More than 3 million Australians watched the rugby league grand final clash between the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury Bulldogs.
The Sunday evening match drew a national audience of 3.68 million viewers, which includes the five capital cities and viewers in regional areas.
That climbed to 3.711 million viewers for the presentation of the winning team.
The pre-game entertainment drew a national (capital city plus regional) audience of 2.02 million viewers.
Channel Nine's coverage ranked No.1 in the 25- to 54-year-old, 18 to 49 and 16 to 39 demographics.
With audience volumes like that driving the numbers, a win for the night was a no-brainer for Nine.
It took out the night with an impressive audience share of 40.8 per cent.
In the 25 to 54 demographic – Nine's declared preferred demographic – that rose to 47.2 per cent.
But for those who delight in comparisons between codes, the AFL edged out the rugby league in terms of ratings.
On a national audience basis (capital city plus regional viewers), Saturday's AFL grand final between the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn drew an average of 3.95 million viewers for Channel Seven.
That number climbed to 4.16 million for the post-match presentation.
