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England’s dominant victory over Canada in the final of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup wasn’t just the crowning moment of a landmark tournament, it was one of the most momentous occasions in the history of women’s rugby in its own right.
The Red Roses’ first global win since 2014 was played before a fervent sellout crowd at Twickenham Stadium, the culmination of a three-year unbeaten streak and a tournament run that had captured the public imagination.
It was a celebration of women’s rugby and the latest evidence of the surging popularity and commercial maturity of women’s sport. With record attendances, huge media interest, and unprecedented sponsorship activity, it’s no wonder World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin hailed this year’s World Cup as the “greatest of all-time”.
A new attendance benchmark for women’s rugby
A record 444,465 tickets were sold for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup – more than three times the number bought for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand, which was postponed until 2022 due to Covid-19.
While Twickenham was the biggest venue used for the tournament, it only hosted the final and third-place playoff. Meanwhile, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, the second-biggest arena, staged the tournament’s opening match, with the majority of games held in smaller stadiums in cities such as Brighton, Bristol, Northampton and York. This strategy ensured a better match atmosphere in-stadium and on television whilst maintaining an even geographic spread, fulfilling the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) objective of exposing women’s rugby to a wider audience.
The tournament achieved 92 per cent stadium capacity, with fans from 133 countries present. Just over half (53 per cent) of spectators were female, while 50 per cent of ticketholders had never attended a women’s rugby match prior to the tournament. Afterwards, 95 per cent of attendees suggested they intended to come back and watch the sport live again.
The final drew a record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham Stadium, breaking the previous benchmark for a women’s rugby game. The attendance was almost double the 42,579 who watched the 2021 World Cup final in Auckland and 15 times the 13,253 present at the 2010 World Cup final at Harlequins’ Twickenham Stoop stadium, the last time the tournament was held in England.
Breaking broadcast records in the UK
While global viewership figures have yet to be disclosed, the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup was covered in its entirety in the UK by public service broadcaster (PSB) the BBC, providing huge exposure across its television, radio and digital platforms and setting new records in the process.
The Red Roses’ final victory over Canada was watched by a peak UK audience of 5.8 million on linear and digital channels making it the most watched women’s rugby union game ever in the country. In France, commercial network TF1 drew 1.62 million for the final, while 2.5 million tuned in for the third-place playoff, which featured France.
Overall, the tournament accumulated 56.13 million viewing hours in the UK, which was 545 per cent more than the previous edition. The BBC noted that the World Cup reached a total TV audience of 12 million, with a further 10.5 million streams made on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport digital platforms.
Support for England grew as the tournament went on, with the Red Roses’ opening game against the US drawing a peak audience of three million. The semifinal against France then inspired a further viewership high, with a peak audience of 3.3 million watching the game on the BBC. In France, there were even more people watching, with TF1 recording an average audience of 3.8 million and a peak of 4.4 million.
The BBC noted that viewership for the opening weekend surpassed the entire reach of the 2021 World Cup, which attracted 3.7 million viewers overall, and 1.8 million for the final.
Increased social media buzz
According to World Rugby, the 2025 World Cup accumulated 905 million social impressions, with individual athletes receiving more than 219 million views on their official accounts. The top 40 players witnessed an average growth rate of 33 per cent in terms of followers.
The BBC accrued 51 million views for social media clips, while live match coverage on the BBC Sport website received 18.3 million views.
Frequent interactions between players and fans after the final whistle helped increase the virality and visibility of the tournament, amplifying impact across multiple fanbases. Gilpin said he hoped the men’s game would follow the example of the women’s game in sharing their personalities and making themselves accessible to supporters.
France’s run to the semi-finals captured audiences back home on TF1 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Any other business
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup was supported by 24 commercial partners across three tiers. Ahead of the tournament, World Rugby told SportsPro that sponsorship revenue had more than trebled compared to the 2021 edition, illustrating the increased interest in the event from brands.
According to data from advertising technology firm Quantcast, Mitsubishi Electric, a second-tier partner, saw a 60 per cent uplift in online engagement during the tournament. Meanwhile, Emirates gained a 50 per cent boost in engagement, while Mastercard picked up a 45 per cent increase in engagement.
Betting giant Entain, which owns the brands Ladbrokes, Coral and Bet MGM, noted that the total stakes placed on the tournament had increased by over 160 per cent since the 2021 edition. The World Cup was also said to be six times more popular among bettors than the 2025 Women’s Six Nations.
In terms of hospitality, World Rugby noted that 13,420 travel and hospitality packages were sold from 33 nations. As for accommodation, the Bristol Hoteliers Association reported occupancy levels of over 90 per cent during the weekends when the city hosted quarterfinals and the semifinals, which raised revenue by between 20 and 30 per cent in the city.
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