More eyes are on women's rugby than ever before.
Following a highly successful Rugby World Cup last year, supporter numbers in the UK climbed from 7.94 million pre-existing fans of women's rugby to 13.21 million, according to research commissioned by BBC Sport.
England's victory over Canada in September's final took place in front of 81,885 fans at Allianz Stadium—a record for a women's rugby match and the second-highest attendance for any Rugby World Cup final. It was also the most-watched women's rugby match on UK television, with a record-breaking peak audience of 5.8 million viewers, surpassing viewership for the men's Six Nations and the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia.
With momentum at an all-time high, this year's Women's Six Nations is set to be the biggest yet in terms of crowd numbers. Pre-tournament demand has already broken records, with all four home nations staging fixtures at their national stadiums.
The current record crowd for a Women's Six Nations game is 58,498, set during the Grand Slam decider between England and France in 2023. That mark is expected to fall immediately, with more than 75,000 tickets already sold for England's opener against Ireland at Allianz Stadium this Saturday.
"There is probably a line of thinking that audiences will just keep growing, but they are actually hard to maintain," said Rugby Football Union director of women's rugby Alex Teasdale. "The role of the Red Roses as ambassadors has helped sustain some of that strong buy-in, and the fans have had a brilliant experience. It has been really pleasing to see, but anyone involved in women's sport knows it is not a given. You have to work hard to give fans a brilliant experience so they want to keep coming back."
Scotland will play their first Women's Six Nations match in front of fans at Murrayfield when they host England next weekend. Their women's record home attendance of 7,774, set at Hive Stadium in 2024, is set to be demolished, with over 25,000 tickets sold—making it the biggest standalone women's sporting event in Scottish history.
Ireland's match against Scotland on the final weekend will be their first at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium. Their record home crowd of 7,754 is also poised to be shattered, with more than 16,000 tickets reportedly sold already.
Wales, who face Scotland at Principality Stadium on the opening weekend, are aiming to surpass last year's record crowd of 21,186 for a Wales women's team event on home soil. Meanwhile, France will host England at the 42,115-capacity Stade Atlantique, continuing the trend of major venues embracing the tournament's soaring popularity.