As Scottish Gas Murrayfield begins centenary celebrations in 2025, its home team is also celebrating the economic impact and benefits it brought to Edinburgh and the Scottish economy in 2024.
On Friday 31 January, Scottish Rugby announced its economic value to Scotland following an independent evaluation. From June to December 2024, £120.4 million was generated between concerts, rugby games at home, and other events hosted at the stadium.
Of that, £8.3 million came from media coverage of Taylor Swift’s visit to Edinburgh, a tour that also went down in tram history. Over a quarter of a million fans relied on tram services to travel to and from the venue during the few days surrounding the concerts.
Murrayfield Stadium hosted its first rugby match on 21 March 1925, when Scotland beat England to win their first Five Nations Championship Grand Slam. The ground was used during the Second World War as a supply depot, with rugby returning to the area in 1944.
The stadium as we know it today was completed 50 years later in 1994, when the current West Stand opened.
Becky Love our Marketing & Communications Manager, commented: “Scottish Rugby has been a key partner for many years, and we work closely with them to support these major events, so the impact they have on the Scottish economy comes as no surprise to us.
“As a key transport provider for stadium attendees, we’re committed to doing everything we can to ensure their success continues to grow not only in 2025 but also in the years to come.”
The survey will run until August 2025 and will include data from the ongoing international men’s and women’s matches, as well as concerts from Billy Joel, Robbie Williams, Oasis, and the recently announced AC/DC.
News of Scottish Rugby’s economic impact broke the day before the first game of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations Championship, when about 65,000 rugby lovers took the tram to the stadium.
With a victory under their belt, Scotland will face Ireland next, on Sunday 9 February, and you can read our Frequently Asked Questions about that and the final home game of the 6 Nations series here.
To read the full independent evaluation, click here.
