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Home , Andrew Conway, Bundee Aki, Chris Farrell, Cian Healy, CJ Stander, Conor Murray

THE 2019 RUGBY Contents

• PAGE 3: OVERVIEW • PAGE 4: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • PAGE 5: • PAGE 12: SPONSORSHIP ANALYSIS • PAGE 17: KIT DEALS • PAGE 24: FRONT-OF-SHIRT SPONSORSHIP • PAGE 28: MEDIA LANDSCAPE • PAGE 37: VENUES • PAGE 50: THE TEAMS • PAGE 100: THE RANKINGS

THE 2019 sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] Overview

The Rugby World Cup is the biggest and most prestigious tournament across all formats in the sport of rugby. The sport is continuing to run a strategy that best maximises its chances of growing the sport on an international level, with its global status limited to a number of set countries and regions. This year’s edition see the competition enter unchartered territory, as becomes the first Asian nation to play host, in a move away from traditional rugby nations hosting the event. World Rugby, the international federation behind the tournament, have previously been reliant on the income generated from the sports biggest competition, with revenue from broadcasting and sponsorship rights both dramatically increasing compared to non-World Cup years. Unlike bigger sports such as soccer and basketball, rugby is a sport in which fans and players prioritise success at international level as opposed to club or domestic level. With this in mind, the World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport for both fans and players alike.

*All Data within this report has been collated from the Sportcal Intelligence Centres and is correct as of 1/09/2019 unless otherwise specified. All images utilised within this report are provided by permission of Getty Images and may not be repurposed without express authorisation.

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 3 Rugby World Cup 2019

The first edition of the Rugby World Cup was co-hosted by and in 1987. Since then the sports premier competition has seen four different winners of which New Zealand are the most successful nation with three individual wins. The competition initially began with 16 teams but was later expanded in 1999 to 20 teams and five groups of four. This was later altered in 2003 to the current system of four groups of five teams.

The competition has a three tier sponsorship structure that sees brands placed into categories of ‘Worldwide partner’, ‘official sponsor’ and ‘tournament Founded: suppliers’. In a major change to the sponsorship roster, Japanese brand Suntory replaces Coca-Cola as the official soft drinks supplier, ending the US 1987 brands association with the competition which began in 1995. Much anticipation has been built around this years tournament, the first held in Asia and hosted by a country not regarded as one of the top ranked rugby nations, as the sport looks to expand its global reach. Presenting a further challenge, Confederation: the tournament is hosted by a nation which does not boast a passionate rugby following, with event tickets expected to fall on 2015’s showing. This said, World Rugby brands have seemingly jumped at the chance to get involved in its sponsorship, with a full collection of worldwide partners attained as well as a further 14 smaller partners. Many of these brands have been involved in the development of the sport in Japan and across the world, with Mitsubishi Estates Number of teams: launching the ‘Marunouchi 15 – Chome project’, putting on exhibitions throughout Japan to drive interest in the competition. 20

Current Champions: Plans for the competition includes each team receiving a unique welcoming ceremony, where all squad players will receive a RWC’19 , with all team New Zealand members (including staff) receiving a participation medal. Worldwide Partners: Most Titles: New Zealand (3)

Average Capacity:

37,288 www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/444508

Number of Sponsors: Official Sponsors: 22

Sponsorship Revenue (estimated): $32,750,000 Tournament Suppliers:

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 6 Front of Shirt Sponsorship – Location Breakdown

Number of Deals 4

2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

United Japan USA Australia Germany Russia South Uruguay Kingdom

Continental Deals Thirteen of the eighteen deals in place derive from domestic support. The only nations that are not 1 Europe representing home brands on their front of shirts are , Canada, New Zealand, USA and . All but 1 one of these brands are based in countries which have a team represented at this years World Cup, as only Oceania 2 Canada’s deal with German brand DHL misses direct advertisement to its home nation, as the German national Africa team failed to qualify. The three most established nations in world rugby, Australia, and New Zealand command the biggest value for its biggest piece of commercial inventory. Given the qualifying structure in place 9 2 North and number of qualified continental nations, combined with the emphasis on home front-of-shirt support, it America comes as no surprise to see European brands dominating this area of the market. Asia

3 South America Missing deals for (N/A)

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 26 Talking Points

IMG and World Rugby opted for a digital-first approach in New Zealand as Spark, the telecoms company, secured rights to the tournament. Spark is to stream coverage of matches across a new OTT platform, offering full tournament and individual match subscription passes. Fans who purchased a ‘super early bird’ tournament pass to paid NZ$59.99 ($40.50), a price that rose incrementally to NZ$79.99 and NZ$89.99. The rights to 12 games were sub-licensed to free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ, some live and others with a delay of up to two hours. All of New Zealand's matches, both semi-finals and the final will be shown live on TVNZ.

There will be limited coverage of the tournament in , one of the game’s heartlands. The financial issues facing SABC, the public-service broadcaster, meant that purchasing the rights directly or striking a sub-licensing deal with rights holder SuperSport was simply not commercially viable. However, an eleventh hour deal with IMG for audio rights covering four of South Africa’s matches, plus the two semi-finals and the final, meant that a total free-to-air blackout was avoided. The radio coverage is available across the -language RSG, English-language Radio 2000 and Xhosa-language Umhlobo Wenene channels.

