2021 World Cup to be biggest ever with record number of host applications

Venues from across England will host the biggest ever Rugby League World Cup, with there being 80 applications to host the men’s, women’s and wheelchair events.

A record number of 80 unique venue applications have been received from 28 towns and cities to become either a match or training venue for the tournament, which will host the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments simultaneously for the first time.

There have been 40 venue applications submitted across the three competitions for an anticipated 20 opportunities. In addition, 40 team base applications have been received for the 16-team training facilities.

While applications have been submitted for venues and facilities nationwide, 80% of the men’s fixtures will be played in the country’s Northern Powerhouse region as part of the tournaments commitment to government.

Applications will now be reviewed, with aspirant hosts inspected by tournament organisers, before a final decision is made by the RLWC2021 board ahead of being announced in January.

RLWC2021 chief executive Jon Dutton said: “Today is another significant milestone in our journey ahead of what will be the biggest and best ever RLWC in history.

‘We’ve been delighted with not just the quantity but the quality of the applications we have received.

“It’s been great to see the various public “Back the Bid” campaigns across the country which has shown what it means to various communities to be a host at RLWC2021.

“The next stage is for us go through each and every bid in detail to allow us to make the best possible decisions for the tournament – this journey will include site visits and further conversations in the next few months before we reveal the outcomes early next year.”