First posted on PATREON and SUBSTACK
By JOHN DAVIDSON
Exclusive: Saturday’s Rugby League World Cup semi-final in Newcastle has sold out, with the remaining semi-final and final set to follow suit.
On Sunday Australia’s women and men will do battle, against Fiji and Samoa, respectively, at a double-header in Sydney at Allianz Stadium.
rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads understands the 45,500-capacity venue is expected to sell out, with just a few thousand tickets left.
It is believed the World Cup final, a double-header to be played on November 15 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, has already sold out. Suncorp has a capacity of 52,500.
The 2026 tournament has already had the ‘house full’ sign go up several times, including the opening game in October between the Kangaroos and Kiwis at Allianz, NZ against the Cook Islands in Christchurch, and the triple-header headlined by Tonga vs Samoa at CommBank.
The television ratings on Channel Seven have also been strong, eclipsing those captured for the last World Cup held in Australia in 2017.
The 2021 World Cup, held in the UK in 2022, involved 61 matches across men’s, women’s and wheelchair and attracted a total attendance of 473,377, with an average of 7,762 per match.
The 2026 tournament has been cut back, with just 51 matches in total.
It has been suggested that the men’s part of the 2026 World Cup, which includes 18 matches in total, will exceed the attendance at the 2021 men’s tournament, which featured 31 games, by the end of the competition.
