Australia's State of Origin rugby league decider between Queensland and New South Wales later on Wednesday will draw more than 50,000 fans to Brisbane's Lang Park, a world record crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down global sport in March.
The anticipated crowd at the 52,000-seat stadium will eclipse the 46,061 attendance at Auckland's Eden Park last month where New Zealand beat Australia 27-7 in the second rugby union test of the 2020 season.
The State of Origin is an annual three-match series between Australia's two dominant rugby league states which packs out stadiums and draws huge domestic viewership figures.
New South Wales are bidding for a hat-trick of titles after levelling the series a week ago with a 34-10 win in Game II in Sydney.
Queensland authorities lifted a crowd cap of 75% of stadium capacity to 100% last week in time for Game III.
"You just know those extra couple of thousand people are going to make a massive difference. That place roars at full capacity," Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans said.
"We need to give them something to cheer for and I know we can do it."
Australia has largely brought COVID-19 to heel, with northeastern Queensland state, of which Brisbane is the capital, having recorded no cases of community transmission for weeks.
Australia hosted 86,174 fans at the Women's T20 World Cup final between the home side and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 8 before social distancing rules banned mass gatherings for several months.
Crowds have returned in Australia since a countrywide lockdown ended mid-year but caps remain in some states.
A fresh outbreak of COVID-19 in the southern city of Adelaide has put the country on high alert, with authorities in South Australia state ordering a six-day lockdown on Wednesday as a "circuit breaker".
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Stephen Coates)
