Impressive viewing figures recorded for rugby league Ashes first Test

The viewing figures for the first Test of the rugby league Ashes have been revealed and they make for impressive reading.

Making their return for the first time in 22 years, the rugby league Ashes were always going to have an impact but it wasn’t clear until this week just how big they would be.

Members of each team have appeared at 10 Downing Street, whilst rugby league legends of yesteryear opened up the London Stock Exchange earlier in the week.

The marketing in and around London has been prominent with Wembley Way looking incredible on Saturday with the faces of England players plastered on 20-foot-high canvases as well.

Winning the Ashes would obviously be a huge marker of success but attendances and viewing figures are two other metrics and they’ve both impressed, with over 60,000 attending at Wembley to mark a rugby league Ashes record in England. And now, the viewing figures have backed that up.

Almost one million tune in to watch rugby league Ashes

Per Rugby League on TV, the first Ashes Test had an average audience of 818,000, marking a 14.2% audience share.

Importantly, the game was aired on BBC One which makes a change from recent end-of-season international series that England played in, with the Tests against Samoa and Tonga in 2023 and 2024 both showed on BBC Two.

The peak audience for Saturday’s game has also been reported as 930,000, a 15.1% audience share, which means that combined with the 60,812 in attendance at Wembley, almost 1,000,000 people watched the first Test.

They’re monumental figures that can only help make the game grow and with both the second and third Tests already sold out, the momentum could carry on.

England’s second Test against Samoa in 2024, which was aired on BBC Two, drew an average audience of 741,000 and a peak of 844,000, meaning Saturday’s game was a marked improvement on that.

The 2025 Super League Grand Final was viewed by a total of 816,000 people making Saturday’s game even more watched than the domestic showpiece event.

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England v Australia 1st Test on BBC ONE had 818,000 average audience with 14.2% audience share.

Peak audience of 930,000 and 15.1% audience share.

— RugbyLeagueonTV.com (@rugbyleagueontv) October 26, 2025