Weekend fixtures see NRL break crowd records and AFL pass two 2 million season attendees

Round 7 of the 2025 NRL season has seen the code reach a new attendance record of 218,833 at an average of 27,354 per match (71.12% of capacity).

So far this season, 1.122 million have attended NRL matches at an average of 20,792 per match (61.52% capacity), representing a year-on-year rise of 4.43%.

The 65,305 who attended last Friday's Bulldogs v Rabbitohs clash at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, also set a new record for standalone regular season match attendance.

The attendance records in the NRL came on the same weekend that Super League attracted the highest aggregate crowds for a round of matches since the European competition switched to summer in 1996.

The two competitions attracted a combined total of 304,913 fans, with:

• NRL Round 7 crowds totalling 218,833 (average 27,354), and;

• Super League Round 8 crowds totalling 86,080 (average 14,347)

The record attendances come ahead of anticipated sell-out of Friday's ANZAC Day clashes in Sydney, Melbourne and Christchurch, and next week's Magic Round in Brisbane.    

The NRL advised “the unprecedented interest in the game follows record crowds for NRL matches last year, with the 2024 Telstra Premiership being the most attended season since the game began in Australia in 1908.”

A total of 3.9 million fans attended matches in the 2024 NRL regular season and with the inclusion of finals, State of Origin, Pacific Championships and the NRLW, overall crowds exceeded 4.79 million.  

In New Zealand, the Warriors became the first team in the history of the game to sell out every home match in a season. 

AFL
Round 6 of the 2024 AFL season was attended by 371,878 at an average of 41,320 per game (65.37% capacity), representing a 6% increase on the Easter weekend last year.

So far this season 2,056,000 have attended AFL matches at an average of 38,807 per game (67.09% capacity) and up 3.09% up on the year-on-year average and 0.3% on total (with two matches postponed).

Image: 65,305 fans attended the Good Friday Bulldogs v Rabbitohs clash at Sydney’s Accor Stadium - a new record crowd for a standalone regular season NRL match. Credit: Accor Stadium.