It has been a successful season for Queensland Rugby League’s livestreaming platform Qplus.tv, after it achieved significant and widespread viewership growth in 2024.
While there were increases across all statewide competitions, the surge in popularity of the women’s game was clear following a 417 per cent broadcast viewership growth of the BMD Premiership this year, with 91,288 total views.
“It’s been a great year for the Qplus.tv platform and as a business, it’s important we celebrate this success,” QRL senior content and broadcast manager Tom Mitchell said.
“The interest in women’s rugby league continues to grow, and this was reflected with the BMD Premiership having a higher average livestream viewership on Qplus.tv than the men’s Hostplus Cup did in 2024, at 44 per cent total livestream views.
“This year we wanted to deliver the best broadcast product and streaming service of any second-tier sport in Australia – and with more than 400 games livestreamed, close to one million total views of our product and solid growth metrics across all our statewide competitions, selected representative games and regional carnivals, which were all hosted on the platform - I believe we did just that.
“After securing a new OTT (over-the-top) platform provider and MCR (master control room) in the off-season, we entered 2024 in unknown waters, but we were soon swimming strongly thanks to the professionalism and execution of high-quality live and on-demand streaming production services provided by DoubleTake Sports, Layercake and Enveu.
“In its third year of operation, Qplus.tv delivered a new website, user experience and cheaper pricing plan in 2024 that allowed fans from across the state to stay connected to their favourite clubs and players.
“This year has been a defining year for Qplus.tv and we look forward to growing and better knowing our audiences next year to ensure we’re consistently delivering an exceptional experience for the fans of our great game across this great state.”
During the 2024 season, 430 rugby league matches were livestreamed on the Qplus.tv platform with a total of 266,235 views for a 24 per cent increase compared to last year.
Forty-one of those games were broadcast via a multi-camera production with commentators and, in addition to being shown on Qplus.tv, they were also aired on Kayo Freebies and 9Now, producing 620,594 total views for a 12 per cent year-on-year viewership increase.
While it was a landmark year for the women’s game, Hostplus Cup viewership also grew as the senior men’s competition recorded a 74 per cent increase since the platform’s introduction in 2022 with an average viewership of 18,646 this past year.
More than 100,000 people viewed the Hostplus Cup grand final between Norths Devils and Redcliffe Dolphins, which was broadcast on Fox League and replayed on Qplus.tv, which again proved a winning strategy to promote and expose the product’s premier event to a greater audience.
Qplus.tv will continue to be the QRL’s home of livestreaming in 2025, covering each of the six statewide competitions – Hostplus Cup, BMD Premiership, Mal Meninga Cup, Cyril Connell Cup, Harvey Norman Under 17 and Harvey Norman U19, as well as representative pathway fixtures and key regional carnivals.
