The extraordinary growth of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship (VURC) continues for the third season in a row with the league setting new attendance and broadcast records.
The VURC has also maintained its position as the rugby competition with the fastest growth rate on social media, in addition to the league’s phenomenal rise on YouTube.
The 2023/24 URC season was the most competitive and unpredictable in the league’s history and this level of jeopardy proved to be a huge attraction for fans as the total audience figure of 47.7million shattered the previous high mark of 37.4million set in 2023.
The most eye-catching metric of this new total was the Round 11 audience of 3.4million who tuned in to the action that took place on a break week in the Guinness Six Nations.
This was one of seven rounds that achieved an audience of over 2.5million while a further 4.7million tuned into the seven-game Play-Off series where the average audience per game was 671 428.
The Vodacom 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 Glasgow Warriors was watched by 1.1million.
There are also impressive figures to report in the URC’s audience beyond its core markets with overseas audiences growing by 138 per cent to 6.2million.
Speaking about these impressive broadcast milestones, Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship, said: “There is an incredible array of international stars and next-gen talent taking to the pitch every single week in the URC and that is a major attraction. Selected by some of the sharpest minds in rugby, these teams are also competing in a format that is designed to deliver drama.
“In three seasons the Grand Final has produced two away winners, our Play-Offs continue to deliver surprise results and nearly half of our games are decided by seven points or less – a feat no other club competition can match in this past season.
“All of this feeds into the appeal of the URC as we aim to grow the competition and the sport. To break the previous broadcast record by 10million is a staggering achievement and pays testament to the superb product on the pitch and the high levels of coverage provided by our broadcasters. There has never been as much buzz about the VURC and our clubs, players, coaches and broadcasters deserve huge appreciation for making it what it is today.”
Staying connected to match days, the URC also recorded a 3 per cent rise in overall attendances. The total attendance of 1.69million 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.
Speaking about the new attendance record, Anayi, added: “There is more collaboration happening between the clubs, the league, the broadcasters and commercial partners to promote our games and attract fans to venues. Across the board all of our clubs have made strides to innovate and improve their match-day experiences and as a result supporters are now enjoying a day out that goes beyond the 80 minutes of play.
“With a number of teams upgrading their stadiums over the next 18 months we believe that these numbers will continue to rise in the long-term with some great examples of best practice being deployed across all of our territories.”
A core component of the URC’s launch and continued growth has been the stellar performance of the league’s social media channels. Having hit the 1million total follower mark one year ago, the URC is now ranked as the fastest growing rugby competition across social media with the previous season showing a 29 per cent increase to 1.3million while engagement improved by 22 per cent.
TikTok (33 per cent), Facebook (21 per cent) and Instagram (17 per cent) 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.
Addressing the success in social media, Anayi, said: “Our channels are the key connection to our fans and an incredible shop window to draw in new supporters. We preach about the power of collaboration and our growth is due in great part to the energy that our clubs, players and broadcasters invest in content. We have a vibrant, highly-engaged community of fans who are so much more interested in athletes and personalities than ever before so our job is to meet those expectations while also highlighting their extraordinary moments on the pitch.”
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 40.6million. This 336 per cent rise year-on-year is also backed up by an 84 per cent increase in subscribers (140k) as rugby fans seek out fresh content in between match days.
Commenting on the YouTube growth, Anayi, said: “It’s so important that sport is free to access outside of match days and we have been blown away by the scale of the audience we have developed on YouTube. The availability of YouTube as a platform across mobile, smart TVs and desktops means it’s available across a huge number of households and these type of numbers will only increase our ambitions to be a key rugby destination in that space.”