A Global Sport for All – True to Its Values
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WORLD RUGBY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-25 A GLOBAL SPORT FOR ALL – TRUE TO ITS VALUES WORLD RUGBY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-25 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WORLDWORLD RUGBY RUGBY STRATEGIC STRATEGIC PLAN PLAN 2021-25 2021-25 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND World Rugby is an organisation and a movement – everyone has a say, and everyone should feel connected with the sport, its advancement and success. As an organisation, World Rugby leads and guides a sport that has enjoyed significant growth over recent years – across participation, audiences, markets and OUR VISION revenues. A global sport for all - true to its values Against a challenging societal and sporting backdrop OUR VALUES exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this Strategic Integrity, solidarity, respect, discipline, passion Plan articulates how World Rugby proposes to lead the sport, inspire participation and engagement, support players and grow revenues for the benefit of everyone OUR PURPOSE in the global rugby family in the coming decade. Growing rugby by making it more relevant and accessible 2 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WORLDWORLD RUGBY RUGBY STRATEGIC STRATEGIC PLAN PLAN 2021-25 2021-25 THE NEXT STRATEGIC PLAN DELIVERING THE NEXT STRATEGIC PLAN World Rugby plans to fulfil its Purpose and Without increased revenues, World Rugby will not be able to invest at the levels Vision by focusing relentlessly on the three required to grow rugby globally. Operating competitions profitably, building commercial pillars of Competition, Participation and partnerships, strengthening the brand of the sport and driving value from audiences, will Engagement – underpinned by evolving the all be critical to our success. We believe that delivering this strategic plan, in partnership game itself, our Product. with unions, regional associations, partner organisations and commercial partners, will This new Strategic Plan will drive the take the sport of rugby from strength to strength in the years to come. organisation forwards from 2021 onwards. It is a plan for World Rugby as an organisation, Strategic Plan Overview based around a Vision and Purpose endorsed by our stakeholders. It will be implemented Vision A global sport for all - true to its values through a series of annual priorities set by the organisation’s Executive Committee. Purpose Growing rugby by making it more relevant and accessible And while it is envisaged that the framework set out here – Competition, Participation, INTEGRITY • RESPECT • SOLIDARITY • PASSION • DISCIPLINE Engagement, Product, Ways of Working – Values could remain in place for the next decade, given the pace of change in the sector the Pillars Competition Participation Engagement content of these pillars should be reviewed • Optimise the portfolio • Drive retention • Promote brand rugby within the next five years. • Raise standards and • Grow women’s rugby • Enhance stakeholder competitiviness • Target growth markets relations • Build the global calender • Drive audience engagement and value The Game (our product) • Player Welfare & • Forms of the game • Utilise expert and experience audience input Culture Ways of Working • Responsible • Commercial • Efficient and Effective 3 WORLDWORLD RUGBY RUGBY STRATEGIC STRATEGIC PLAN PLAN 2021-25 2021-25 CONTENTS 4 WORLD RUGBY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-25 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 5 WORLD RUGBY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-25 COVID-19 – TACKLING THE CORONAVIRUS CHALLENGE It would be remiss of any attempt to • Generating and sharing intelligence and landscapes will look like in six months’ develop and present a strategic plan at lessons on the COVID-19 pandemic as it time, let alone in the years ahead. We do the end of 2020 to not reflect the global has spread around the world not fully understand the long-term impact COVID-19 pandemic. No individual, family or • Working with colleagues across the sport of the pandemic. In general, we tend to organisation has been left untouched by the to develop and issue optional COVID-19 overestimate the effect of a systemic shock pandemic. Sport has been hard hit in terms law trials in the short run and underestimate the effect of the ability to stage events and matches in the long run. • Creating – in partnership with from community to the elite level. Rugby, stakeholders – return-to-play protocols as a team and contact-based sport, and one However, as World Rugby successfully and guidance commercially very dependent on match- concludes its current Strategic Plan, it has day revenues, has been among those most • Driving collaboration on the global never been more important to map a route adversely affected. calendar – both in the short-term and ahead for the sport. The sport has responded as one might hope long-term to the situation – by pulling and working • Managing effective communication and together to support those most in need. correspondence with member unions, From World Rugby’s perspective that has regional associations and partner meant a focus on several key areas: organisations • Shaping and managing the media • Assessing and addressing the most narrative to assist with understanding urgent funding needs of member unions and place rugby near the front of the severely hit financially by COVID-19 queue for sport’s return • Streamlining our own costs in order to The sports sector as a whole was facing an uncertain, but optimistic, future as the maximise financial support to member In many ways, it is hard to predict what COVID-19 pandemic hit. The optimism The unions the health, economic, sporting and rugby 6 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT WORLD RUGBY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-25 THE SPORTS SECTOR – A PERIOD OF TRANSITION The sports sector as a whole was facing alternative routes to audiences – such as an uncertain, but optimistic, future as the large-scale streaming services, or going COVID-19 pandemic hit. The optimism direct to consumer – have become more was driven by increasing leisure time and appealing spend, the power of sport to deliver live • Many sports bodies – including World audiences and shared experiences, and Rugby – have found that the appetite the ability to use new technology, and to for sports stories and information has reach untapped markets. Against that, remained as strong as ever despite the uncertainty was being driven by increased absence of live content, illustrating the competition for attention, market saturation value of fan-engagement and compelling for many leading sports, and a feeling that content sports rights were potentially reaching a • Outside investment into certain parts of value ceiling. In many ways COVID-19 has the sports sector – including rugby union accelerated many of these shifts: – has increased • The rise of Esports has taken a step- • A lack of trust in global leadership in change as it has filled the vacuum left as general, sport included, and the need traditional sports have had a hiatus to be relevant, authentic and purpose- • Those striking rights deals now are driven on key global issues such as struggling to retain previous levels diversity, inclusion and climate change • Sponsors – many of whom are in business As the international federation for rugby distress themselves – are exerting union it is World Rugby’s role to help and even more scrutiny over the return lead the sport – and its constituent parts – to on investment from any partnership navigate and thrive in this uncertain future arrangements sporting landscape. • The struggles of traditional broadcast partners and models has meant that 7 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT WORLDWORLD RUGBYRUGBY STRATEGICSTRATEGIC PLANPLAN 2021-252021-25 RUGBY – STRONG FOUNDATIONS BUT CHALLENGES AHEAD There is no question that rugby has had – on most • Nielsen research suggests that in traditional and dynamic to succeed in this environment measures – a successful past 10 years. rugby markets the number of fans has increased • The need to be purpose-driven and align with by two-thirds over the past decade and in societal trends • The sport now has 128 member and associate emerging markets such as the USA, Brazil, China • Time pressures and the availability of suitable unions – up from 117 in 2009 and India, the number of fans has doubled options mean that people are flocking to • Some 9.6m people play the sport globally – up However, against this backdrop, we must tackle shorter time-frame pursuits from 3.7m in 2009 several key challenges faced by sports: • Technology and cultural change has driven • In almost all markets, the sport is perceived as a preference for spontaneous and flexible more exciting than it was • All sports and forms of entertainment are in an increasingly competitive environment, fighting activities rather than those which require • In almost all markets, the sport is perceived as for attention, relevance and share of audience scheduling safer than it was and revenue. Rugby needs to be more flexible • Ever-shortening attention-spans • The relative complexity of rugby union vs other Do you feel that rugby is becoming more or less safe/risky that 5 years ago? sports and leisure activities Established Markets - 2019 Emerging Markets - 2019 • The current global club and international calendar, which is not straight-forward for fans 48% to follow 36% 35% 29% • Economically over two-thirds of global 24% 23% 22% 22% 24% revenues within the sport are generated in the 21% 18% 18% 19% 14% 14% UK and France, with both markets relatively 12% mature and saturated 6% • The high levels of rights fragmentation in rugby frustrates media partners and erodes total value propositions -4% -2% All All markets markets average average 8 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT WORLDWORLD RUGBY RUGBY STRATEGIC STRATEGIC PLAN PLAN 2021-25 2021-25 WORLD RUGBY - A SUCCESSFUL FEDERATION AIMING EVER HIGHER As the international federation for the sport and underlying business model is heavily level. Finally, and, perhaps inescapably as an World Rugby has also thrived over the skewed. Currently the organisation is international federation and arbiter of the past decade. Successive World Cups have highly-geared to the commercial success game, World Rugby can be perceived to be at generated increasing interest, audiences and of the men’s Rugby World Cup.