As I have explained to other GGA zealots, true sports which capture a nationās heart donāt fall back to such pathetic excuses.
The NRL and AFL Grand Finals annually are two of the highest rated programmes in Australia. The AFL regularly being number one.
It is not an issue for the Super Bowl in capturing number one.
GGA events are becoming more and more niche, interesting to the counties involved. Like baseball in the US.
By contrast, the international sports on the island take the cheese. Remember that these ratings are all in the South- the Irish rugby football team secure big ratings up north as well as the ROI and NI teams. If the only people in Dublin who care about Limerick getting to a final are ex Limerick themselves, imagine Derry or Antrim?
The peak audience for the hurling, adding the crowd in the stadium with the TV audience, was 1.090 million. The peak audience for Saturdays friendly, with the same calculations, was 1.087million. By my calculations, despite being held on a glorious summers Sunday when many would have been outdoors and recording the game for later viewing, more eyes watched the hurling which is incredible really. The friendly was on at peak TV viewing times (there is a reason XFactor is shown Saturday night and Songs of Praise Sunday afternoon) and still failed to match the hurling!
As an aside do we have access to the figures that watched IRFU 15 v Argentina and will someone post up the viewing figures for IRFU XV v USA when they are available next week.
Also the rubby team supposedly represent the island of Ireland, technically every person on the island could have been supporting them (around 6.6m people).
Both hurling teams have a combined support of less than 500k.
more people did watch the England game vs the Ireland NZ game
Joint 1st on 791k are the Ireland England Rugby game and the World Cup Semi Final 791k
2nd Ireland vs NZ 740k
3rd Limerick Cork in the all Ireland final 728k
4th Dublin Tyrone 707k
How did I forget that. It really sums up some modern sports fans this, judging interest in a sport by the numbers who flick it on during a break in Strictly rather than those who leave their couch!
Iām not saying you are wrong, but 791 million is a lot to watch a rugby game.
Limerick and Cork never played an All Ireland final against each other
Dublin Tyrone had a little more than 7,000 watching it.
As the fellow poster above who insists on truth over spin pointed out, with 20,000 at the Gaelic Grounds for the hurling the combined totals for average viewing figures for the hurling was also greater than that for Saturdays friendly. I am sure you have no objection to those in the Gaelic Grounds being accounted for, as they are not captured by the TV viewing figures or the match day attendance. I suggest I am not deflecting, just making certain the Internet remains free of mistruths.
I would say more likely the rugby was on the TV but being honest nobody is fucking watching it. Even in the stadium lads are just beasting into pints or In the jacks. They apparently have an app now to order your beer more quickly during the game in the Aviva.
Youād be better off watching a rerun of the game than being on here lashing out at lads for insisting on accurate reporting. It would even help with the overall online stream numbers! 56% of those watching TV Saturday were watching the rugby, 73% watching on All-Ireland final day were watching the hurling and yet here you areā¦ but but but there were lots of people watching in the pub
