Reports coming in from World Rugby reveal that last year’s Rugby World Cup held in Japan was the most economically successful Rugby World Cup ever held.

This is according to ‘The economic impact of Rugby World Cup 2019’ report published by Ernst & Young (EY) earlier today which revealed the competition generated an economic output of nearly £4.3 billion.

The EY report, launched during a special webinar event in Tokyo today, outlines how Rugby World Cup 2019 generated £4.3 billion in output and added £2.3 billion to Japan’s GDP. It attracted 242,000 international fans from 178 nations, who stayed an average of 17 days, visiting five cities on average. More than 60 per cent of fans were visiting the country for the first time, while their daily spend was 4.6 times higher than that spent by the average visitor to Japan in 2018.

Aside from a record economic impact footprint that reached from Sapporo in the north to Kumamoto in the south, the tournament also created or sustained 46,000 jobs and 13,000 volunteer roles, many of whom will be supporting Tokyo 2020.

The 44-day global celebration of rugby, hosted across 12 cities in Japan, captured the imagination of a nation and fans around the world. It was the most competitive, best attended, most viewed, most socially engaged and most commercially successful of the nine men’s tournaments to date.

By Leroy Hawkson | Head of Sports | talksafrica.com