Over 1.6M fans help smash overall URC attendance record

The United Rugby Championship will set a new record for season-long attendance when the Stormers host Munster in Saturday's Grand Final in Cape Town.

READ | URC Grand Final - Stormers v Munster: All you need to know

According to tournament organisers, by the time Saturday’s final kicks off at 18:30, over 1.6 million would have attended URC games in the 2022/23 season.

A sold-out crowd of 55 000 will also set a new attendance record for a URC final (formerly PRO14).

Average attendances have grown to just shy of 10 000 (9 893) per match for the regular season, which is the highest average the league has ever recorded.

All 16 teams in the URC experienced an increase in average attendance from the 2021/22 season, with overall match attendance up by 36 percent.

According to the official URC website, a total of 1 424 520 fans attended the regular season games in Rounds 1 to 18 with a further 152 954 coming to the six quarter-final and semi-final matches.

The 55 000 tickets sold for Saturday's final will see that figure for the playoff games top over 200 000 and set a new overall season record of 1 632 474.

- Grand Final attendance of 55 000 will bring total attendance for the season to 1 632 474

- Total cumulative attendance for R1-18 was 1 424 520, the highest in the competition history (including previous iterations)

- Average match attendance for R1-18 was 9 893 - the highest in competition history (including previous iterations)

- Total cumulative attendance for the full season (excluding Grand Final) is 1 577 114 - the highest in competition history (including previous iterations)

- Total cumulative attendance for playoffs so far (QF and SF) is 152 954 - the highest in competition history (including previous iterations)

- Average