It may not help with the number count, but would the fact that a lot of people watch their Super Rugby at pubs make a difference?
I'm not sure what a Foxtel subscription costs for a licensed venue but it's a lot more than a regular package.
My guess is that the actual number of eyes in the pub watching sport is less important to Foxtel than the actual subscription fee the pub is paying.
Are you on a ratings panel? Unless you are, only Foxtel knows, nothing to do with the offical ratings.
It all pales into insignificance when the first episode of Game of Thrones a few weeks back got 553K viewers...
Otherwise, any benefits would accrue to the venues, more than to the ratings, unfortunately. There might be some benefit in Foxtel's valuation of our sport, but because it would be based more on anecdote rather than hard statistics properly measured, it would not be great, I suspect.
@MediaweekAUS: Fri STV #SuperRugby #FoxSports
#REBvBLU 50k
#CRUvRED 49k
Bet there weren't that many watching the Reds match by the end
The Rebels deserved a much bigger audience than that. We are in deep doodoo as a sport.
@MediaweekAUS: Sat STV #SuperRugby #FoxSports
#FORvWAR 62k
#HURvSHA 51k
Very interesting that the viewership gap between a match involving no Aus teams and one involving two is, comparatively, so low.