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 32 City of Stadium

Location: Toyota

Capacity: 45,000

Opened: June 2001

RWC Matches: 4

Outside of the World Cup, the venue represents the home of two clubs, Grampus (soccer, J League) and (Rugby, ). Due to maintenance costs the stadiums retractable roof has not been used since 2015. www.rugbyworldcup.com/venues/toyota-stadium

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUPsportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786sportcal.com | [email protected] | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 38

Captain About: Unlike other sports such as soccer, the Irish rugby team is represented by both the Republic and , attracting players from both sides of the border. The national side’s first rugby outing occurred in Head Coach 1874 in a match against England. Due to the heightened political and national governing issues surrounding Joe Schmidt the country, the national team unusually plays two songs one after another for the national anthem, ‘Ireland’s Call’ and ‘Amhran na bhFiann’, with the former used before away fixtures. The team continues to Stadium play home fixtures at , more accurately referred to as the after the Aviva Stadium insurance brand purchased naming rights following the teams return to the site in 2010, following a three- year re-build. The side has been relatively successful in recent years, rising to a record high 1st in the global Capacity: rankings in 2015 and have won three of the previous Six Nations championships. In Japan, the team will 51,700 have fixed sights on surpassing the Quarter Finals for the first time in their history, and have a strong squad to be able to push for the title, spearheaded in attack by Rugby’s World Player of the Year (2018) Johnny Best WC Finish: Sexton. In 2015, the team looked in fine form early on, topping their group with maximum points and a +99 Quarter Finals (1987, 91, 95,03, 11 point difference, only to succumb to Argentina 43-20 in the Quarter Finals. and 15)

Number of Sponsors: 22 Main Partner: Official Sponsors: Vodafone Sponsorship Revenue (estimated): $21,400,000 Aer Lingus, Aldi, Aon, Aviva, Blackrock Expert Services, DHL, Kit Supplier: Dove Men+Care, , Canterbury Energia, Gilbert, Glenisk, Guinness, Intersport, Leaseplan, Lucozade Sport, Pwc, Specsavers, Tipperary Crystal, Vivomed & Volkswagen

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 52 Ireland

World Cup squad:

Forwards: Rory Best, , , Sean Cronin, , , , , , Peter O’Mahony, Andrew Porter, , James Ryan, John Ryan, , CJ Stander &

Backs: , , , , , , , , , Luke McGrath, , , Johnny Sexton &

Pool Head to Head Win Percentage Record WC Points Scorer: World Ranking: – 46.27% Ronan O’Gara – 93 Japan – 100% Russia - 100% Record WC Try Scorer: Samoa – 83.33% Keith Earls - 8 #1 RWC Record (W-D-L): 21 - 0 - 14

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 53 Sponsorship Revenue ($m)

Commercial Revenue/ Sponsorship Income

$45,723,800

$38,541,800

$23,494,300

$19,893,400 $18,679,000

$13,678,000

$2,100,000 $1,600,000

New Zealand Rugby England Rugby South Africa Rugby Wales Scottish Rugby USA Rugby Union

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 102 Social Media Standings

Continental Popularity Europe: England, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scotland & Wales 9,897,340

Asia: Japan 7,667,309

Africa: Namibia & South Africa

2,045,102 846,262 Oceania: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa & Tonga 813,232 88,034 1,237,168 1,533,462 1,022,551 423,131 406,616 88,034 North America: Canada & USA Europe Oceania Africa South America North America Asia South America: Argentina & Uruguay Total Average

On the continental battle online, Europe holds the possesses the greatest following, owing much to the quantity of teams represented at the tournament. Based on the average following per team in each , Oceania actually represents the most popular continent for national rugby teams, with thanks to the sizeable following of the All Blacks. Despite holding the team with the smallest following (Namibia), Africa has the third highest average per team, with South Africa’s status as the third most followed team enough to raise the continental average beyond that of South America, North America and Asia.

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 107 Most Active Sponsorship Sectors

Beverages 47 Financial Services 44 Clothing & Accessories 36 Travel 35 Retail 28 Food 22 Business Services 19 Consumer Goods & Services 19 Automotive 18 Healthcare 17 Telecommunications 13 Sports Equipment 12 Technology 10 Entertainment & Leisure 7 Energy & Utilities 6 Delivery & Logistics 5 Industrial Goods & Services 5 Education 4 Property 3 Other 3 Gambling & Gaming 3 Media 2 Restaurant 1 Organisations 1 Sports Marketing 1 Chemical 1 Logistics & Delivery 1 Agriculture & Horticulture 1 Government 1 Two sectors standout as the most active at this year’s World Cup, beverages and the financial services sectors, which boast 91 deals between them, which equates to 24.93% of the collective sponsorship portfolios of each national federation. These sectors are also the most prominent in the sponsorship of the tournament itself, with a further five deals between them. Rugby holds appeal to numerous brands looking to associate with the sport, with 29 different sectors represented in the list of sponsors and national team partners.

THE 2019 RUGBY WORLD CUP sportcal.com | +44 (0) 20 8944 8786 | [email protected] 110