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PARIS - Rugby is proving to be a big hit with French women who accounted for over a third of television viewers for France's second World Cup warm-up match against England earlier this month, according to a study by Mediametrie published yesterday.
In 2007 the number of women watching the sport broke the 30 per cent mark for the first time, with an average of 32 per cent following games on television, the professional audience measurement and survey company estimated.
"In 2003, for all of France's matches in the World Cup, just three out of 10 viewers were women. For the 2005 Six Nations less than 30 per cent of the public were made up of women aged over 15 years," the study revealed.
This figure jumped to 34.7 per cent on August 11 and 18 with a peak for the second match in Marseille between the rivals which France won 22-9, after also winning 21-15 in Twickenham.
The study was carried out ahead of the World Cup which gets underway in France on September 8 (NZ time).
Further studies will be carried out during the tournament to see if the interest will be sustained throughout the event which finishes on October 21.
- AFP
