Rugby World Cup 2015 In England Is The ‘Biggest And Best’ Since The Sporting Event Started In 1987, Says Chairman Bernard Lapasset
This year's Rugby World Cup held in England was named as the "biggest and since" since the sporting event was founded in 1987.
Chairman Bernard Lapasset revealed that the final round between All Blacks and Wallabies on Saturday is already set to beat all records since the sporting event began, as noted by The Telegraph.
On its official website, the tournament owners and tournament organizers have applauded the success of this year's Rugby World Cup. Reports have revealed that the sporting event has recorded more than 2.47 million ticket sales after over one million fans witnessed the tournament.
"Rugby World Cup 2015 will be remembered as the biggest tournament to date, but I also believe that it will also be remembered as the best," said Lapasset. "It truly has been a very special and global six-week celebration of rugby that has showcased the very best of our sport, but also the best of England, and of course Cardiff, as hosts."
He continued, "The festival has been impressive and the fans superb, with more than 500,000 international fans, a record for Rugby World Cup, joining those in the UK to get behind all of the teams. The momentum and excitement from the pool stage has remained and grown throughout the knockout stages and that is a reflection of the wonderful fans in this country."
Further results have revealed that the tournament has also brought in £1 billion into the economy of UK, while retail sales in the country increased by 1.9 percent in the previous month. In addition, this year's Rugby World Cup has drawn the biggest viewers on social media.
"It really has been an inclusive tournament that has reached and inspired record audiences. This has been the social Rugby World Cup, the most discussed sporting event of the year on social media, with more than 250 million views of official video content and a total social reach of around one billion," Lapasset added.
Meanwhile, SuperSport forecasted on Sunday that 25 million television audiences in Japan watched the contest between the Brave Blossoms and Samoa in this year's tournament, which they said could be a good thing since the country will be hosting the tournament in 2019.
"It sets us up very well commercially for that (2019) World Cup and beyond and it is great for the growth of rugby because all that money will be invested in the game in Japan," says World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper.