The 2024 season of Super Rugby Pacific saw a 12 per cent increase in viewership compared to 2023, although fewer people tuned in to watch last week’s final than the previous year.

In broadcast figures released on Thursday, Nielsen data showed a total of close to 2.4 million New Zealanders tuned in to Super Rugby Pacific this season, across pay-TV, free-to-air coverage on Sky Open and Sky’s digital platforms.

That figure is broken down to a split of 2.1 million across terrestrial television, and 249,000 unique viewers on digital – Sky Go and Sky Sport Now.

Throughout the course of the season, Sky’s figures show more than 6.81 million streams on digital over the 91 matches played in 2024.

The presence of Sky Open (formerly Prime) as a free-to-air offering has been a huge boon for Sky, as a means of attracting subscribers to pay TV through one free game per week.

Unsurprisingly, last weekend’s decider between the Blues and Chiefs attracted the largest audience, with 644,000 viewers on television and a further 113,000 on digital channels.

However, that is a decrease from last year, when close to 900,000 viewers watched the Crusaders defeat the Chiefs in the final – split into 776,000 on TV and 119,000 on digital.

Regardless, the increase in viewership is a shot in the arm for Super Rugby, at the start of a new Rugby World Cup cycle in which several competition stars from previous years have moved abroad.

“It’s fantastic to see the 2024 season perform well, the Super Rugby Pacific teams were outstanding this season with some close matches, upsets and overall, fast, intense, competitive rugby,” said Super Rugby Pacific chair Kevin Malloy.

“The quality of the competition is also reflected through our off-field results. We saw more fans showing up to games, tuning in on broadcast and engaging across our digital channels.

“A huge thank you to all fans for your support this season, we couldn’t do it without your passion and dedication.”