Collingwood continues to be the most watched AFL team on television, with the Magpies being part of the three highest rating matches so far in 2011.
 
Last Friday night’s Collingwood-Geelong blockbuster was the second most-watched AFL match this season, drawing a national average 1,292,572 viewers, behind only the Magpies’ victory over the Bombers on ANZAC Day (1,428,815).
 
The Magpies’ Friday night clash with traditional rivals Carlton in round three was the third most-watched match so far in season 2011, with an average national audience of 1,137,095.
 
Only one other game (Hawthorn v Geelong in round five) has attracted more than one million television viewers nationally in 2011.
 
Collingwood is averaging over one million viewers per match for its five free-to-air games so far in 2011, the highest of any AFL side.
 
Two of the club’s first seven matches have been on pay television network Fox Sports so far in 2011, with the national average audience of 285,872 for the round six Magpies-Bulldogs game making it the eighth-highest rating AFL match ever on Fox.
 
Collingwood was the most watched sporting club on Australian television in 2010, attracting around 28 million viewers, more than the total audience of every A-League and SuperRugby match combined, and more than double the average TV audience for all AFL clubs which stood at 14.64 million viewers.
 
According to independent brand analysis firm Repucom, Collingwood’s guernsey is the most valuable sponsorship asset of any Australian football code, with the club’s television audience drawing power playing a significant part in that value.