RUGBY UNION: A NEW fortnightly attendance record has been set at the Ricoh Arena after over 54,000 fans watched Wasps defeat Bath and Leicester Tigers to move top of the pile in the Aviva Premiership.
A crowd of 26,292 watched Wasps defeat Bath 40-26 on Christmas Eve and 27,930 packed into the Ricoh to roar Dai Young’s side onto a hard-fought 22-16 over M69 neighbours Leicester Tigers.
It is the first time that Wasps have welcomed crowds topping the 25,000 mark in successive games, and the Aviva Premiership leaders are looking to make it three bumper crowds on the bounce when they take on Toulouse in the Champions Cup this Saturday.
Of the growing fan base the top places fans are travelling from to watch Wasps are Coventry, Leamington, Warwick, Solihull, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and Hemel Hempstead.
“We’re on a mission to make Wasps one of the leading forces in rugby, and the phenomenal support we’ve had over recent weeks is just a taste of what we can achieve,” said David Armstrong, Group CEO at Wasps.
“Obviously the entertaining rugby has played the major part in boosting the crowds, but a great deal of credit must go to the teams behind the scenes as well.
“Our community team has engaged with more than 50,000 people in the area over the past 18 months and with help from our marketing team has pulled out all the stops with our popular fan villages that regularly attract thousands of people on match days.
“The aim is to sustain this fantastic level of support throughout the season, and we’re on course to do that with our average attendances this season up compared to last season.”
