Super League breaks attendance record with bumper Easter weekend crowds

Super League have smashed its attendance regular six-match round of matches following an impressive Easter weekend of crowds in Rivals Round.

There were 83,357 across all six Super League matches across the Easter weekend, beating the previous record in Easter 2019 by around 4,000.

The decision was made to set a number of single Rivals Round over this Easter and spread the six fixtures over four days, rather than making teams play two games over the course of three or four days that has been done traditionally.

The decision was made largely due to player welfare, but it has also proved a huge hit with supporters, with a total of 83,357 across the six matches.

That is a new record for a single six-match round of Super League fixtures. It’s more than a five per cent increase on the previous record of 79,173 that was set in the first half of the Easter period in 2019.

The average attendance of 13,892 is also a record for any round of Super League stretching back to the launch of the competition in 1996.

A record-breaking Easter weekend for Super League

There were several individual records broken, too.

The capacity crowd of 24,275 for the Good Friday derby between Wigan and St Helens was the highest at the DW Stadium for 18 years, and the highest for a regular season Super League match since the all-time record of 31,555 for the game between Catalans and Wigan which was played at Barcelona’s Nou Camp in 2019.

The crowd of 20,985 for the Hull derby at the MKM Stadium earlier on Good Friday, also a capacity, was Hull FC’s highest since 2009.

And the 5,308 who were in attendance for the Women’s Super League season opener between Leeds and York at Headingley set a new record for the competition, beating the 4,235 gate for the Women’s Super League Grand Final in 2021, although that was a stand-alone fixture, also at Headingley.

Super League Rivals Round attendances:

Castleford Tigers 16-4 Wakefield Trinity: 8,075

Hull FC 0-40 Hull KR: 20,985

Wigan Warriors 14-6 St Helens: 24,275

Leigh Leopards 20-22 Salford Red Devils: 6,002

Catalans Dragons 14-20 Warrington Wolves: 10,786

Leeds Rhinos – Huddersfield Giants: 13,234

RL Commercial boss hails ‘magnificent weekend’ of crowds

Frank Slevin, the chair of RL Commercial, said: “What a magnificent weekend it has been.

“The action on the pitch has been outstanding, as ever, and in addition to congratulating and thanking the players for that, we should also salute the work of the Betfred Super League clubs and our broadcast partners, led by Sky Sports, who have ensured that the matches have not only been watched by record numbers of spectators but also hundreds of thousands of viewers across the UK and well beyond.

“This is our first Easter weekend since the realignment of the sport, the launch of RL Commercial, and the start of the 12-year partnership with IMG – and also the first time the Rivals Round has been spread throughout the weekend, with all six matches covered live by Sky Sports.

“With capacity crowds in excess of 20,000 in Hull and Wigan, a vibrant Saturday night spectacle in the south of France, and a new record for the Betfred Women’s Super League as part of the Easter Sunday double header at Headingley, we have seen our sport at its very best.

“This does not come out of the blue”

“This does not come out of the blue, as attendances were already on an encouraging upward trend across Super League and the Championship even before the Easter weekend – with the Super League aggregate for the season now approaching half a million, after only eight rounds.

“And of course there is so much more to relish in the coming weeks and months, including the return of England’s Men and Women teams in the Mid-Season Internationals against France, the Betfred Super League Magic Weekend in Newcastle in June, the first double header of Men’s and Women’s Challenge Cup Finals at Wembley in August, followed by the autumn Grand Finals.”

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