The Podium: NZ joins global trend in breaking women's sport crowd records

The Podium podcast is back, bringing you sports news, but not as you know it. This episode it’s all about breaking records. Aotearoa has become the latest nation to smash attendance records for women’s sport with a sell out crowd expected for the opening day of the Rugby World Cup at Eden Park. It will be the first time in history Eden Park has reached capacity for a women’s sports event. RICKY WILSON/STUFF Jacinda Ardern makes poi with Rugby World Cup players in Whangārei. The triple header opening day, which features a performance from Rita Ora and culminates with the Black Ferns taking on the Wallaroos, will break the record crowd for a women’s rugby match, as well as the attendance for any standalone female sporting event in New Zealand. Game day at Waitākere Stadium on 16 October – when the Black Ferns will face Wales - has also sold out, World Rugby said Friday. Saturday’s crowd at Eden Park will be the latest in a number of record-breaking female sporting crowds, with huge crowds having flocked to European football and cricket in Australia in recent seasons as women’s sport across a number of codes enjoy a surge in popularity. 87,192 – Euro final, London - July 2022 Shaun Botterill/Getty Images England's women's football team celebrate their victory. This year's English summer truly was the summer of the Lionesses, with the England team ending the nation's major tournament drought as they swept the sporting public up in their surge to the UEFA Women’s Euro title. A total of 87,192 spectators, a record for a women’s Euro match, flocked to Wembley to watch them beat Germany and lift the trophy. The crowd doubled the previous record of 43,301 which watched the 2013 final between Germany and Norway in Sweden. 91,553 – Champions League, Barcelona – March 2022 Joan Monfort/AP A screen displaying the attendance number of spectators during the Women's Champions League quarter final, second leg soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at Camp Nou stadium. In March, the crowd of 91,553 at Barcelona’s Camp Nou for the UEFA Women's Champions League match against Real Madrid broke the official record attendance for a women's football game. The previous record of 90,185 for the 1999 Women’s World Cup final between the USA and China at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Joan Monfort/AP Supporters hold up banners reading "More than empowerment" before the Women's Champions League quarter-final, second leg match. 86,174 – World T20 Final, Melbourne – March 2020 With the match appropriately played on International Women’s Day and Katy Perry in attendance and providing the soundtrack for the Australian team’s celebrations after their win over India, the World T20 final at the MCG in March 2020 was quite the occasion. The 86,174 who flocked to the ‘G was short of what organisers had hoped would be a world record crowd for a women’s sporting clash, but it still broke a host of records, including the attendance for a women's cricket match, a men’s or women’s ICC T20 World Cup final, the largest for a women’s sport event in Australia (smashing the 53,034 at the Adelaide Oval for the 2019 AFL Women’s grand final). Cameron Spencer/Getty Images Katy Perry performed on stage with the Australian cricket team following their victory in the ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup Final in 2020. 16,162 – Under-17 Women’s World Cup, Auckland – November 2008 The final of the FIFA tournament is currently the largest crowd ever for a standalone women’s sports event on New Zealand soil. The more than 16,000 flocked to North Harbour Stadium watched North Korea beat USA in the final of the under-17 Women’s FIFA World Cup. Mark Taylor/Stuff North Korea won the final 2-1 in extra time. 20,000 – Rugby World Cup, Paris – August 2014 The previous record for the highest attendance for a women’s rugby match watched England beat Canada in the final of the 2014 Rugby World Cup at Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris.

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