European night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh brings significant financial upside for Munster

Compared to crowds for December home pool fixtures in Limerick, the 36,000-plus crowd in Cork far outstripped 18,908 who attended the 2023 tie with Bayonne and last season’s 17,241 who saw Munster beat Stade Francais.

LUCURATIVE: Munster Rugby are understood to have cleared €500,000 more from staging last Saturday’s Champions Cup pool game with Gloucester at Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh than the profit they earned from corresponding fixtures in the past seasons at Thomond Park. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Munster Rugby are understood to have cleared €500,000 more from staging last Saturday’s Champions Cup pool game with Gloucester at Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh than the profit they earned from corresponding fixtures in the past seasons at Thomond Park.

The Pool 2 fixture attracted a crowd of 36,208 to the Leeside home of Cork GAA as Munster scored a 31-3 victory in dismal conditions. The wide open terrace ends and some less than stellar rugby did not generate the sort of atmosphere seen at the Páirc for Munster games in the past against South Africa A in November 2022 and the Crusaders in February 2024 but this first competitive game at the GAA stadium was played in front of the biggest crowd the province has seen for a European fixture.