A new study on online readership from Australians has shown both the NRL and AFL series spiking interest in the lead-up to their respective grand finals, with the NRLW and AFLW also gaining traction.
Readership data is aggregated across a network of users on a multitude of publisher sites in Australia, protecting individuals’ privacy while informing advertisers about the interests of their audience.
This is made possible by working with recommendation platforms that integrate into a vast number of publisher sites, like Taboola.
What people read about changes depending on what they are going through and what’s happening in the world. This is what makes readership data reliably current for advertisers seeking to know what’s on their audience’s mind. It can lead to the discovery of seemingly “new” or unexpected topics their audience is reading about.
So what are the top topics consuming Australians at the moment? It’s all about football.
AFL
AFL maintained its high interest over the finals season, with 19 million pageviews over 90 days, a rise of 120 per cent.
AFL Grand Final
Online reading about the AFL Grand Final on 24 September has seen 373,000 pageviews in 90 days, up 2,208 per cent.
Sydney Swans
After winning their preliminary final in a nail biter against Collingwood, online reading about the Sydney Swans was 1.3 million in the last 90 days, up 16 per cent.
Geelong Cats
Online reading interest in Geelong, who will face the Swans in the Grand Final, sits at 2.1 million pageviews in the last 90 days, up 5 per cent.
Hawthorn Hawks
Issues facing the Hawthorn Hawks in the past week has seen online reading surge by 884 per cent to 406,000 in the past 90 days, peaking on 21 September with 150,400 page views.
NRL
As the NRL Grand Final, to be held on 2 October, looms, interest in NRL has risen 103 per cent to 12 million pageviews.
NRL Grand Final
Online reading about the NRL Grand Final has jumped 939 per cent to 205,000 pageviews over 90 days.
Preliminary finals teams
Preliminary finals will be held over the weekend between the Cowboys and the Eels and the Panthers and Rabbitohs.
Online reading for some teams has increased with 678,000 pageviews for the North Queensland Cowboys, up 116 per cent, while the Parramatta Eels saw a 1 per cent lift to 342,000 pageviews.
Interest in online reading about the Penrith Panthers has fallen 67 per cent to 673,000, however online reading about the South Sydney Rabbitohs has jumped 866 per cent to 338,000 page views over a 90 day period.
Women’s footy
Interest is growing in women’s football for both the AFL and NRL.
AFLW is gaining strong interest, with 786,000 pageviews in 90 days, up 258 per cent
Online reading about the NRLW has also increased strongly, jumping 568 per cent to 278,000 pageviews over 90 days.
