18 Feb 2024

Bumper crowds for Betfred Super League kick-off

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.

“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+.”

Betfred Super League Round One attendances

Thursday February 15

Hull FC v Hull KR – 20,014 – Hull’s highest ever attendance for a Super League opener, and the best in Super League since 2007

Friday February 16

Leeds Rhinos v Salford Red Devils – 15,126

Leigh Leopards v Huddersfield Giants – 8,508 – Leigh’s highest attendance for a Super League opener

St Helens v London Broncos – 14,058

Saturday February 17

Castleford Tigers v Wigan Warriors – 10,170

Catalans Dragons v Warrington Wolves – 8,876

Betfred Super League Round Two fixtures