By Final Third Studios – English Premier League-level marketing for local impact
We are a sports-focused creative consultancy that combines strategy and execution to help engage fans, build community, and drive revenue.

YouTube in the NRL: A Missed Opportunity

NRL clubs are leaving massive value on the table.

From a fan engagement and commercial ROI perspective, YouTube is the most underutilised platform in Australian sport, and the data proves it.

After working inside the English Premier League, helping grow a club’s YouTube channel by 150,000+ subscribers, doubling ad revenue, and turning sub-1K videos into 50K+ view powerhouses, we decided to dig into how the NRL is performing.

Spoiler: it's not great.

Let’s Start With the Numbers

1 NRL team doesn’t have a YouTube channel
5 clubs have under 5,000 subscribers
Some clubs post hundreds of videos a year… with almost no return

*The NRL YouTube Subscriber Leaderboard - July 2025*

Panthers are leading with 59,000 subs, almost double the next best. But even their numbers could be much higher with a sharper strategy.

Strategy Beats Output. Every Time.

The Raiders are the most active team on YouTube with over 1,100 uploads. Yet they rank just 12th in subscriber count. Why?

Because volume means nothing without the right strategy.

Clubs are often:

Reposting Reels as Shorts without tailoring for YouTube
Ignoring long-form episodic content
Failing to understand what performs best on the platform

We analysed average subscribers gained per video and found a huge disparity between effort and results. In many cases, poor thumbnail design and lack of storytelling were the culprits.

*NRL Subs Gained per Video (aka - effective their content is)*

What Content Actually Works?

Across the NRL, the most successful content, by far, is behind-the-scenes episodic storytelling.

Of the top videos from 17 clubs, 8 were BTS-style documentaries, and together they amassed over 1.25M views.

*The NRL’s best content is BTS Storytelling*

It’s proof that fans don’t want a video archive. They want connection. They want a peek behind the curtain. They want storytelling.

Why YouTube Is Still the King of ROI

Two reasons:

1. Ad Monetisation

Even modest YouTube growth can fund new gear, pay media interns, or justify a full-time hire.

2. Sponsor Integration

If a YouTube series reliably reaches 50,000+ fans? That’s a digital billboard you can sell. And sell again.

Every club is sitting on an underdeveloped asset that can drive real commercial value. But most haven’t built the systems to support it.

The Fix: Understanding the Algorithm = Unlocking Growth

YouTube isn’t random. The algorithm rewards:

High click-through rate (thumbnails + titles)
High average view duration
Viewer retention and return sessions
Posting cadence and consistency
Engaging content that performs well in the first hour

Your title and thumbnail set an expectation. Your first 15 seconds need to deliver. And your edit needs to hold attention.

What hurts performance?

Long intros
Generic clips
Poor pacing
Flat titles
Filler b-roll

And YouTube knows. The platform maps every skip, every bounce, and every rewatch. You're training the machine, every upload.

Final Word: Great Content Deserves Great Strategy

NRL media teams are clearly talented. The creative output is there. But as we’ve seen time and again, bad strategy will kill great content.

YouTube isn't an afterthought. It's a channel. A revenue stream. A fan funnel. It deserves the same level of planning as a sponsor campaign or matchday activation.

And it starts with getting help from someone who’s been in the trenches.

📥 Want the full NRL YouTube Report? - Click here.

Let’s bring English Premier League-level marketing to your club—so your stories hit harder, travel further, and deliver real results.

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