{"id":192578,"date":"2025-10-06T02:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T02:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/192578\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T02:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T02:31:07","slug":"rugby-league-breaks-records-as-fans-flock-to-historic-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/192578\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby league breaks records as fans flock to historic 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rugby League has never been bigger.<\/p>\n

The 2025 NRL season has rewritten the record books, drawing unprecedented audiences across television and streaming, capped by the most-watched grand final in the game’s history.<\/p>\n

Sunday night’s pulsating decider – a 26-22 victory for the Brisbane Broncos<\/a> over the Melbourne Storm<\/a> – wasn’t just a classic on the field.<\/p>\n

It was a landmark broadcast moment, reaching more than 6.4 million Australians and averaging 4.46 million viewers nationwide according to a media release from Nine.<\/p>\n

The match dominated in every market, with more than one million tuning in from Sydney, 941,000 in Brisbane, and 734,000 in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

On streaming platform 9Now, the final attracted 1.3 million viewers, the largest digital audience in virtual Australian history.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Australia Kangaroos confirmed team list and latest squad news for the Ashes Test series<\/a><\/p>\n

Rugby league’s year of growth<\/p>\n

The record-breaking finale capped a watershed year for the sport.<\/p>\n

Across the regular season and finals, viewership rose by more than 11.5 per cent, while the finals series alone saw audiences climb an extraordinary 33 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n

Even mid-season fixtures benefitted from the surge, with average audiences exceeding 600,000 per game.<\/p>\n

The preliminary final between Brisbane and Penrith drew a massive 1.8 million total TV audience, up 53 per cent on 2024.<\/p>\n

Women’s rugby league also reached new heights. The NRLW grand final between the Roosters<\/a> and Broncos attracted just over one million viewers – a 36 per cent increase from last year.<\/p>\n

Nine’s investment pays off<\/p>\n

For host broadcaster Channel Nine, the results vindicate a long-term strategy of blending free-to-air and digital services.<\/p>\n

Their wide-ranging rugby league coverage – including programs such as 100% Footy, Freddy and the Eighth, and NRL Sunday Footy Show, collectively reached millions of viewers across the season.<\/p>\n

Amanda Laing, Nine\u2019s managing director, streaming and broadcast, said the network’s success stemmed from their commitment to “telling the stories at the heart of rugby league.”<\/p>\n

“We believe the greatest game of all should be accessible to everyone,” said\u00a0Laing.<\/p>\n

“By providing that universal, free-to-air access, we are helping to grow the sport’s fan base in every corner of the country.<\/p>\n

“To see that commitment reflected in record-breaking audience numbers is incredibly rewarding.”<\/p>\n

The network’s director of sport,\u00a0Brent Williams, praised the “world-class performances” of players and the production team responsible for bringing this season to life.<\/p>\n

“I couldn’t be prouder of our team at Nine’s Wide World of Sports,” said Williams.<\/p>\n

“Their tireless work and passion for storytelling have raised the bar for sports broadcasting in this country, and this season’s success is a fantastic recognition of their collective effort.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rugby League has never been bigger. The 2025 NRL season has rewritten the record books, drawing unprecedented audiences…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-192578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}