Grand Final sets record high for Championship on Sky Sports in 2019

James Gordon

Toronto’s Championship Grand Final victory over Featherstone attracted at peak audience of more than 245,000 on Sky Sports.

Broadcast via Sky Sports Main Event on Saturday night, the average match audience was more than 143,000 – a high for the Championship this season.

The majority of the Wolfpack’s games have been broadcast, while the evening games at the Summer Bash also attracted decent figures.

An RFL spokesman said: “These figures show the benefit of getting our major games on to Sky Sports Main Event and the challenge we face in having games played on  a Saturday evening when they clash with programmes like Strictly.”

Meanwhile, the League 1 play-off final between Oldham and Newcastle set a new record for a League 1 game on the Our League app.

Nearly 6,000 watched the Roughyeds beat Thunder to earn promotion to the Championship, with a combined figure of more than 40,000 watching that game and the Championship Grand Final on Twitch.

The Our League figure for the Oldham game was the fourth highest overall for games streamed on the RFL’s app, which continues to provide free live coverage of all levels of rugby league.