In comparison, last year's opening six rounds of matches drew attendances of 734,500, for an average of 15,627 per match, but Easter was later in 2014 so no final conclusion can be drawn from the figures, while the NRL has this year scheduled five games on ANZAC Day that are expected to boost crowd numbers. A more significant reason for why it is so difficult to make a direct comparison is the way crowds used to be counted before the implementation of electronic turnstiles at all NRL grounds, with Pepper Stadium, Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium and Remondis Stadium among the last to be updated during upgrades of facilities at those venues. The NRL has also introduced uniform reporting measures to ensure all clubs count attendance figures the same way. As recently as three years ago, the crowd figures at some grounds were considered little more than an educated guess, while some clubs included all tickets allocated - including members who didn't turn up - rather than number of fans who actually attended the match. Former Melbourne Storm chief executive Ron Gauci told Fairfax Media in 2011 that the Storm's previous administration had inflated crowd figures and claimed it was a practice that commonly occurred at other clubs.

There are other factors that may affect attendances, such as Channel Nine's decision to broadcast the Sunday match of the day live at 4pm and the shifting of the second 7.30pm Saturday game to a 3pm kick-off for Fox Sports. Both time slots are less attractive for fans wanting to attend matches but better for television viewers, who now get live coverage of an additional two matches per weekend. The broadcasters are also benefiting, with Fox Sports developing its Super Saturday coverage into a strong commercial property by building audiences and keeping them engaged from the 3pm match to the 5pm match and then to the 7.30pm match. Nine executives are also happy with the ratings that the Sunday afternoon matches have been delivering and the flow-on effect it has had for the network's 6pm news program. Viewing figures for the opening five rounds of Sunday matches on Nine were up 17 per cent in Sydney (average 294,000) and 10 per cent in Brisbane (average 129,000) compared to last year, including the round-four Warriors-Broncos match broadcast from noon because of the Cricket World Cup.

More people are also tuning in on Friday night to both the 7.30pm live match and the delayed coverage of the second match that follows on Nine. According to Rugby League Ratings, Sydney audiences during the opening five rounds were up two per cent for the first Friday night match to an average of 372,000 viewers, with only the round three Manly-Canterbury match (289,000) attracting less than 400,000 viewers. Audiences for the second match were up 13 per cent in Sydney to an average of 218,000 viewers. Under the NRL's $1 billion broadcast deal, the way matches are scheduled has changed significantly, with Nine and Fox Sports now effectively deciding the draw. The NRL used to schedule blockbuster rounds of matches in the opening rounds but the big games are now layered across the season to accommodate the broadcasters.

The way the scheduling works, Nine choose 52 matches across the season of which the NRL guarantees to deliver 48 into the time slots the free-to-air broadcasters chooses. This season, 43 of those matches are scheduled for Friday nights and five on Sunday afternoons to help Nine promote its new live 4pm coverage. Fox Sports then select 52 games for its Saturday night and Monday night time-slots. Although the draw for the full 26 rounds of the regular season has been pencilled in, the NRL has not announced the schedule for the last six rounds as Nine has the ability after round 16 to re-select matches for those rounds depending on the form of teams and their popularity with viewers.