World Rugby has launched a fan survey in order to form a global rugby fan panel which aims to shape the governing body’s broadcast, content production and social media rugby offering.
The survey centers on how rugby fans around the world consume rugby coverage and aims to explore what broadcast innovations, content and statistics would enhance their viewing experience.
After completing the survey a number of fans will be selected to form a panel after the deadline of October 9.
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….It’s important they have a voice and are part of the journey as we look to keep innovating and develop new concepts across our in-house broadcast, content production, digital and social media platforms.”
Last year’s men’s Rugby World Cup 2019 attracted record audiences and was the most watched rugby event ever with more than 857 million tuning in around the world.
Social media numbers also broke records. RWC 2019 marked a significant jump in global attention towards the tournament. Videos related to the games were viewed 2.04 billion times on social media, more than five-fold the previous RWC in England in 2015.
In addition, the flagship women’s event, Rugby World Cup 2017 extended the reach of the women’s game around the world, and the number of female fans continues to grow at more than six times the rate of male fans globally.
According to a report from Nielsen, the number of rugby fans either interested or very interested in the sport grew by 61 million from 344 million in May 2018 to 405 million in November 2019, following the Rugby World Cup in Japan.