Challenge Cup final viewing figures revealed as Hull KR v Warrington Wolves thriller wins big for BBC
Mark Chapman pictured during rehearsals ahead of the BBC's coverage of the 2025 Challenge Cup final between Hull KR and Warrington Wolves
Hull KR’s dramatic Challenge Cup final victory against Warrington Wolves on Saturday afternoon was the most-watched rugby league game of the year so far: with the full viewing figures now revealed by the RFL.
Screened live on BBC One with a kick-off time of 3pm, the BBC‘s coverage began an hour prior to the game at 2pm and ran until 5.30pm.
The game itself proved an absolute thriller and one of the best Challenge Cup finals in recent memory, with KR‘s 40-year wait for a major honour looking likely to continue until Tom Davies’ 78th-minute try, which Mikey Lewis converted.
Willie Peters’ side became just the second Robins team to lift the Challenge Cup, while Warrington’s wait for a major honour goes on having last tasted glory under the Wembley arch back in 2019.
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Challenge Cup final viewing figures revealed as Hull KR v Warrington Wolves thriller wins big for BBC
It’s worth noting that Saturday’s clash in the capital was watched in-person by a crowd of 63,278, the second-highest since 2017, but less than the 64,845 that watched Wigan Warriors’ win in the final against Warrington this time last year.
Where TV was concerned though, the 2025 final dwarfed that 2024 clash.
On Saturday, the BBC enjoyed an average viewership of 1,000,000 and drew a peak of 1.2 million.
Those figures are the best of any Challenge Cup final since the 2022 edition between Wigan and Huddersfield Giants at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And to put it into context, last year’s final only drew an average viewership of 800,000 with a peak of 900,000.
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2025 Women’s Challenge Cup final viewing figures
Elsewhere, the Women’s Challenge Cup final between Wigan and St Helens attracted an average viewership of around 250,000.
The Cherry and Whites, headed up by club legend Denis Betts, romped to a 42-6 victory to lift the Women’s Challenge Cup for the very first time.
In the process, they ended Saints‘ dominance of the competition having won it in each of the last four seasons prior to this.
That final kicked off at 11.45am, and coverage came on BBC Two, starting half-an-hour prior to the game at 11.15am and ending at 2pm shortly after the final hooter.
8,810 spectators were in the stadium to watch the clash in-person.
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