The Women’s Rugby World Cup arriving in England is a timely reminder of what live sport can do.
Sporting events forge some of the most positive and enduring moments of our lives, whether we’re stood on the terraces of our local club or sat in the stands at the biggest events on the planet.
Live sport is a way of life for this country. Per head of population, no country in the world buys more tickets to major sporting events than us.
Starting on Friday at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup will break all records. Over 350,000 tickets have already been sold, double the number bought for the 2022 edition, making it the best attended tournament ever.
The tournament will visit eight cities right across England – from Salford to Exeter – bringing world class sport to every corner of the country. Furthermore, it will enjoy primetime coverage on the BBC providing the opportunity for the event to capture the hearts of the British public.
Women’s Rugby World Cup legacy
The legacy of the event will be felt well beyond the field of play. We are proud to be supporting the RFU in delivering the Impact 25 programme, in partnership with the UK Government and Sport England.
More than 2,500 members of the women’s rugby community have already benefitted from opportunities ranging from women’s health webinars to regional summits in Africa, Asia and Europe.
I was delighted to see the launch of the ‘Strong Bodies, Strong Minds’ campaign that aims to encourage more girls to see sport as a place for them.
Women’s sport is an unstoppable force and the Women’s Rugby World Cup promises to be the latest chapter in a memorable summer for our female athletes.
We want to keep bringing transformational mega events like this to these shores. But we simply can’t do that without the backing of the Government.
Thankfully, the Government really gets the value of these events to grow the UK economy, unite the nation, inspire the next generation of athletes and showcase the very best of Britain to the world.
Global sport hub
Last month, in support of its manifesto pledge, the UK Government agreed to provide funding to bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships and World Para Athletics Championships. This is a fantastic, major commitment and one which I know has been very widely welcomed.
Competition to host will be fierce, so it would be a true honour if we can win that bid.
As we focus our efforts on securing the UK’s major event hosting pipeline after 2028, we are also working tirelessly on developing the best possible bid for the 2035 Fifa Women’s World Cup, which has already been backed by the government and is the biggest sporting event the UK is yet to host.
Across both events, we will work hand-in-hand with stakeholders to build bids that boost the UK economy, further strengthen this country’s world-class sporting reputation and bring communities together.
Looking at the bigger picture, next year we will welcome the European Athletics Championships back to Birmingham and the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow.
In 2027, the Grand Depart of the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes will be the largest free spectator event in British history and a year later, the Men’s Euros will take centre stage across the UK and Ireland.
We are passionate about protecting that pipeline of huge moments so that the British public, wherever they are in the country, can have access to everything that live sport has to offer.
There is a lot of hard work ahead but you can feel the momentum building, which is what makes the months and years ahead such a thrilling prospect.
Simon Morton is UK Sport’s deputy CEO and director events, sporting system & external affairs