SUPER RUGBY IN NZ ON THE RISE
DHL Super Rugby Pacific audience sees significant growth at end of regular season
At the end of the regular season of the DHL Super Rugby Pacific competition, and as we head into three exciting weekends of Finals rugby, over 1.94 million New Zealanders have watched the competition on Sky Sport and free-to-air on Sky Open.
Fuelled by the level of competition between the teams across the second half of the season, the lift is 16% compared to 2023[1].
Jonny Errington, Sky’s Chief Content & Commercial Officer says, “Close to two million New Zealanders have tuned into the linear coverage on Sky Sport and Sky Open so far this season – which is already more people than watched the entire 2023 season – with a further 215,000 unique viewers on digital channels Sky Sport Now and Sky Go.[2]
“And what we know is that many of our streaming customers cast the match to the big screen and ‘co-view’ with friends and family, so the number of actual viewers on our streaming services is likely to be significantly higher.”
“The majority of our DHL Super Rugby Pacific sports fans watched via Sky Sport – and it’s great that there was double digit percentage growth in viewership on the Sky Box. There was also substantial growth in the free-to-air audience on Sky Open, with all New Zealanders having the opportunity to watch a free ‘Super Saturday’ match each week of the regular season, with a live start on Sky Open.
On Sky’s digital platforms, DHL Super Rugby Pacific matches across the regular season were streamed over 4.23 million times.[3]
Super Rugby Pacific Chair, Kevin Malloy says, “This season has been competitive, exciting and unpredictable so it is brilliant to see this reflected through broadcast viewership and in turn an engaged fan base. To have more fans tuning into the 2024 season to date than the 2023 season is really positive, especially with quarterfinals kicking off this weekend.”
The Blues v Crusaders match on 25 May has proven the most popular match of the 2024 competition so far, with nearly 552,000 people tuning in on Sky Sport and Sky Open throughout the match and nearly 60,900 people streaming on Sky Sport Now and Sky Go.[4] The Chiefs v Crusaders match on 29 March was the second most popular, with over 482,000 people tuning in throughout the match and over 59,400 people streaming, while Chiefs v Hurricanes on 13 April came in third, with nearly 470,100 people watching and over 54,100 people streaming.
[1] Source: Nielsen eTAM AP05+, Data: Cumulative reach, Super Rugby Pacific 2023 & 2024, Sky Sport 1-4 & Sky Open
[1] Sky internal data, Super Rugby Pacific 2024
[1] Sky internal data, Super Rugby Pacific 2024
[1] Source: Nielsen eTAM AP05+, Data: Cumulative reach, Super Rugby Pacific live matches 2024, Sky Sport 1-4 & Sky Open
For more information, contact:
Ellie Brosnahan, Head of Communications
+64 (0)22 630 0665
For Sky Sport related queries, contact:
Alex McLeod, Sports Publicist
+64 (0)27 789 6947
For New Zealand Rugby related queries, contact:
Aimee Dykstra, Media & Communications Manager
+64 (0)21 440 956