rfu And Sport Unlimited Recruit Podcast For New Campaign

The Rugby Football Union (RFU), has collaborated with UK-based sports agency Sport UNLIMITED to deliver an integrated participation campaign called ‘Play Together, Stay Together.’

Supported by The National Lottery, the campaign is aimed at encouraging lapsed players of all levels back into the game, with a particular focus on 30+ social players in the men’s game where playing numbers have dropped following the pandemic.

The campaign used insight from Sport UNLIMITED’s Human Understanding Lab (HUL), into the motivations and barriers critical to driving demand for the game.

Part of the campaign saw England rugby legends, Mike Tindall and James Haskell, hosted a one-off match with a star-studded group of former England internationals taking to the field with grassroots players in a celebration of rugby’s ability to ‘create communities, forge friendships and keep players physically active.’

In collaboration with The Good, The Bad & The Rugby (GB&R) podcast, the match was live streamed across RFU channels to over 83,000 viewers, with further content distributed across RFU, GB&R and player channels.

Lee Gibbons, MD, Sport UNLIMITED commented, “The campaign works on so many levels and reminds us about the importance of human connection and the fun and sense of belonging you have at a rugby club.

Rugby has faced more challenges than most sports during the pandemic, due to its contact nature and the enforced break during Covid. Match completion rates in lower leagues in the men’s game fell last season and some social XVs struggled to field enough players to fulfil fixtures.

Play Together, Stay Together is part of the RFU’s wider activity to reboot playing numbers in the community game. The campaign demonstrates perfectly how Sport UNLIMITED understand the emotions and passions behind the sport and how we can turn that insight in to an engaging creative execution.”