RUGBY League World Cup 2021 has broken yet more viewing records.
Broadcast figures up until Sunday 6 November showing a domestic cumulative match average of more than 18.7million – making it the most watched Rugby League World Cup ever.
Every minute of every match to date has been broadcast live on the BBC, with England men’s quarter final clash with Papua New Guinea the first game to average over 1.5 million viewers in recording a peak of 1.7million viewers, a figure only beaten on the opening match of the tournament when a peak of 1.8 million tuned into see England beat Samoa.
In the women’s and wheelchair tournaments, which are running simultaneously with the men’s game for the first time ever, both England teams have also attracted big audiences with an average of 0.5 million viewers apiece, with England women’s game against Canada and England wheelchair team’s game against Australia proving to be the most popular matches so far with both reaching a peak of over 700,000.
The latest weekend of action was by far the biggest so far with a domestic terrestrial audience for Saturday and Sunday’s fixtures reach 3.7million, with digital and online figures bringing that up to 4.3 million.
Rugby League World Cup 2021, Chief Executive, Jon Dutton said: “As the tournament builds towards the latter stages, we can really see how the momentum is building with increasing audiences reflected in the latest update on broadcast figures.
“The coverage so far across the BBC and wider broadcast partners has been fantastic, and I’m really pleased with how we’ve been able to showcase the sport to dedicated rugby league fans as well as new audiences around the globe.
“My hope is that it brings new fans to sport rugby league across all three formats, and a personal highlight for me has been the popularity of the wheelchair tournament. Those close to the sport already knew how gripping it can be, but having seen the reaction and the audience figures as the group games have progressed has been incredible, with yet more to come.”