Round One of the Betfred Super League was officially a record-breaker. The six fixtures played from Thursday to Saturday attracted an aggregate attendance of 76,752 – smashing the previous record for a six-match opening round by more than 10%.
That produced an average crowd across the matches of 12,792 – easily the best for an opening round in the 29 seasons since Super League was launched in 1996, and one of the best for any round in Super League history.
Rhodri Jones, the Managing Director of Rugby League Commercial, said: “This has been a landmark weekend for the Betfred Super League competition.
“It’s the first time we have had every fixture in a round televised by Sky Sports, other than Magic Weekends and last year’s Rivals Round – and we have also launched SuperLeague+ as the sport’s first global direct-to-consumer streaming platform, which offered live coverage of all six matches globally and four of the six in the UK.
“Saturday evening’s match between Castleford Tigers and Wigan Warriors made history as the first Super League fixture to be shown live on BBC Sport, and we had unprecedented levels of international broadcast coverage including L’Equipe and TV3 streaming Catalans Dragons’ opening win against Warrington Wolves through France and Spain.”
Super League proud of attendance figures
Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 17/02/2024 – Rugby League – Betfred Super League Round 1 – Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors – the Mend A Hose Jungle, Castleford, England – Wigan s LIam Marshall celebrates to the fans after scoring a try against Castleford. Castleford Mend A Hose Jungle England Copyright: x xSWpix.comxt/axPhotographyxHubxLtdxAllanxMcKenzie/SWpix.comx SWP-2371-0019
Jones went on to add: “The attendance figures are the icing on the cake. We were always hopeful of breaking the record for a six-match opening round, but the outstanding efforts of our clubs in promoting the matches has delivered aggregate and average figures which are more than 10% higher than previously achieved in almost three decades of the Super League.
“And this is just the start of what promises to be a pivotal season for the competition and the sport.
“Next Saturday night, Wigan Warriors will host Penrith Panthers in the Betfred World Club Challenge, with a 25,000 sell-out guaranteed to deliver the best crowd for a World Club Challenge for a decade – and the biggest in this country since 2010.
“Again, the match will receive unprecedented levels of broadcast exposure, with live coverage on BBC Two, Sky Sports and SuperLeague+.”
