World Rugby has launched its search for a new global rugby fan panel to be part of the future shaping of the governing body’s award-winning broadcast, content production and social media rugby offering.
The recruitment drive opened on Wednesday until 9 October, with rugby fans worldwide encouraged to make their voices heard by participating in a fan survey after which super-fans will be identified and invited to form the global rugby fan panel.
The survey focuses on how global rugby fans consume rugby coverage and delve into what broadcast innovations, content and stats would enhance their viewing experience.
As identified by Nielsen’s latest global Sports DNA fan study, the number of rugby fans – those either interested or very interested in the sport – grew by 61m from 344m in May 2018 to 405m in November 2019 following the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The number of female fans continued to grow at more than six times the rate of male fans globally, added the study.
World Rugby’s flagship men’s event, Rugby World Cup 2019 attracted record audiences and was the most watched rugby event ever with more than 857m tuning in around the world, with its in-house broadcast coverage awarded ‘Outstanding Production Achievement’ at the SVG Europe TV Awards this year.
In addition, the flagship women’s event, Rugby World Cup 2017 extended the reach of the women’s game around the world, clocking up a total of 45m video views, a total reach of more than 70m through the five match days and more than 750,000 fans from 230 countries visiting the official website.
Marissa Pace, World Rugby Chief Marketing Officer, said, “We are committed to giving rugby audiences the best experience possible – in whatever ways they choose to consume coverage of our sport.
“We have been working on the fan panel concept for several months and are excited to be launching our survey and global fan panel. As we look to continue the tremendous audience growth following the Rugby World Cup, there is no better way than consulting fans across the globe to help us understand what will make our content even better and how to attract new audiences.”
