Strive Lands World Rugby Esports Brief
Sport and entertainment marketing consultancy Strive Sponsorship has been appointed by World Rugby to explore growth opportunities for rugby union’s global governing body in video gaming and the burgeoning esports industry.
The partnership has been announced just days after Strive struck up a similar arrangement with the England & Wales Cricket Board.
World Rugby said that the development is necessary due to the fragmentation of the traditional media landscape, with the task of “engaging fans across multiple touch points” growing in “complexity and priority”.
World Rugby Chief Commercial Officer Tom Hill said: “We’re keen to better educate ourselves in the world of gaming and esports prior to making an assessment of what opportunities may exist in helping us achieve our objectives.
“Strive’s intrinsic understanding and strong track record in sport, esports and gaming – and their intersection, gives us the confidence that we’re getting the best advice to make key strategic decisions.”
World Rugby is just the latest in a string of sports organisations to explore esports as a vehicle for engaging a younger audience.
In March alone, British Cycling teamed up with BT Sport to broadcast live coverage of an esports cycling race, while UEFA, football’s European governing body, kicked off its new eChampions League competition in partnership with FIFA 19 game publisher EA Sports.
Also last month, the inaugural ePremier League concluded, with the grand final shown live on Sky Sports in the UK, as well as the English Premier League’s digital channels.
Malph Minns, Managing Director of Strive Sponsorship, said: “Gaming and esports is a multifaceted and ever-evolving landscape, evidenced by the fact we have has seen 14 different operating models adopted by sports organisations in esports to date.
“We’re thrilled to be working with World Rugby to help educate them on the space and explore potential opportunities that play specifically to their objectives, key target audiences and territories.”
According to gaming analytics specialist Newzoo, esports’ global audience is set to increase from 454 million this year to 645 million by the end of 2022. The gaming community, though, is even larger, with 619.5 million active players in China alone.
