By Megan Armitage, Sportsbeat
World Rugby have announced that a record 275,000 tickets have been sold for the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025.
The event is now the most successful tournament ever following unprecedented sales across the eight host venues in England, with games taking place from 22 August to 27 September and what’s set to be a sold-out final at Twickenham Stadium.
By comparison, 150,000 tickets were sold for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand, where the Black Ferns beat England to win the title.
England began their year with a 38-5 win against Italy in the first round of the Six Nations at a sold-out York Community Stadium, emphasising the buzz around women’s rugby in such a momentous year.
With the reveal of this latest milestone, managing director Sarah Massey noted that the time to raise expectations is now.
"We've already sold a record-breaking number of tickets and that number is still rising," she said.
"We know that we're going to have a really epic run in in Sunderland and that we have an 80,000 packed-out stadium in Twickenham.
"We need to make sure we are maximising visibility and awareness, taking every opportunity to capitalise in this moment.
"Expectations and ambitions are high and we're challenging ourselves to go above and beyond."
With unparalleled demand for tickets comes a whole new host of fans to the women's game.
It is something Massey has pushed for from the start to ensure the legacy of the 2025 event lives on long after the full-time whistle.
"It's a huge opportunity," she said. "Once in every four years we have this pinnacle moment where visibility and awareness of the World Cup and the players increases.
"It's an opportunity to make sure that is then taken forward from a long-term sustainability point of view to make sure we have more players, girls and women coming into the game.
"World Rugby's 'Impact Beyond 2025' programme is all about supporting communities around the world, inspiring more women and girls around the world to pick up a ball and give rugby a try."
York Community Stadium and Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium are amongst the venues to host the pool stages of the event.
Knockout games will take place at Bristol’s Ashton Gate and Exeter’s Sandy Park before the pinnacle event at Twickenham Stadium, making it the most accessible Women's Rugby World Cup ever.
And with each city leaning into their hosting duties, Massey is thrilled to see how communities are coming together to put on a historic show.
"We wanted to make sure that we were in every region of the country," she said.
"Most of the population are within two hours of one of the venues, so it's really accessible for them to go out and support those local teams.
"We've got eight iconic host locations and those cities and venues we're working really closely with and you just can feel the excitement rising.
"Lots of the teams will go through each of the locations and the cities are looking forward to welcoming them and engaging their communities to come out and support."
Tickets for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 are on sale until 11:00 GMT on Friday 28 March. Find out more here.
