something to do with that...

It wasn't always at the end of September either. Back in the 1970s the GF was usually played just after the middle of the month. For example, the 1970 GF was played on 19th September, the 1971 decider was on the 18th September, and our first Premiership win in 1972 was on the 16th September.

Yeah, you are correct. I didn't do too much homework on previous years but I did know that it was previously held in September especially back in the day when there were only 22 rounds and I was just guessing on the reason why it was moved to the October long weekend. 🙂

 

[HoldenV8]

Wasn't the first Sunday GF played in 1981?

I wonder, if next years GF is played on a Sunday night between say Canberra and the Cows.....what would the crowd figure and TV ratings be? They would probably draw the usual 80k to ANZ because its the GF, and the TV audience might be good in Qld and the ACT, but just about everywhere else it would bomb.

The spin doctors (Greenturd and Nein) are turning this years numbers to their advantage while completely ignoring that Souffs and the Scumdogs probably have the two biggest supporter bases in Sydney. And the boffins in the media are lapping it up like a dog who's water bowl had just been filled.

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

Was over 30 degrees at 3pm on Sunday. I too prefer arvo grand final but im sure the players would rather not play in that heat.

Well with global warming : the records keep tumbling : hottest year, hottest decade, hottest this and that . . . . night time GF's in early October are the way to go for player and ticket holder comfort at the stadium.

 

[Hamster Huey]

Was over 30 degrees at 3pm on Sunday. I too prefer arvo grand final but im sure the players would rather not play in that heat.

Well with global warming : the records keep tumbling : hottest year, hottest decade, hottest this and that . . . . night time GF's in early October are the way to go for player and ticket holder comfort at the stadium.

Unless temp measurements are 'massaged' in the same way the Roosters home crowd numbers. 😀

 

[Nuttybott]

Wasn't the first Sunday GF played in 1981?

Yes, that was what I pointed out in a previous post. The GF was always played on Saturday up to 1980.