Women’s rugby is undergoing a rapid transformation. According to World Rugby’s new “Blueprint for Growth” study, 49% of today’s women’s rugby fans discovered the sport in the past two years, compared to just 22% on the men’s side. This surge is reshaping the audience profile, the commercial outlook, and the strategic priorities that will determine whether the game’s momentum converts into sustainable markets.
A New Wave of Fans
The study reveals a strikingly different fan base for the women’s game:
- Younger and more gender-balanced – 29% are under 35 and 43% are female.
- Discovery via broadcast and events – 53% say TV or streaming was their first touchpoint, and 31% point to major events.
- Rapid acceleration – 65% say their engagement has increased in the past four years.
This contrasts with men’s rugby, where growth has been slower and fan engagement is often tied to long-term team loyalties.
Commercial Implications
World Rugby positions women’s rugby as a high-growth, high-advocacy property, with fans highly responsive to visibility and storytelling. The commercial opportunity runs across:
- Sponsorship – fans are more likely to support and talk about brands that invest in visibility.
- Ticketing and merchandise – demand is growing, especially among younger female fans.
- Player-led content – 40% of women’s rugby fans say they are influenced by player visibility (vs 33% on the men’s side).
The message is clear: making the sport easier to find and follow is the growth unlock, from broadcast deals to digital discovery.
Player Power as the Growth Engine
Unlike the men’s game, which has historically been team-first, women’s rugby is increasingly personality-driven.
The clearest case is Ilona Maher, who with 8.7 million combined social media followers is rugby’s most visible player. Her move to Bristol Bears in January 2025 delivered immediate impact:
- Record Premiership Women’s Rugby attendance for a standalone game
- A surge in new club digital accounts
- A tripling of 25–34 ticket buyers year-on-year
- A 26% increase in female ticket purchasers
This illustrates the repeatable growth pattern: visibility drives discovery → discovery drives attendance and digital behavior → digital engagement attracts sponsors.
The biggest barrier remains visibility. 32% of women’s rugby fans cite lack of access as the reason for disengagement, compared to 17% in men’s rugby.
This translates into fewer routine live viewers and weaker domestic club allegiance, with 41% of fans not yet supporting a club. Without fixing this, lifetime value is at risk.
The solution lies in:
- Calendar coherence – simple, repeatable broadcast windows.
- Pathway clarity – signposting fans from global events into domestic leagues.
- Always-on visibility – consistent streams, highlights, and social storytelling.
Encouragingly, Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) will receive a major boost with the BBC streaming a live match every week for the next two seasons.
Competitions as Growth Engines
Recent tournaments are already driving engagement:
- WXV: social impressions up 310%, engagements up 480% year-on-year.
- HSBC SVNS: 35.4 million global broadcast viewing hours in 2024/25, with +630% growth in social video views.
- Women’s Six Nations 2025: 15.4 million TV viewers, breaking previous records.
These competitions are proving to be audience flywheels, where visibility sparks growth in both digital and live attendance.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025: A Once-in-a-Generation Moment
England 2025 is projected to deliver 380,000 attendees, far surpassing previous tournaments. Early ticket sales are strong, and the event is expected to serve as a conversion campaign — turning first-time fans into regular followers of WXV, regional leagues, and domestic competitions.
The key, according to the Blueprint, is planning for the “day after” the tournament to sustain momentum.
Strategic Priorities for Growth
The Blueprint outlines four execution imperatives:
- Bridge from tentpole to weekly engagement – use major events to funnel fans into regular fixtures.
- Invest in players as storytellers – fund athlete-led content and provide platforms that carry audiences across competitions.
- Package the calendar as continuous – align WXV, regional tournaments, leagues, and sevens into an always-on narrative.
- Treat RWC 2025 as a conversion opportunity – capture data, retarget, and integrate fans into the sport’s wider ecosystem.
Sponsorship and Revenue Outlook
The sponsorship climate is highly favorable. Fans want brands to fund visibility, with Allianz, Clinique, StoneX, and Castore already investing. Merchandise remains underdeveloped, but the study recommends player-driven product lines, broader sizing, and lifestyle ranges in line with wider women’s sport trends.
Women’s rugby is no longer a side story — it is a high-growth, player-led, digital-native property that can rival other women’s sports in commercial scale. The opportunity is clear: fix visibility, empower players, and use tentpoles like RWC 2025 to anchor long-term fan engagement.
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