Japan Rugby League One Returns to Bumper Crowds

The return of Japan Rugby League One has been met with enthusiasm by Japanese fans, with overall attendance across the six matches in Division One only narrowly below that achieved by the first round of last weekend’s European Champions Cup.

The overall turnout was 70,575 in Japan, at an average of 11,762.

According to official figures posted on the ERC website, the latter drew an average attendance of 13,079 across its’ 12 Champions Cup matches, while 57,078 attended nine matches in the second tier European Challenge Cup, at an
average of 6342 per game.

The highest turnout in League One came at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, the spiritual home of the game in Japan, where over 18,000 people attended the semi-final replay from last season’s competition between Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath and Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay.

This figured was bettered by just three Champions Cup venues, each of them historic bastions of the European game, at Welford Road in Leicester (19,439), Thomond Park in Limerick, Munster (18,905), and Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse (18,705).

The crowd in Tokyo was higher than the attendance at the replay of last year’s European Champions Cup final between La Rochelle and Leinster, which saw 16,700 fans attend the game at Stade Marcel-Deflandre in La Rochelle. It was also higher than the largest crowd for the Challenge Cup, where 13,385 fans turned out in Clermont.

With the combined overall attendance for matches in the first two seasons of League One surpassing one million last term, 42,000 of whom attended the final at the National Stadium, Japan Rugby League One officials have set a target of achieving a first million-strong seasonal attendance in the competition’s third edition.

The maiden season of the league was heavily disrupted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, with many matches in Japan cancelled as a result, which limited the overall attendance that was achieved across the tournament’s 16 rounds.

Japan Rugby League One chief of operations Hajime Shoji welcomed the strong attendance and is confident the third edition of the competition will be the best yet.

“The season has started with the fans full of enthusiasm [for Japan Rugby League One],” Mr Shoji said.

“The star players from overseas such as New Zealand and South Africa, in collaboration with Japanese players, are creating real excitement for rugby fans in Japan.

“Fans feel as if there are Rugby World Cup games in front [of them] every weekend.

“We would like to keep the momentum going to realize even greater fan engagement than we have had in our first two seasons.”

Meanwhile, matches from last weekend’s opening round were shown live across Africa, including in South Africa, as well as in New Zealand, and on World Rugby’s global rugbypass.com website, as the competition’s international footprint continues to grow.

Broadcasts are expected to expand into further countries as the season progresses.