sport news NRL insist the grand final WILL continue to be played on Sunday nights trends now
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ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys is adamant the NRL Grand Final will remain in its usual Sunday night slot, despite calls for it to be played earlier in the day.
Sunday's clash between Parramatta and Penrith at Accor Stadium in Sydney will kick off at 7:30pm AEDT, continuing the recent trend of evening starts.
The last time the showpiece event of the NRL season began before 7pm AEDT was in 2012, when proceedings between Canterbury and Melbourne kicked off at 5pm AEDT.
Last year's Grand Final between Penrith and South Sydney kicked off at 7:35pm
And V'landys is adamant the Grand Final will continue to be played under the floodlights.
'At the end of the day, you’ve got to get the most eyeballs watching the Grand Final,' V’landys told NewsCorp.
'Grand finals are a huge opportunity to promote the game and it’s proven that more people watch sport at night.
'We need to maximise our audience with major events. You might get some casual fans who will become rusted-on fans. At
