The annual Rugby League State Of Origin series is absolutely amazing!
Huge crowds, huge TV ratings, incredible games of football players by some of the best players in the world. Ever game really means something. It is so compelling that people outside of New South Wales and Queensland will fill giant stadiums to watch games, and they will tune in to watch them on TV.
State Of Origins popularity means that this three game series alone generates tens of millions of dollars per game. It is an incredible success!
You know what is really amazing though?
That other parts of Rugby League are starting to catch up to the impact that the State Of Origin series has on the game.
The National Rugby League for instance has grown into a billion dollar industry. One that now sees the overall game in Australia flushed with funding to do basically what ever it can put its mind to. NRL crowds are building, with teams playing out of much better facilities than we had even just ten years ago, and with the next broadcasting deal looking to be even bigger than the last, we will only see the NRL get bigger and better, with 3 teams expected to be added to the competition over the next ten years.
The incredible success of the Penrith Panthers, the amazing number of sold out games the New Zealand Warriors keep announcing, the rude financial health of the Redcliffe Dolphins, the going on 2 decades of non stop success from the Melbourne Storm, the Brisbane Broncos return as one of the premier teams in the competition….the list goes on and on!
Magic Weekend has turned into a huge money spinner for the game, and the Las Vegas experiment looks like at the very least it will become a very cool chance to keep taking Rugby League games to the United States.
Womens Rugby League is also growing at an incredible rate. the recent ratings of the women’s State Of Origin series have been phenomenal, and the women’s NRL competition has been growing very quickly. It has become a very valuable part of the overall game, and its value will no doubt be shown in the games next broadcasting deal.
It makes you wish for International Rugby League to pick up the slack. That is a great area where the game could look to build similar levels of success, but the International Rugby League is a pathetic organisation, and it makes you think that Rugby League in the Southern Hemisphere should come under the control of the NRL and look to become part of the incredible success stories that they have been behind, as listed above.
Having said that, 30 years ago Rugby League could only have dreamed of being able to play international games involving Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and all of those teams would be filled with fully professional players. Many of whom were developed within the Australian and New Zealand Rugby League systems, which both keep churning out high quality players all the time.
Rugby League is in a great place right now. So much though that State Of Origin is no longer a giant monolith of the game that stands alone, but one of a number of incredible success stories that are powering the game forward.
So enjoy it all, as you sit down to watch the State Of Origin series once more in 2024, enjoy the fact that the game we love is growing at some many levels.
State Of Origin isn’t the only amazing part of Rugby League we have to enjoy!
