Warrington Wolves and St Helens set OUTRAGEOUS viewing figures record as TV numbers surge
George Williams kicks a drop goal for Warrington Wolves against St Helens
Warrington Wolves and St Helens set an all-time Super League play-off viewing figures record at the weekend during their incredible eliminator tie, Love Rugby League has learned.
The Wire defeated the Saints in thrilling fashion, with George Williams’ golden point drop-goal kicking Sam Burgess’ side through to week two of the play-offs.
It was a contest that was immediately dubbed one of the best of 2024 – and the audience numbers that tuned in appear to reflect that, too.
The game was dual-cast on BBC2 and Sky Sports, and the game drew in a combined audience across both channels of around 385,000 people, Love Rugby League has been told.
That is the highest audience for a play-off match since the concept was introduced in 1998. The previous best was an audience of 330,000 which watched Salford versus St Helens in 2022, with other dual-cast play-off ties failing to reach the 300,000 mark.
It is an encouraging number and added to that, the peak figure for the game across both channels was in excess of 500,000 – again, another Super League play-off record.
That’s not all, either. Friday night’s contest between Salford and Leigh had a peak of over 400,000 too – with the play-offs clearly captivating the attention of many rugby league supporters. The figures will be of encouragement to IMG too, who are in the midst of trying to promote the sport to a wider audience.
With this weekend’s two semi-finals likely to attract huge audiences in-person too, and the prospect of the best-attended Grand Final in a number of years, Super League is riding on the crest of a wave at present in terms of audience figures.
And that has been emphasised by the fact the biggest-ever audience to watch a Super League play-off tie in the 26-year history of the concept tuned in on Saturday to see Warrington emerge through an absolute epic against Paul Wellens’ side.
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