International calendar paying dividends

International Rugby League’s implementation of an international calendar for elite nations has proven a resounding success with levy revenues from 2025 fixtures more than tripling the previous highest sum, which was set just two years earlier.

The return of the Ashes after a 22-year hiatus was one of several key decisions taken by the IRL Board in July 2023, with a focus on restoring the game's historic rivalries.

At the same time, it was decided to introduce new tournaments such as the Pacific Championships, which has captured the imagination of fans across the rugby league world and proven increasingly popular since its inception in 2023.

IRL Chair Troy Grant said: "The battle for the Ashes is the oldest and arguably the greatest rivalry in Rugby League and the crowds at Wembley Stadium in London, Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool and Headingley Stadium at Leeds, as well as broadcast viewing figures, showed how much it means to fans.

"Australia won the series 3-0 but England were extremely competitive and all three matches were hard fought, adding to the anticipation for the World Cup later this year.

"I'd like to congratulate the Australian Rugby League Commission, led by Chair Peter V'landys, and the Rugby Football League, with the support of Simon Moran, for the staging of such a successful event that was played in some iconic venues."

More than 132,000 fans watched the Kangaroos retain the Ashes in England last year, while in the Southern Hemisphere the men's and women's Pacific Cup and Pacific Bowl tournaments attracted crowds totaling more than 158,000.

October 25-26 was the most attended weekend of international rugby league in the game’s history with more than 125,000 fans attending the opening Ashes fixture in London, Tonga v Samoa in Brisbane, PNG v Cook Islands in Port Moresby and France v Jamaica in Albi.

A number of other attendance records were also created in 2025 including the biggest crowd for an Ashes fixture in England, with 60,812 fans watching the series opener at Wembley Stadium.

The 44,682 crowd at Suncorp Stadium for the Samoa v Tonga match was the biggest for an international fixture in Australia not involving the Kangaroos, and passionate supporters from both nations producing an incredible atmosphere.

A further 38,144 fans attended Eden Park for the Kiwis v Tonga and Kiwi Ferns v Jillaroos double-header on November 2 – the largest international crowd in New Zealand since the 1988 World Cup final in Auckland.

Using the IRL levy as a metric of popularity, the Pacific Championships has grown year on year, with 2027 promising to continue that trend and maintaining a significant revenue stream for IRL, allowing it to invest more in the sport.

IRL Chair Troy Grant said: "International Rugby League uses income generated from matches involving the bigger nations to help fund development of the game in other areas, including Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

"Africa is becoming a key focus, with Ghana last year becoming the latest IRL Full Member and a number of other African nations working towards achieving the same outcome.

"IRL is also investing in technical education that will help develop more coaches and match officials around the globe, and improve on-field standards."

Other decisions around the commercial calendar taken in 2023 included:

• Staging the IRL Rugby League World Cup in 2026 in the Southern Hemisphere, which IRL confirmed in July 2024 will be hosted by the Australian Rugby League Commission, with matches to be played in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea from October 15 to November 15;
• The return of major tours, which has seen historic tours by Tonga in 2023 and Samoa in 2024 to England, and the first Kangaroo tour in 2025 since 2003;
• The establishment of the Men’s and Women’s Pacific Championships to create more international matches for Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga;
• Greater focus on World Cup qualification and the creation of the IRL Rugby League World Series, which has seen an historic Women’s RLWC qualifying process involving16 nations playing 15 matches in IRL’s four regions - the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East-Africa - and culminating with the inaugural World Series in Canada last October. All four World Series participants - Canada, Ireland, Fiji and Nigeria - reported that it had been beneficial to their organisations on and off the pitch;
• There was no Men's World Series due to the lack of a viable host following a competitive tender process, but a European qualification tournament in 2024 led to two final qualification matches in each hemisphere.

IRL is planning on publishing its new strategy this year, including a regional competition component. This will provide nations with a regular, coherent representative pathway sitting a level below the world cup finals, allowing national federations to develop on and off the field.