World Rugby Expecting Record Rwc Revenue
Rugby World Cup 2015 will generate around £240m in revenue, according to the World Rugby CEO, Brett Gosper.
With two days to go until the tournament hosts, England, kick off against Fiji, Gosper told reporters that 65% of the total revenue would be sourced from rights sales for the tournament, with new markets increasing exposure of the event to record levels.
In total, 103 broadcasters will show 23,000 hours of coverage of the Rugby World Cup to 772 million homes worldwide – a 15% increase on the 2011 edition in New Zealand.
Gosper commented: “We will have 24 live matches screened in Germany and 22 live matches in China for the first time.
“We know it will be the biggest, but we think it will be the best. It certainly will be a record breaker on several fronts.”
The tournament has already surpassed ticketing records, with 2.25 million being sold so far.
Meanwhile, World Rugby has also implemented a new anti-corruption strategy for the Rugby World Cup 2015.
In view of the threats to integrity experienced by other sports, World Rugby has put in place a new integrity programme which aims to protect the tournament and its participants from corrupt practices and unauthorised gambling.
In addition, World Rugby has partnered with the UK Gambling Commission along with UK police to establish a sophisticated integrity framework around the event.
Central to World Rugby’s integrity strategy is the delivery of education to all players, teams and match officials. All participants are required to complete the World Rugby online anti-corruption and betting education programme prior to kick off.
The governing body has contracted betting monitoring agency, Sportradar, using its Fraud Detection System. It will monitor global betting markets for any suspicious betting behaviours and anomalous odds movements. In addition, the FDS will also monitor the volumes across the markets to provide a unique insight into potential infringements of the integrity code.
Gosper added: “Corruption is a big issue in sport and we have seen how some sports’ reputations have been damaged by incidents of match-fixing and other breaches of anti-corruption rules. While there is no evidence that a problem exists in rugby we would be naïve to think it could not happen and it would be irresponsible not to implement appropriate measures to guard against it.
“Rugby is now part of the Olympic family and anti-corruption considerations are an integral part of the Olympic Charter. So we have a wider responsibility to the global sports family to uphold the principles of fair play and integrity in every aspect of the tournament. Anti-corruption is a crucial part of that.”
