THE Fiji Rugby Union’s (FRU) game-day entertainment program has attracted international attention following its 2026 Nations Championship tour in the United Kingdom.
FRU Chairman John Sanday says the entertainment package has become so popular that the Nations Championship organisers are now in discussions with the union to deliver the pre-game entertainment for the playoff weekend in November.
“Discussions are ongoing now with them towards finalising an agreement for FRU to run the game-day entertainment,” Sanday said.
Sanday said the success of the entertainment program was part of a wider commercial strategy being pursued by the FRU as it looks to strengthen its financial position and build sustainable revenue streams.
He also highlighted the strong commercial returns from Fiji’s historic matches in the UK.
The first match against Wales attracted more than 16,000 spectators, making it the biggest home crowd ever for a Fiji international match.
Sanday said the match generated a modest profit of around $F400,000, despite the union initially expecting limited returns.
“We always knew right from April that the profit and loss projected for the Wales match would be low, given the slow uptake of ticket sales and other income-generating activities we had set up,” he said.
However, the record attendance was short-lived.
Fiji’s match against England drew a massive crowd of 50,100 spectators, setting another attendance record and delivering the FRU’s biggest home game gate.
Sanday said the match generated more than £1.5million ($4.45m) in game-day revenue from the various activities and products sold.
Sanday said the FRU would provide a full financial report on the tour, stressing that transparency and commercial discipline remained central to the union’s approach.
“We will present a full financial report for everyone to see.
“We are a business, we have a clear commercial strategy, we don’t play politics,” he added.
