The Heineken Cup continues to break new ground with the total pool stage attendance record set to be smashed this weekend as Europe’s premier club rugby tournament heads into a tension-packed Round 6.
With qualification places for the knockout stage on the line and with all four home quarter-finalists still to be decided, the record pool stage attendance figure of 882,958 set in 2011/12 will almost certainly fall when the matches are concluded on Sunday.
Loyal supporters of the Heineken Cup have voted with their feet this season with over 770,000 pouring through the turnstiles, and with bumper crowds anticipated in particular at Thomond Park, Welford Road, Stade Marcel-Michelin and the RDS over the weekend, the total pool attendance figure will go past 900,000 for the first time in the tournament’s 19-year history.
Representatives from France, (Toulon, Toulouse and ASM Clermont Auvergne), Ireland (Ulster Rugby and Munster Rugby) and England (Leicester Tigers) have booked their places in the last eight and once the two remaining quarter-finalists have been decided, the countries of the clubs in the knockout stage will share over €3.5 million (euro) in meritocracy payments.
That figure increases to a total of almost €7 million (euro) for the countries of the clubs during the entire knockout stage.
As the Heineken Cup quarter-finals are among the biggest and most lucrative home club fixtures of the season, further incentives – both on the pitch and on the commercial front – are available to clubs who move quarter-finals to a bigger venue as their revenue share from the matches will increase from 50% to 65%. Equally, clubs who have secured home quarter-finals have had a 75% success rate over the past 10 seasons.
With a view to facilitating advance planning by ERC and the qualified clubs, and to help map out the route to both European finals in Cardiff next May, the semi-final draws for the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup will be made directly after the final pool games on Sunday.
The draws will take place at Thomond Park with the Heineken Cup draw scheduled for approximately 5.10pm, and the draw for the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals following immediately. Both draws will be televised live on Sky Sports, Infosport+ and Eurosport France, and will also be available on ercrugby.com
Fourteen games in both tournaments will be broadcast live during Round 6 with the six Heineken Cup pool winners and the two best pool runners-up qualifying for the quarter-finals. The five Amlin Challenge Cup pool winners will book their places in the last eight where they will be joined by the third, fourth and fifth-best Heineken Cup pool runners-up.
Heineken Cup Fixtures
The Heineken Cup action gets underway in Pool 1 tomorrow evening with Northampton Saints taking on Castres Olympique at Franklin’s Gardens, while at the RDS, three-time champions, Leinster Rugby, host the Ospreys.
Amlin Challenge Cup Fixtures
Five Amlin Challenge Cup ties are up for decision this evening with Brive, Newcastle Falcons and Stade Francais Paris battling for quarter-final spots, while Pool 2 winners, Bath Rugby, have the No 1 seeding in their sights.
Heineken Cup quarter-finals
• Securing a home quarter-final can greatly increase a club’s chances of progressing to the semi-finals with a 75% home win rate over the past 10 seasons.
• Home clubs are incentivised by ERC to move to bigger venues as they will benefit from an increase from a 50% to a 65% share of match revenue.
• A total of 23 Heineken Cup quarter-finals have been moved by the home clubs to larger venues with Perpignan v Toulon at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona (2010/11) holding the quarter-final record attendance of 55,000.
• The average attendance for quarter-finals over the past five seasons was 28,808.
• Each spot in the knockout stage will earn that club’s country in the region of €450,000 (euro), with over €3.5m (euro) in meritocracy payments shared from the quarter-finals alone.
• In total, almost €7m (euro) in meritocracy payments will be shared by the countries of the clubs who reach and progress through the knockout stages.
