AFL & NRL Footy TV Ratings - 2026

[leeroy*NRL*]

Origin III Breakdown

Total TV Audience of 4.290 million
Metro 2.852m Reg 1.438m
Syd 1.22m Mel 330k Bris 999k Adl 116k Per 187k


MASSIVE

[Terry]

Origin III Breakdown

Total TV Audience of 4.290 million
Metro 2.852m Reg 1.438m
Syd 1.22m Mel 330k Bris 999k Adl 116k Per 187k


MASSIVE

Its very quiet around here lately lolololololol!!!!!!!!!!!!! This winning caper is becoming quite enjoyable. It keeps the fumblers domiciled in their mamma's basements sucking their thumbs and cursing the great game of Rugby League. Ain't it grand lolololololol!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beaussie]

Thursday 9 July

AFL Round 18 saw a big comeback win for Fremantle beating Sydney to average a huge 930k. The highly anticipated match was extensively promoted by Seven and given rare main channel coverage in all markets. Seven was rewarded as the ratings were the highest for a Thursday night this year and were equal with the King’s Birthday Monday Afternoon game in June.

Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football:

#1 program in all people, 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s, #1 sport.

National reach 2.18 million, national audience 930,000.

Up 67% year-on-year in total TV, up 208% on 7plus.
Up 22% week-on-week in total TV, up 23% on 7plus.
Biggest Thursday Night Football in more than five years.
Biggest regular season prime time audience since 2022.
136,000 viewers on 7plus alone: a record streaming audience for a regular AFL game.

SEVEN’S AFL: THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Seven 2,176,000 930,000 136,000

Sydney 103,000
Melbourne 250,000
Brisbane 32,000
Adelaide 83,000
Perth 196,000


Over on Nine, the NRL Women’s Premiership that saw the Broncos defeat the Sharks averaged an uncompetitive 255k, down from the season opener that has 279k. AFL markets on Nine had RBT and Emergency.

Thursday Night NRLW secured a Total TV Reach 1.128 million, a Total TV Audience of 255,000. On 9Now it recorded a BVOD audience of 55,000 - up 41.0% year-on-year.

Sydney 93,000
Melbourne N/A
Brisbane 58,000
Adelaide N/A
Perth N/A

https://forums.mediaspy.org/t/thursday- ... 26/31284/3

[Terry]

Thursday 9 July

AFL Round 18 saw a big comeback win for Fremantle beating Sydney to average a huge 930k. The highly anticipated match was extensively promoted by Seven and given rare main channel coverage in all markets. Seven was rewarded as the ratings were the highest for a Thursday night this year and were equal with the King’s Birthday Monday Afternoon game in June.

Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football:

#1 program in all people, 25 to 54s and 16 to 39s, #1 sport.

National reach 2.18 million, national audience 930,000.

Up 67% year-on-year in total TV, up 208% on 7plus.
Up 22% week-on-week in total TV, up 23% on 7plus.
Biggest Thursday Night Football in more than five years.
Biggest regular season prime time audience since 2022.
136,000 viewers on 7plus alone: a record streaming audience for a regular AFL game.

SEVEN’S AFL: THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Seven 2,176,000 930,000 136,000

Sydney 103,000
Melbourne 250,000
Brisbane 32,000
Adelaide 83,000
Perth 196,000


Over on Nine, the NRL Women’s Premiership that saw the Broncos defeat the Sharks averaged an uncompetitive 255k, down from the season opener that has 279k. AFL markets on Nine had RBT and Emergency.

Thursday Night NRLW secured a Total TV Reach 1.128 million, a Total TV Audience of 255,000. On 9Now it recorded a BVOD audience of 55,000 - up 41.0% year-on-year.

Sydney 93,000
Melbourne N/A
Brisbane 58,000
Adelaide N/A
Perth N/A

https://forums.mediaspy.org/t/thursday- ... 26/31284/3

Thanks for that beatup. By the way - you've missed a couple of little things this week pal. There was something about a broadcast deal on Tuesday and I think there was a little sports game on Wednesday. Any chance you can keep us up to date pal? Thanks in advance pal lololololol!!!!!!!!!

Winning. Winning. Winning.

[Beaussie]

Dockers v Swans blockbuster delivers TV ratings bonanza

Thursday night's clash between Fremantle and Sydney drew a record TV audience

By staff writer
Jul 10, 2026, 3:30 pm

https://www.AFL.com.au/news/1557353/fre ... gs-bonanza



FREMANTLE'S stirring comeback win over Sydney on Thursday night has proven to be a television ratings bonanza with record viewership.

The top-of-the-table clash, which saw the Dockers overcome a goalless first half to secure a 38-point win, was the highest-rating primetime AFL match on free-to-air since 2022, reaching more than 3.3 million Australians.

The average viewership of over 1.4 million was second only in 2026 to the record-breaking Big Freeze clash between Collingwood and Melbourne just days after the passing of Neale Daniher.

On top of that, there were 136,000 viewers on 7plus - a record streaming audience for a home and away game on Seven.

Viewers in Sydney also tuned in in record numbers with the match attracting the highest free-to-air audience for a regular-season clash in more than five years, up 25 per cent on the next highest audience in NSW this year.

Perth numbers also soared with the TV audience beating every regular-season match in the past five years.

In partnership with 7plus and Kayo Sports, the match was also broadcast on the AFL YouTube channel as part of the Ultimate Footy Watchalong 2 with Dan Gorringe and other special guests, with numbers peaking at over 100,000 views.

Thursday night's game saw 55,966 people flock to Optus Stadium, making it Fremantle's best-ever non-Derby home crowd, and was also the third-highest non-Derby crowd ever at the venue.