The 30th Super League season has continued to hit new attendance highs, with a record-breaking Easter weekend.
Rugby league fans were treated to six top-tier fixtures between Thursday and Saturday last week, setting a new attendance record for a single six-match round since the Super League was launched in 1996.
The 86,080 attendance figure beat the previous best of 83,357 which was set over Easter two years ago. Additionally, this figure marks the second-best attended round of fixtures across the 30 seasons of Super League, with the highest coming in at 88,455 in Easter 2012.
However, that represented an average crowd of 12,636 across seven matches as the competition at that point consisted of 14 teams. This year’s figure resulted in an average crowd of 14,247 – the best in 30 seasons of Super League.
The Super League features 12 teams – 11 from England and one from France.
“Not for the first time this season, we congratulate the Betfred Super League clubs – this time for a record-breaking Rivals Round, and possibly the best Easter weekend in the 30 seasons of Super League,” said Rhodri Jones, the managing director of Rugby League Commercial.
“It’s always a special weekend for Rugby League with the range of local rivalries, including the original derby fixture between Wigan and St Helens. We’ve worked with the clubs to focus on these big games and attract attendances which are historically significant for Rugby League.”
This weekend’s attendance also means that the cumulative total for the 2025 Super League season has reached 537,193 in eight rounds, with an average match gate of 11,191 – 21% higher than the average for the 2024 season of 9,221.
The Championship – the second division of men’s rugby league – also saw strong crowds with the West Yorkshire derby between Halifax Panthers and Bradford Bulls attracting 4,887.
Across three divisions, more than 106,000 fans watched rugby league this Easter.