The 2024 Six Nations saw great success in both popularity and commercially. In terms of viewership, ITV’s peaked at 6.6 million during England’s late win against Ireland on 9 March. On ITVX, coverage of the Six Nations was streamed 16.6 million times, up by 23% compared to 2023. Elsewhere, the opening match of the 2024 Six Nations saw a peak viewership of 7.5 million tuning in to witness the action on France 2 Chanel on 4 February. As a result, the tournament generated an estimated $177.68 million in media revenue from competing nations, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’ s latest report, “Post Event Analysis –Six Nations 2024”, reveals that a total of 972,737 fans attended the 2024 Six Nations.

Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “With the release of a Six Nations documentary on Netflix prior to the tournament, there was much hope leading into the tournament that the 2024 edition of the Six Nations would see an increase in viewership. As this year’s competition was much closer in terms of results compared to previous years, with 10 out of 15 matches being decided by 4 points or fewer, the championship generated a great audience, especially across the competing nations.”

The estimated annual sponsorship value of the 2024 Six Nations was $26.33 million. The Six Nations’ top sponsor in terms of value is Guinness, which has been a long-term partner of the tournament since 2010. A new partnership for 2024 included InterContinental Hotels Group, which has an estimated annual value of $1.5 million, according to GlobalData.

Snooks continues: “The Six Nations long-term deal with Guinness stands out in the competition’s sponsorship portfolio, with the annual deal value over 12 times higher compared to the next most profitable deal, with Sportable. With a partnership extending for 14 years, the relationship shows Guinness’s commitment to the Six Nations.”

In terms of the attendance at this year’s Six Nations, England had one, almost two, sell-out crowds in attendance for its matches against Wales and Ireland at Twickenham. Similarly, Scotland had both of its matches at Murrayfield as sell-outs. Italy, which has had disappointing Six Nations campaigns in recent years, not only saw an improvement in performance with its first Six Nations home match in 11 years but also saw a 23% increase in attendance at this year’s competition in its home matches against England and Scotland.

Snooks concludes: “This year’s Six Nations not only saw great viewership figures but also stadium attendance. With games played at eight different stadiums across the six competing nations, the tournament saw a total of 972,737 fans. A particular highlight of the competition was the increase in attendance for Italy’s home games, including putting a stop to their poor results at home.”