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Super Rugby often receives a lot of criticism from its supporters, so much so you would think it is losing its appeal to the rugby watching public in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
But when you look at the spectator numbers this year, it took only 22 matches and four rounds of Super Rugby to reach the 500,000 spectator mark.
In only four derby matches in South Africa attendances have already reached 142,086 spectators, an incredible average of 35,521 spectators per match. Non derby matches account for 90,885 spectators, an acceptable average of 30,295 per game.
In total South African spectators make up 232,971 spectators in a mere seven matches.
In Australia, 121,265 spectators have thus far attended the seven derby matches, with the Reds being the best supported stadium with 35,801 spectators in their only home derby match this season.
The same trend is shown when it comes to cross conference matches where the Reds had 30,995 spectators when they hosted the Hurricanes. In total, 152,260 spectators have attended eight matches in Australia for an average of 19,032 spectators.
In New Zealand, 72,089 spectators have watched the four derby matches in New Zealand, at an average of 18,022 spectators per match.
The three cross conference matches have yielded 43,305 spectators for an average of 14,435 per match. In total the numbers of spectators in New Zealand has reached 115,494 for an average of 16,499 per match.
The surprise packet thus far has been the Kings, who currently sit on top of the list with an average of 38,928 spectators per match, which is an indication of how deserved the Eastern Cape is of having a franchise in Super Rugby.
What would be interesting to follow for the rest of the season is whether this number will continue to rise or slowly whittle away as results begin to count against them and the hype of Super Rugby fades.
As always the South African franchises are well supported with the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks all averaging in excess of 30,000 spectators per match.
In Australia it is clear that apart from the Reds being very well supported (average above 30,000) and the Brumbies averaging around 18,500 per match, the rest of the teams are relatively poorly supported and are close to the 10,000 spectators per match mark.
In New Zealand, the Blues are on top with an average just over 28,000.
The Force and the Crusaders are yet to play a home game. I will look at the spectator numbers again in the middle of the season to see whether these trends continue.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.