Saracens' ‘showdown’ with Harlequins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday shattered the Premiership’s TV viewing record – with a peak audience of more than 1.5 million people.
The fixture, which was screened simultaneously on ITV and BT Sport, comfortably beat the previous record of 1.3m viewers for the league’s final at Twickenham last June.
Saracens won the derby encounter with their London rivals 36-24 and both sides were reinforced by the return of their Test contingents en masse. Owen Farrell’s head-to-head with England No 10 rival Marcus Smith served as the box-office focal point of the match, which attracted a crowd of more than 55,000.