RL Commercial bank on Ashes Wembley record attendance

Rugby League Commercial are aiming for a crowd of up to 70,000 at Wembley for the opening match of this year's Ashes series between England and Australia; that would smash the previous-best Ashes attendance at the old Wembley by nearly 13,000; RLC managing director Rhodri Jones set out crowd expectations for the upcomimg Betfred Challenge Cup final between Hull KR and Warrington Wolves as well

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PICTURE BY VAUGHN RIDLEY/SWPIX.COM - Rugby League - Gillette 4 Nations 2011 - England v Australia - Wembley Stadium, London, England - 5/11/11 - England's Tom Briscoe catches a high ball.

RUGBY League Commercial (RLC) are banking on a record Ashes Wembley attendance for the opener of this autumn’s series between England and Australia.

The return of one of rugby league’s greatest rivalries in a three-Test series for the first time since 2003 has already seen the second and third Tests in Liverpool and Leeds sell out, with attention now on attracting around 65,000-70,000 to Wembley on October 25.

That would smash the previous highest Ashes Wembley attendance of 57,034 when Great Britain beat Australia 8-4 at the old stadium in 1994, but RLC managing director Rhodri Jones believes that is possible given the sales which have been achieved with little marketing so far.

“All focus for us is on Wembley,” Jones said, speaking at Wednesday’s future of London Broncos event at the Australian High Commission.

“We’ve sold over 30,000 tickets and that’s fairly organic for us in terms of sales, in that we haven’t spent a dime yet in terms of marketing the game at Wembley.

“That was all done through word of mouth or connections and people wanting to attend these matches.

“You cannot underestimate how important rugby league in London is. The Ashes, for us, is a signifcant development in our event profile and we’re really, really aspirational to get over 65,000 or 70,000 in that stadium for the first Test.”

The highest attendance for any rugby league international at Wembley came in 1992 when 73,631 were at the old stadium for Great Britain’s 10-6 defeat to Australia in that year’s World Cup final.

The only previous England versus Australia game to be played at the redeveloped Wembley in 2011 saw 42,344 in attendance as part of a Four Nations double-header which included Wales facing New Zealand.

England’s 2013 World Cup semi-final defeat to the Kiwis at the same venue, which also featured the Kangaroos facing Fiji, attracted a crowd of 67,545 as well.

There will be plenty of eyes on the attendance at this year’s Betfred Challenge Cup final on June 7 too, which sees Hull KR taking on Warrington Wolves, plus St Helens facing Wigan Warriors in the women’s final and York Knights up against Featherstone Rovers in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup final.

Crowds for the event have declined to around the 60,000-mark from the peaks of 80-90,000 in the 1980s and it has been shunted around the calendar over the last 20 years in an effort to stem that decline.

“We’re expecting a crowd of over 60,000, which would be on par with the last couple of years,” Jones said.

“The day itself is steeped in history tradition, it’s a showpiece event for us, it’s normally our only event in London of that scale.

“My message is people is you need to come and support the sport in the capital, whether at Wembley in the next two weeks or in October.”