Rugby World Cup Tickets Generate £250m

02 Nov 2015 | tshego

Share on

World Rugby and England Rugby 2015 hailed the success of this year’s Rugby World Cup, declaring it the biggest and best tournament ever.

A number of records were broken off the pitch, with ticket sales reaching 2.47m across all 48 matches, the official Fanzone attendance surpassing the 1m mark and Wembley Stadium drawing two consecutive Rugby World Cup attendance records.

On the pitch, South Africa’s Bryan Habana equaled New Zealand’s Jonah Lomu’s World Cup try-scoring record of 15 by going over the line three times against the United States.

England Rugby 2015 is said to have generated over £250m in ticket revenues and delivering an £80m surplus to World Rugby as well as a £15m surplus to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to be invested into the development of rugby.

England’s clash with Wales on ITV had an audience of 11.6m, the highest peak audience for a sporting event since the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the final was estimated to have a global audience of 120m.

The Rugby World Cup 2015 was also said to be the most digitally-engaged tournament to date with social media activity exceeding the whole of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand during the pool stages.

The event website attracted 25m unique users and the official app was downloaded 2.8m times, whilst throughout the tournament #RWC2015 was used twice a second for the duration of the event, over 5m in total.

World Rugby chairman, Bernard Lapasset said: “Rugby World Cup 2015 will be remembered as the biggest tournament to date, but I also believe that it will be remembered as the best.

“England 2015 has been the most competitive, best-attended, most-watched, most socially-engaged, most commercially-successful Rugby World Cup.

“But this special Rugby World Cup has been about much more than numbers, it has been about the amazing atmosphere in full and vibrant stadia, the excitement around the host nation and in Cardiff, the unforgettable moments played out by the world’s best players and the friendships that have been created along the way – the very best of our sport has been on display.

“I am a believer that great people make great events and I would like to thank the organisers England Rugby 2015, the host union the RFU, Rugby World Cup Limited, the host cities and venues for delivering a special tournament that has had the teams and fans at heart.

“But above all, I would like to pay tribute to the volunteers and fans who got behind all 20 teams and who have made this such a special event, the best to date.”

Stephen Brown, managing director of England 2015 added: “We congratulate New Zealand on their win over Australia to be crowned Rugby World Cup 2015 champions.

“The spectacular final was a fitting way to conclude the six-week tournament which has been enjoyed by millions both here in England and across the globe.

“To deliver the biggest and best tournament to date is a fantastic achievement and I would like to thank all those who have made Rugby World Cup 2015 so special, from the players to the fans, our venues, cities and team bases and all our volunteers, staff and stakeholders.”