Scheduling of NRL games

alex

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What a joke. If the NRL truly want a national game, they have to stop the poor treatment of the fans that are willing to travel interstate.

I've been to every game this year, interstate and NZ, and I gotta say, it's so frustrating only finding out the date of a game like the Rd 25 match on the Gold Coast three weeks in advance. Couldnt find any airfares cheaper than $250 return 3 weeks out from the weekend and accommodation was difficult to get. The dates for the Auckland match were released in sufficient time and we were able to get fares for $200 return and accommodation was easy to find at $80/night for a 1br apartment … cheaper than the Gold Coast ...

Not only is it frustrating for the fans, but the clubs also find it hard to sell tickets for games that have no dates yet.

One smart thing the Tigers do is play our home matches against the Raiders in Campbelltown. Doing this allows Raiders fans to travel up to Sydney as the drive to C'town is only 2 hours (ish) from Canberra, whereas playing it at the SFS would add an extra hour to their trip. Where this all falls down is that the NRL/Ch 9/Fox schedule it for a Monday night. Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. No Raiders fans will travel the 2 hours to Sydney and back on a Monday! Furthermore, scheduling Campbelltown games on a Monday night is also stupid when we have a homeground in the CBD.

And talk about inequalities in the scheduling. Canberra this year played 5 Monday night games while the Broncos only had 2 and the Warriors had NO Monday night games. IMO Monday nights are the worst time for games and this is echoed by the players and coaches. Take out Monday night or one of the Saturday games and add an extra Sunday game. With Channel 9 no longer having the TV rights to the AFL, what's stopping them having a double header on Sundays like they do on Friday nights? Have a live game at 2pm then a delayed telecast of a 3pm game at 4\. You can also pretty much guarantee that the Broncos will play on a Friday night too which allows them an extra 2-3 days to recover.

I thought there was some sort of rule that prevented teams from playing a Monday night game one round and backing up to the Friday game the next. In Rd 18 the Titans played Parra at Skilled Park on a Monday and then the Bulldogs in Brisbane the next Friday.

Wish the NRL would sort this all out. It's becoming a joke.

Rant over.
 
Doubt you will find anyone disagreeing here. Of course, you also won't get any sensible response from the NRL…
 
Totally agree with everything you said.

And how good would that be, Sunday arvo double header on ch 9, I wouldnt mind even having the 4pm game live, sure the 2nd half will be just about night time, but the conditions will still be good and not to dewy anyway, it wouldnt be to cold, and ch 9 will be happy because a live telecast leads into their news + Fox could keep their Sunday game but play it at midday instead to create a triple header (Not sure if i could watch all 3 games though lol).
 
@Jazza said:
Totally agree with everything you said.

And how good would that be, Sunday arvo double header on ch 9, I wouldnt mind even having the 4pm game live, sure the 2nd half will be just about night time, but the conditions will still be good and not to dewy anyway, it wouldnt be to cold, and ch 9 will be happy because a live telecast leads into their news + Fox could keep their Sunday game but play it at midday instead to create a triple header (Not sure if i could watch all 3 games though lol).

I think a midday game on a Sunday would be weird. You'd be done by 2oclock haha. I think the double live header on Ch 9 wont happen because of the TV rights between 9 and Fox. The rule is that Ch 9 and Fox can't show live games at the same time I think.

But yeah, EVERYONE in the game bar Fox and Ch 9 exec's want more Sunday games.

Do you think a Sunday 6:30 or 7oclock match would work? Ch 9 could get the rights and have the arvo game going straight into the news then into the live game.
 
Hi All

I have to agree i think that a Sunday Night game with a 18:30 kick off would work, but there is no way in the world would 9 sacrafice their beloved 60 mins.

I reckon it would be great to see the following schedule

Friday's
19:45 Match of the round

Saturday
15:00 Kick Off - Fox or ABC
17:30 Kick Off - Fox
19:30 Kick Off - Fox

Sunday
12:00 Noon (Should be allocted for Sunday Warriors Games more)
14:00 Kick Off - Fox
2 x 15:00 Kick Offs - Both are delayed (1 at 16:00 on 9, 1 delayed at 18:00 on Fox)

or

12:00 noon - FOX
14:00 Kick Off (Game of the Round - Live on 9)
15:00 Kick Off - Fox Delay at 18:00
16:00 Kick Off (Live on 9)
\
\
\
(I dont know why Channel 9 couldnt telecast 2 Sunday Games, they could let fox do the 12:00 midday. Then go live with the 14:00 - then put the 15:00 delayed at 16:00 - or would a 16:00 kick off work?)

I would scrap MNF - I rekon if you look at attendance averaged MNF figure would be low…
 
I dont think a midday game in Australia would work. It's way too early. The U20s game would start at 9.45 …

I think:

Friday
7:30 - Ch 9 Live

Saturday
3pm - Fox Live
5.30pm - Fox Live
7.30pm - Fox Live

Sunday
2pm - Ch 9 Live
3pm - Fox Live
4pm - Ch 9 Live
6pm - Fox Live

Don't see why this wouldnt work but as I said earlier I believe there's a rule in the contract that Ch 9 and Fox can't show lives games at the same time. Is the Sunday schedule too confusing?
 
I think you'll find 3pm Saturday arvo games won't be to popular nor successful. Reason being, junior sport in particularly Rugby League is primarily played on Saturdays, and you run the risk of losing a whole segment of supporter who may potentially not be able to make an NRL fixture at this earlier time slot, not to mention be able to watch on Fox Sports which hurts ratings. Super Saturday seems to work fine. But perhaps more, one of the 7.30pm games to a 3 or 4pm on a Sunday. When it comes to re-arranging fixtures, it is met with great resistance fro the broadcasting partners, however people power got the Grand Final reverted back to an afternoon after 7 years of night time scheduling.
 
@Gobbs said:
I think you'll find 3pm Saturday arvo games won't be to popular nor successful. Reason being, junior sport in particularly Rugby League is primarily played on Saturdays, and you run the risk of losing a whole segment of supporter who may potentially not be able to make an NRL fixture at this earlier time slot, not to mention be able to watch on Fox Sports which hurts ratings. Super Saturday seems to work fine. But perhaps more, one of the 7.30pm games to a 3 or 4pm on a Sunday. When it comes to re-arranging fixtures, it is met with great resistance fro the broadcasting partners, however people power got the Grand Final reverted back to an afternoon after 7 years of night time scheduling.

Rugby League on a Saturday? Are you kidding?
In my area - Balmain District - all League is done on Sundays and Union is played on Saturdays.

The NRL tried a few Saturday games this year, I believe one on the Gold Coast which had a decent crowd in the high teens/early 20's IIRC.

I think Ch 9 and Fox have to get over themselves and start treating the fans with respect, and forget about what's best for them for a change. Put it this way .. people like watching games on TV live. Therefore, if you put it live on TV, you'll get ratings. If you play a delayed telecast, people dont care. Regardless of what Ch 9 is doing if theyre showing another game live too, you'll still have a decent ratings crowd because youre showing the game live.

Maybe move the 3pm Saturday game to 7:30 Friday, and Ch 9 can show one live and Fox the other.

In summary … 2 day games a week is pathetic.
 
I agree, A real pain in the rear for planning interstate travel.

Although I only booked my flights this week and paid $300 return, not bad I suppose although had I been able to book them months ago it would of been $100 return.
 

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