Will this be the biggest Women's Six Nations so far?
Why it matters: Record ticket sales and viewership signal a new era of mainstream popularity for women's rugby, with 75,000+ fans expected at England's opener.
- Supporter numbers in the UK for women's rugby climbed from 7.94m to 13.21m after the Rugby World Cup, according to BBC Sport research.
- England's victory over Canada in the Rugby World Cup final drew 81,885 fans, a record for a women's rugby match, and a peak UK television audience of 5.8m viewers.
- Pre-tournament demand for the Women's Six Nations has already broken records, with all four home nations hosting fixtures in their national stadiums.
- England's opener against Ireland at Allianz Stadium has sold over 75,000 tickets, set to surpass the previous Women's Six Nations record of 58,498.
- Scotland will play their first Women's Six Nations match at Murrayfield, with over 25,000 tickets sold, aiming for their biggest standalone women's sporting event crowd.
- Ireland's game against Scotland at Aviva Stadium is expected to smash their home attendance record of 7,754, with over 16,000 tickets already sold.
- Wales aims to exceed last year's record crowd of 21,186 for a home women's team event at Principality Stadium.
- France hopes for a full house at the 42,115-capacity Stade Atlantique for their final-round match against England, potentially a Grand Slam decider.
The Women's Six Nations is poised to be its biggest yet, with record-breaking ticket sales across all home nations and unprecedented fan engagement following a highly successful Rugby World Cup. While momentum is at an all-time high, Rugby Football Union director Alex Teasdale emphasizes that maintaining audience growth requires continuous effort to provide excellent fan experiences.
