New attendance record set for Test Cricket at the MCG
A crowd in excess of 70,000 has attended the MCG on Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test, setting a new Australian attendance record for Test Cricket, as Australia pushed for victory against India.
The record was officially broken just after 12 midday, when 51,371 spectators were in attendance at the iconic ground, pushing the total attendance to 350,700 - surpassing the 350,534 who attended Australia v England in 1936-37, which was a six-day Test Match.
The official day five attendance was announced just before 5pm as 74,362, taking the total attendance for the match to 373,691.
Yesterday’s attendance of 43,867 had already set a new benchmark for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (299,329) - beating the 271,855 who watched the Ashes contest between Australia and England in 2013.
The final day five crowd figure, which in itself was a record for the venue, pushes the average crowd for each of the five days of the Test Match to an incredible 74,738.
2024-25 Boxing Day Test Attendance
Day 1 - 87,242
Day 2 - 85,147
Day 3 - 83,073
Day 4 - 43,867
Day 5 - 74,362
TOTAL - 373,691
A Test match we'll truly never forget.
— Melbourne Cricket Ground (@MCG) December 31, 2024
Thank you all for making it so special ❤️ pic.twitter.com/B0obUflmrR
Australia won the fourth Test of the series, beating India by 184 runs to take a 2-1 lead ahead of the Fifth Test at the SCG commencing on Friday.
The Test has become the second-highest attended of all-time, with only the India-Pakistan match (465,000) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in 1999 ahead of it.
Melbourne Cricket Club CEO Stuart Fox said, "I've not seen anything like it at a cricket match".
"I think that just the spirit in the stadium ... all of our staff on day one just said how happy the crowd were.
It continues a monster year for the MCG following three sold-out Taylor Swift concerts of her iconic The Eras Tour in February, and the AFL season averaging 60,000 per match. It sets the total attendance for sporting events at the MCG during 2024 to 3,734,266, at an average of 56,580 across 66 event days.
"I thought Taylor Swift was big, but this has been something else," Fox said.
"But I think with Taylor Swift coming in, a fantastic AFL season, then this Boxing Day Test, it's (2024) going to be hard to beat, I can assure you."
