The biggest Rugby League audiences so far this year, both at Wembley and on the BBC, provided a fitting conclusion to a revitalised Betfred Challenge Cup in 2025.
The introduction of a new format involving the earlier entry of the 12 Betfred Super League clubs helped to produce improved attendances including a number of records in the early rounds, and there were significant increases in viewing figures and digital engagement throughout the competition.
That culminated in a peak audience of over 1.3m watching the men’s Final on Saturday as Hull KR snatched a dramatic 8-6 victory over Warrington Wolves, a 9% increase on the 2024 figure.
Earlier, a peak audience of 304,000 had watched a spectacular performance by Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup Final on BBC Two.
And that lifted the cumulative audience for the Betfred Challenge Cups on BBC Sport in 2025 to 4.25m, a 10% increase on last year.
Both BBC Sport and The Sportsman recorded significant increases in figures for a number of ties that were streamed, and produced a total viewership of 662,000, from First Round ties at Waterhead and Thatto Heath to the Fourth Round clashes at St Helens and Wigan.
Digitally it was the best Finals Day on record for Rugby League Commercial’s Challenge Cup channels, completing a year of significant growth.
There were 9m impressions (178% up on 2024), 272k engagements (104% up on 2024) and 5.8m video views (212% up on 2024) over the weekend. And throughout the 2025 Cup campaign, there were 44m impressions (up 130% on 2024), 859k engagements (up 124% on 2024) and 29m video views (130% up on 2024).
Competition attendances were up 17% year on year across the last five rounds – from Round 3 to the Final.
Round 3 featured the 12 Betfred Super League clubs facing the 20 teams who had come through the first two rounds involving teams from the Betfred Championship, League One and the community game.
York Knights had their best ever crowd at the LNER Community Stadium for the visit of Hull KR; the West Cumbrian rivals Whitehaven and Workington Town attracted a combined attendance of over 7,000 for respective home ties against Warrington Wolves and Leigh Leopards; and even West Hull officials were pleasantly surprised when a crowd in excess of 5,000 converged on Sewell Group Craven Park for their classic David versus Goliath tie against St Helens.
In the Fourth Round, Widnes Vikings attracted their first 7,000-plus crowd since 2017 for a home derby against Warrington, while Hull FC blew the competition apart with a stunning victory at holders Wigan Warriors.
Then the quarter final draw threw up the first Hull derby in the Challenge Cup for 39 years, producing a crowd of 20,226 at the MKM Stadium which was Hull FC’s best in the competition since 1961, and the best for a quarter final since 1989.
A total attendance of 122,156 across the last seven ties of the 2025 Betfred Challenge Cup (four quarter finals, two semi finals and the Final) represented a 7% increase on 2024.
The attendance of 63,278 still represented the highest for a Rugby League fixture anywhere in the world so far in 2025 – and the second best for the Challenge Cup since 2017.
