The third season of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship has been declared a broadcast and attendance success, with officials behind the competition saying the season shattered records in both areas.
According to the URC, the 2023/24 season saw a total audience figure of 47.7million, which significantly eclipsed the previous high mark of 37.4m set in 2023.
The most eye-catching metric of this new total was the Round 11 audience of 3.4m who tuned in to the action that took place on a break week in the Six Nations.
This was one of seven rounds that achieved an audience of over 2.5m, while a further 4.7m tuned into the seven-game Play-Off series, where the average audience per game was 671,428.
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The Bulls proved a key draw in the Play-Offs with close to a million viewers (947,589) tuning into their epic semi-final clash with Leinster, while the Grand Final game against the Glasgow Warriors was watched by 1.1m.
There are also impressive figures to report in the URC’s audience beyond its core markets, with overseas audiences growing by 138% to 6.2m.
The URC also recorded a 3% rise in overall attendances. The total attendance of 1.69m provides a new record in this area with average attendances clocking in at 11,200 per game. Round 9 also saw a new record set for the most fans attending a single round with 146,000 taking in the action across eight games in Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
A core component of the URC’s launch and continued growth has been the performance of the league’s social media channels. Having hit the one million total follower mark a year ago, the URC is now ranked as the fastest growing rugby competition across social media, with the previous season showing a 29% increase to 1.3m, while engagement improved by 22%.
TikTok (33%), Facebook (21%) and Instagram (17%) were key drivers in this growth, while the 16 teams within the competition also showed a combined increase in the rate of new followers that surpasses clubs in other European leagues.
One of the most outstanding achievements of the URC’s off-field performance in the 2023/24 season has seen the league’s official YouTube channel increase views from 8.7m to an incredible 40.6m. This 336% rise year-on-year is also backed up by an 84% increase in subscribers (140k) as rugby fans seek out fresh content in between match days.
