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NRL at war with Channel 9 over Today’s AFL promotion
The NRL is at war with Channel 9 after the Today show went rogue last week in the lead-up to the AFL grand final.
Ben Talintyre
September 29, 2025 – 5:57PM
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codesports.com.au
“People I don’t like on this team!”
NRL: Melbourne Storm enforcer Stefano Utoikamanu fronts the media ahead of their Grand Final clash with the Broncos.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has declared war on Channel 9 in the lead-up to the NRL grand final, after the Today show heavily promoted the AFL grand final.
According to Code Sports, the NRL was inundated with complaints, and V’landys personally issued a please explain email after Nine’s breakfast program heavily promoted their rival league, which free-to-air rival Channel 7 has the rights to.
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Code reports that the AFL got more airtime than the NRL finals last week on Today, and it led to several clubs complaining to V’landys about the level of promotion.
The report notes that one club official, who chose not to be named, said, “Channel 9 did a better job promoting the AFL than Channel 7, their rights holders.
“Seriously, why would they want to encourage viewers to watch an event on another network?”
The show also gave more airtime to covering the Brisbane Lions’ AFL grand final triumph than the Broncos ending Penrith’s dynasty on Sunday.
It is not the first time Channel 9 has promoted the AFL over the NRL either, as two years ago they took the Today show to Adelaide to spruik the AFL’s Gather Round.
Karl Stefanovic and Reece Walsh.
And a look at the numbers shows exactly why the NRL’s feathers are ruffled.
Saturday’s decider between Brisbane and Geelong had a viewership of a whopping 6.09 million people on Channel 7’s main channel and 7Plus.
The AFL audience was slightly more than last year’s Lions v Swans decider, with the showcase event continuing to outperform the NRL grand final.
Meanwhile, the Bledisloe Cup, which was showing on Nine and Stan Sports at the same time, did only a fraction of that of the AFL grand final.
The match between the Wallabies and the All Blacks rated only 544,000 on Channel 9 and 9Now – although that figure does not include viewers who streamed the match on Stan.
Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission Peter V’landys. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
NRL seriously considering grand final time change
It comes as the NRL has hinted that a time change could be on the cards for future grand finals.
According to Code, V’landys is seriously considering working an afternoon grand final kick-off time into the next broadcast deal.
“The commission has shown over the years that it is prepared to make decisions to the benefit of our fans,” V’landys said last week.
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“Right now, we have a broadcast agreement that requires us to play the grand final at night.
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“Sunday afternoon finals football has been a huge success with record TV ratings. Last weekend alone, our numbers were up 34 per cent in Australia and New Zealand.”
A poll run by News Corp found a whopping 93 per cent of fans were in favour of an afternoon grand final.
The last afternoon decider was in 2000, where the Broncos emerged victorious over the Roosters.
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