Women’s Six Nations set to break attendance records across Europe
The upcoming Women’s Six Nations is poised to shatter attendance records across Europe, driven by a surge in popularity following England’s historic Rugby World Cup victory.
Rugby union’s profile skyrocketed after the Red Roses defeated Canada in front of 81,885 fans at Allianz Stadium to secure global glory.
That landmark victory achieved a record-breaking peak television audience of 5.8 million viewers in the UK.
Research commissioned by BBC Sport indicates the sport’s domestic fanbase has subsequently swelled from 7.94 million to more than 13 million.
National stadiums take centre stage
All four home nations will host fixtures at their respective national stadiums during this year’s championship.
The existing tournament attendance record of 58,498 is guaranteed to fall during the opening weekend.
More than 75,000 tickets have already been sold for England’s clash with Ireland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Helena Rowland is set to start for a much-changed home side as they begin their latest title defence.
Breaking new ground
Scotland will also enter uncharted territory when they host the reigning champions at Murrayfield next weekend.
More than 25,000 supporters are expected in Edinburgh, comfortably surpassing the national team’s previous home best of 7,774.
Ireland are preparing for their first-ever women’s international at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium on the final weekend.
Over 16,000 tickets have been purchased for their concluding match against the Scots, ensuring another domestic record will be broken.
Meanwhile, Wales are targeting a crowd in excess of 21,000 for their highly anticipated opener at the Principality Stadium.
Sustaining the momentum
Despite the unprecedented surge in ticket sales, officials remain cautious about taking this newfound popularity for granted.
Alex Teasdale, the Rugby Football Union director of women’s rugby, praised the national team’s role as ambassadors but warned against complacency.
“There is probably a line of thinking that audiences will just keep growing, but they are actually hard to maintain.”
“You have to work hard to give fans a brilliant experience so they want to keep coming back.”
The championship will culminate with a potential Grand Slam decider when France host the Red Roses at the 42,115-capacity Stade Atlantique in Bordeaux.
