Four months on from the finish of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, organisers finally delivered their tournament report and they could hardly contain their pride as they paraded the facts and figures to validate the feel-good factor generated at the time.
The bumper profit, double the previous best from 2008, will go directly into the coffers of the International Federation to spend on the world game but there is evidence to suggest there will be plenty of spin-offs for domestic rugby league.
For instance, it is estimated that 12,600 people were inspired to either take up the game or play more, which will have a direct impact on funding provided to the Rugby Football League by Sport England, who 15 months ago announced a cut of more than £10million for failing to meet participation growth targets.
It was also revealed that 30,000 people were inspired to become involved in rugby league as a direct result of the 2013 World Cup.
That was vindication of the organisers’ decision to reach out beyond the game in an effort to strive for their target of 500,000 spectators, compared with an average Super League weekly aggregate of around 70,000.
They actually fell narrowly short of their target but a total attendance of 458,463, which included eight sell-outs, was a magnificent achievement.
The stadiums at Huddersfield, Halifax and Leigh recorded their biggest crowds for any sporting event and the games at Rochdale, Limerick, Avignon, Perpignan, Neath and Bristol drew more spectators than for any rugby league game previously staged there.
“From the opening games beneath the closed roof of Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to the final at Old Trafford, RLWC2013 fired the imagination of fans and the wider public like no rugby league tournament before it,” said tournament director Nigel Wood.
“As a sporting spectacle, it was truly wonderful.”
Official statistics revealed an average of 76 per cent occupancy at venues, with 14 per cent of ticket purchasers experiencing live rugby league for the first time. The tournament was also witnessed by 18.8 million television viewers.
The competition confirmed rugby league as a family sport with 73 per cent of spectators attending matches in family groups, while an impressive 32 per cent of the live audience were female.
The biggest surprise was perhaps the 38 per cent of spectators who came from outside of the north of England, while the game’s cloth-cap image took another blow with the revelation that the majority of ticket-purchasers worked in non-manual professions and fell into the ABC1 socio-economic group.
World Cup general manager Sally Bolton said: “After the excitement and euphoria of the tournament and what we felt we had achieved in terms of fan engagement and reach, it is very satisfying to have that reflected in the research findings.
“The staging of the tournament was always focused on generating increased interest in and engagement with the sport and these findings show the opportunity that the sport now has to grow.”
Rugby League - World Cup stats paint rosy picture
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