Highlanders forward Sean Withy has been banned for three weeks for kneeing a WA Force player in the head. Photo: Super Rugby Pacific
More than a minute of ‘dead’ play is gone every game as Super Rugby Pacific matches are driving the code’s viewership, engagement and attendance upwards Down Under.
According to organisers, law tweaks and game management from match officials have sped up play with fewer stoppages and quicker restarts.
Super Rugby Pacific says that at the season’s halfway mark, on-field metrics from data provider Opta are showing greater viewership, digital engagement and crowd numbers.
The figures show a 30 per cent increase in Australian TV viewers to round eight, 12 per cent up in New Zealand to round three) and a third of Fiji’s population (395,436) up to round four.
A 21.5 per cent increase in average game attendance up to round eight has also been reported.
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley says the results are a strong endorsement of decisions made for the 2025 season.
“We’re aligned on delivering fast, dynamic and exciting rugby which seeks to capture the imagination of the fans,” he said.
“This season is producing incredible on-field drama every week with close and high-scoring contests, remarkable comebacks, unexpected results, and underdogs regularly rewriting the record books.”
Mesley says the numbers “tells us we’re very much heading in the right direction”.
“We anticipate the back half of the season will deliver more of the same as the teams scrap and scramble to make the top six, and to finish as high as possible on the ladder to potentially secure an all-important second chance in the finals.”
DATA POINTS
- Dead play (ball not in play) was reduced by 1m13s seconds per game with average match duration 1m39s shorter than last season.
- 2025 is currently the highest-scoring season of all time with an average of 61 points and 8.8 tries per game.
- The average winning margin of 11.6 points is the sixth smallest in competition history, with almost half of matches decided by seven points or less.
- Increased jeopardy within games; there were an average of 4.3 lead changes per match and 28.2 per cent of games featured a lead change in the final 10 minutes.
- A historically low average of 2.2 penalty goal attempts per game.
- A new introduction, Fantasy Super Rugby Pacific has reached 70,000 registered users, with over 2.5 million player transfers made by team managers.
- A 55 per cent increase in follower growth across social media channels.
