Leeds is on course to set an attendance record for women's rugby at this year's Rugby League World Cup. Headingley will host the first game of the women's tournament on November 1, when England host Brazil in West Yorkshire.
That game is now well on track to set the all-time record for a crowd watching a standalone fixture of women's rugby in either code. The existing record is the 15,862 that watched England play Ireland in Leicester at the Six Nations earlier this year, but tournament organisers are confident that figure could now be surpassed in a few months' time.
That means the match at Headingley will not only smash a women's rugby league attendance record, but a rugby attendance record across both codes, a major boost for the profile of the women's World Cup as the women's game takes its biggest and boldest step forward yet.
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For tournament chief executive Jon Dutton, who has spent time at the recent women's European Championships, it is another key marker as encouraging ticket sales continue to take place. "It's massive," he said. "I've been lucky to attend a number of games in that tournament and it feels special.
"It's incredibly positive. We're talking about big moments and there are lots of positive stories happening. This is the biggest moment in 127 years in terms of tournament rugby league."
Dutton revealed in a media briefing on Tuesday that a number of other attendance and ticketing records are on course to be broken. The highest-ever attendance for the opening game of a Rugby League World Cup is looking likely to be set when England face Samoa at St James' Park, in a game that the organisers are hopeful will be a sell-out. Furthermore, the highest-ever crowd for a wheelchair rugby league game will be set at the Copper Box in London, and the tournament team anticipate that could be broken further later in the tournament in Manchester.
The double-header final is also likely to be the highest-ever grossing revenue game.
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