Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour a global fan success
With 380,105 fans through the gates in South Africa, a record Test crowd in the United States and more than 657 million content views on the All Blacks social media channels alone.
30 years in the making
The series was the first tour of this length and intensity since 1996 for the All Blacks, with eight matches across five weeks, including a first-ever double header alongside the Black Ferns against South Africa, and five debutants – Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, Siale Lauaki, Josh Jacomb, Bradley Slater and Saula Ma’u pulling on the black jersey for the first time.
Record breaking attendance
A total of 380,105 fans attended the All Blacks v Springboks Tests and the All Blacks provincial matches across the tour, including a record-breaking United States crowd of 68,173 at final Test of the Series in Baltimore.
WATCH: Ma'a Nonu performs a one-man haka to the All Blacks
Over 2 million kiwi fans tune in from home
In New Zealand, the series attracted a strong and highly engaged audience, reaching over 1.5 million viewers on Sky Sport and Three*, with close to 600,000 fans tuning in via Sky Sport Now and Sky Go**. A strong result given matches kicked off in the early hours of the morning for kiwi fans.
All Blacks fans engage digitally across the tour
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry presented by Castle Double Malt drove the biggest month (August) of traffic on allblacks.com on record with close to two million sessions. Social content generated 657 million views, 41 million engagements and more than 320,000 net new followers across Meta, TikTok, X and YouTube. Fans also sent more than 2,500 support messages to the All Blacks.
WATCH: Relive the electric atmosphere in the cauldron of Soweto
In the community
Off the field, the All Blacks connected with a variety of communities across the tour, delivering 14 community activations. These included a school visit before departing New Zealand, a welcome event in Cape Town for more than 4,000 All Blacks fans, two adidas Purpose signing sessions, four charity events with the Atlas Foundation, the adidas Purpose programme (including a Black Ferns crossover) , UNICEF, and six super fan experiences.
Viral moments on tour
Moments that travelled well beyond the stadium also captured global attention, including former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick’s moment as flag bearer in Johannesburg ahead of the All Blacks first Test against the Springboks, Ma’a Nonu’s one man haka against the All Blacks before the All Blacks v Hollywoodbets Sharks match, and the moment two jets roar over DHL Stadium before the All Blacks kicked off their second Test in Cape Town.
Across attendance, broadcast, community engagement and digital platforms, the series has shown that the connection New Zealanders have with the All Blacks now stretches right around the world.
For fans wanting to catch the All Blacks in action again at Eden Park, tickets are available for the Bledisloe Cup here.
*Broadcast source: Nielsen TAM, AP05+, Cume Reach, Sky Sport + Three, Overnight
**Broadcast source: Sky internal Data
