The men’s and women’s semi-finals of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup delivered record-breaking viewership for domestic rights holder Seven Network as millions of Australians tuned in to watch the blockbuster tie-ups.
The tournament, being held across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, has reached its final stages with Australia’s Kangaroos (men’s) and Jillaroos (women’s) national teams advancing to the finals against New Zealand in a big win for domestic broadcasters.
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The highest figure of the weekend came with Seven’s coverage of the men’s semi-final between Australia and Samoa yesterday (November 8), which averaged 2.05 million viewers, peaking at 3.68 million, making the game the most-watched RLWC match ever.
The match also had an audience of 733,000 on the 7plus Sport streaming service, making it also the largest streaming audience for an RLWC game and for an international rugby league game.
The men’s other semi-final between New Zealand and Tonga on Saturday evening (November 7) reached 2.84 million, with an average audience of 1.47 million, including 531,000 on 7plus Sport.
Meanwhile, Sunday evening’s women’s semi-final between Australia and Fiji became the most-watched women’s RLWC game ever, reaching 1.81 million, with an average audience of 903,000. The match also drew 241,000 viewers on 7plus Sport.
Seven Network head of RLWC Lesley Tapsall said: “It’s been an incredible weekend for rugby league, with audiences right across the country turning to Seven in record numbers for two exhilarating semi-finals between Australia and Samoa and the Jillaroos and Fiji.
“These numbers reflect the incredible appetite for international rugby league and the growing interest in both the men’s and women’s games.
“We’re incredibly proud to deliver these moments to Australians live and free, and there’s still so much more to come on Seven this week.”
Seven Network secured the exclusive Australian rights to the RLWC, which it has been airing live and free on its linear Seven channel and 7plus streaming service since October 15.
The men’s and women’s RLWC finals are scheduled for Sunday, November 15.
The 2026 tri-tournament RLWC in Australia is a replacement for the 2025 RLWC, which was canceled after France withdrew from hosting the event for financial reasons.
Australia was then announced as the replacement host for the event to be staged a year later, with a reduced field of 10 men’s teams (from a previous 16), as well as eight-team women’s and wheelchair World Cups.
The majority of the games have been played in Australia, with four matches staged in Papua New Guinea, and two in New Zealand.
France was awarded the tournament in January 2022, which was delayed to October and November 2025, after the original co-hosts, the US and Canada, withdrew in 2018, ending the IRL’s plans to take the tournament out of Europe and Oceania for the first time.
The last Rugby League World Cup, hosted by England, was postponed to 2022 after Australia and New Zealand withdrew from playing it in 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.
The latest shift of the tournament from 2025 to 2026 comes as part of a revised calendar that will see the following men's edition held in 2030 and the women's and wheelchair World Cups staged separately.
Women’s World Cups will be staged as standalone tournaments from 2028 in recognition of the game’s “phenomenal rate” of growth, while a decision will be
