It was a massive year in Television for the NRL with an estimated audience of more than 174 million* for the year up to and including the Grand Finals of the NRL and NRLW.
This is up from 149.35 million in 2022, even accounting for the lack of NRLW in the 2022 figures.
- FTA 62.786m
- Foxleague (STB) 52.365m
- FoxBVOD est 52.257m
- NRLW ~6.916m
- Total 174.134m
At the start of the year we were estimated FoxBOVD (kayo/foxgo/foxnow) off reported ratings in round 1. From Round 24, Oztam began releasing Foxtel data via its live VPM reports. Since this started being reported we have seen the average stream worth almost a 1:1 ratio with STB.
Nine reported that Total TV grew 3% YoY, and NRL on 9Now up +36% YoY. While the NRLW GF was up 16% on Linear TV and +62% on 9Now YoY.
As always note that this data is Australian only unless specified. We simply cannot get the data we would like to accurately report any data for New Zealand.
Preseason
The preseason was exclusive to Foxtel, where it pulled an audience of 932,000 in the first week, averaging 103,000 on Foxtel and 1.104m in the second, averaging 123,000 viewers per match. The preseason was down on the 2.891m who watched in 2022.
The Indigenous Allstar clash was watched by 134,000 on Foxtel, with a similar number believed to have streamed the event.
Home and Away season
Despite fantastic ratings for the season, the NRL was challenged by both the mid-year Ashes series and the Women’s world cup right before the finals.
The most watched match of the season was the first Dolphins/Broncos derby with a record 1.441m viewers on Fox and Nine.
The Home and away season tallied an estimated 140m viewers (well up from the 118.964m viewers we estimated in 2022)., including
- 42.345m viewers on Nine (up from 32.267m)
- 49.141m viewers on Foxtel Set top boxes (up from 42.74m)
- up to 48.631m viewers on Foxtels streaming services.
Metro Audiences
In Sydney, the NRL season averaged 161,000 average viewers per game, while Brisbane delivered 111,000. In the secondary NRL cities, Melbourne averaged 12,000 and Perth 8,000, with Adelaide bringing up the rear with 7,000 viewers per game.
In Melbourne the Storm average 33,000, and when the Storm aren’t playing the NRL averages 8,000.
In Brisbane, the Broncos average 170,000, the Dolphins average 126,000. Other Queensland regional teams average 131,000 on Nine, while matches involving no Queensland sides average 98,000.
In NSW, Sydney sides average 163,000 per game, while sides from regional NSW average 163,000 as well. Matches with no teams from NSW average 146,000.
The leading clubs on television during the season were Brisbane, Sth Sydney, Penrith and Melbourne.
The Clubs
Brisbane were the dominant club on Nine, averaging 620,000 viewers per game.
- Penrith 586,000
- Parramatta 569,000
- Sth Sydney 549,000
- Dolphins 521,000
- Melbourne 518,000
- Sydney 510,000
Brisbane were also dominant on Foxtels set-top box programming, averaging 288,000 per game
- Sth Sydney 270,000
- Melbourne 267,000
- Nth Queensland 259,000
- Penrith 257,000
The Broncos ratings dominance continued despite a significant drop in free-to-air coverage – this is AFTER they dropped 4 games on FTA – Broncos matches on Nine dropped from 17 down to 13 this season. No Sunday FTA (2 last year, 0 this year), and 2 less Thursdays (down to 4). Fri (8) and Sat N (1) FTA remained the same.
Finals
The NRL Finals series had 13.879m viewers, with 3.404m tuning in to watch the Grand Final. This is down from the 15.54m that watched last year.
The most watched final leading up to the grand final was the week 1 Brisbane v Melbourne final which was watched by 1.504m viewers.
The Grand Final
The 2023 NRL Grand Final had the highest-ever live-streaming audience for an AFL or NRL Grand Final in Australian TV history.  Viewers flocked to 9Now, with the game attracting a record BVOD Live average audience of 605,000, up 56% year-on-year.
Grand Final audience
- Metro 1.841m
- Regional 957,000
- BVOD 607,000
- Total 3.404m (according to VOZ)
When Finals are included, the most watched clubs for the year were Brisbane and Penrith, followed by Melbourne and Sydney.
State of Origin
State of Origin had 10.681m viewers across men’s and women’s matches this year. This was up from the 9.939m that watched last year, but with an extra women’s origin thrown in.
- Origin 1: 3.421m
- Origin 2: 3.191m
- Origin 3: 2.631m
NRLW
Andrew Abdo stated that around 6 million people had watched NRLW leading into the Grand Final. 916,000 viewers tuned in across Foxtel and Nine, and when BVOD comes back I expect viewership to hit a million for the NRLW Grand Final.
The 2023 NRLW Grand Final played between the Newcastle Knights and the Gold Coast Titans recorded the highest ever BVOD/streaming Audience for an NRLW game, and was up 62% on the 2022 NRLW Grand Final won by the Knights.
Origin 1 had 761,000 viewers, while Origin 2 had 677,000 viewers
* Combination of all 2023 broadcast matches across free-tv, subscription and streaming services as calculated by Jason Lassey
