By the numbers: Moana Pasifika's 2025

RNZ News

06-06-2025

Moana Pasifika fans, crowd and supporters, Hurricanes v Moana Pasifika, round 16 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition.
Photo:
Photosport / Elias Rodriguez
Moana Pasifika has achieved good numbers in 2025 in attendance, digital reach and individual accolades.
Their season
came to an end
without a playoff spot, but the North Harbour-based franchise said in a statement on Tuesday their season has been what fans have labelled memorable.
More than 48,000 people attended Moana Pasifika games, five played at North Harbour Stadium and two at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe.
Chief executive officer Debbie Sorenson said the "season has been phenomenal and I'm so proud of our players, staff and sponsors for all of their hard work that went into making it a success".
"A massive thank you has to go to our people for showing their support wherever our team was playing," she stated.
"You brought the energy and atmosphere to our games, which is uniquely Pacific. We are so lucky to be able to use our platform to share this with the world."
The franchise said they saw an average increase of 369 percent in scanned attendance at each of their home games, compared to the previous season.
Over 680 of those fans were members who attended all five of the matches at Albany.
2024 World Rugby Player of the Year, Ardie Savea, led the team to six wins, the best they have recorded in their four-year history.
Four of those wins were against New Zealand franchise clubs - the Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders and the Hurricanes.
Moana Pasifika.
Photo:
Andy Radka/ActionPress
The club finished the regular season in seventh on the standings,
just one step away from having qualified for the play-offs
.
Savea was voted the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year, as voted by opposition coaches and captains, and also named as the best number seven in the competition, his name appearing in the
honorary Super Rugby Team of the Year
.
Super Rugby fans acknowledged the individual efforts of players too, voting for Moana Pasifika standouts as the Player of the Week for five of the 14 rounds that the team played in.
That saw Miracle Faiilagi (round 4), Patrick Pellegrini (round 7), Feleti Sae-Ta'ufo'ou (round 8), and Ardie Savea (round 12 and 14) named as the best player of those rounds.
The club said a key part of building fan connection to the team this season was through the social media channels and the authentic, unbarred, fun content produced.
Moana Pasifika have added over 150,000 new followers across social platforms in 2025 year to date - more than the five New Zealand clubs combined.
The club said the introduction of Moana Pasifika vlogs gave fans access to engaging, behind-the-scenes, player-led content of the team, driving YouTube subscriptions up by 462 percent.
Interestingly, the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom are some of the top countries that make up Moana Pasifika's audience - alongside New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island nations.