Rugby World Cup 2023: World Rugby’s broadcast and direct-to-fan strategy boosted by Stats Perform for a stickier tournament

The momentum graphic used in the Rugby World Cup 2023 visualises the ebbs and flows in a game. Who’s had the ascendency? Who hasn’t capitalised on the pressure they’ve created? it has been created through the joint efforts of World Rugby, CapGemini and Stats Perform

As the 2023 Rugby World Cup reaches its climax, we sat down with Stats Perform’s vice president of rights, Edward Fleet, as well as the company’s rugby product owner, Will Kane, to go behind the scenes and explore how its bid to simplify advanced rugby data via new facts, tools and video are a central part of the tournament experience.

Spearheaded by a three-way partnership between Stats Perform, CapGemini and World Rugby, viewers can experience a more ‘sticky’ tournament thanks to new features they are now able to access. Major tournaments are big moments for the Stats Perform team and its clients, said Fleet: “The eyes that are drawn in during a major tournament provide enormous opportunity for our clients, whether they be broadcasters, teams, social platforms or media companies, to grow their audience and grow their revenues. But to do that can take a little bit of magic; that’s where data comes in, illuminating a moment, a game or a tournament and opening up new stories.

“We’re fortunate that both World Rugby and CapGemini could see how our new stats, insights and content would bring fans closer to the game, and wanted to ensure that they became a central feature of how fans experienced the tournament, wherever they were following it, including on broadcasts and World Rugby’s own direct-to-fan platforms,” he said. “Having supported the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the FIBA Basketball World Cup already this year, the Rugby World Cup has been the cherry on top of a very successful 12 months powering World Cup experiences for Stats Perform,” Fleet noted.

World Rugby’s clients use PressBox Graphics to keep fans up to date with their players stats at the Rugby World Cup 2023

New rugby stories 

Stats Perform’s Opta data is perhaps best known for delivering new metrics like xG to fans in football, but progress in the broadcast and digital spaces has been slower in sports like rugby. That changed for RWC 2023 with the launch of real time data feeds for metrics including Expected Points, Momentum and Game Predictions.

According to Kane some of those metrics are already making a mark on the tournament. “Momentum is a massive part of any rugby match, often spoken about, but it’s never been quantified particularly well. By understanding and presenting momentum shifts in a consumable way, we’ve enabled World Rugby to provide fans new perspectives on a game and what might happen next,” he said.

Predictions have also been very popular with media and fans, as they have for other sports. Kane added: “Our predictive data is also being used heavily during the competition, with multiple media outlets using our tournament predictions to spark fan debate. Again, it’s about objectively quantifying what fans might already have a view on, and by incorporating the predictions into our tools like RugbyHub, in addition to our research team’s media packs, it gets great headlines for the tournament.”

Also RugbyHub Live, Kane noted, is useful for both media and pro teams alike to access low latency live stats, hundreds of historical and 2023 tournament data points, and easy access to advanced and predictive metrics, all updating as the match unfolds.

Direct to the fan

This tournament has seen an increased focus from World Rugby in going direct to the fan, continued Fleet. “Part of our deal with World Rugby is to provide data and editorial support directly for their fast-growing B2C website, Rugby Pass. It’s become more and more important for rights holders to have multiple touchpoints with casual and core fans and making World Rugby properties the obvious place to find critical match and tournament information, before, during and after it ends.”

Additionally, Stats Perform’s Opta data and PressBox Graphics tool are being used by RWC stakeholders to create unique data-led graphics that boost audience growth on social media, in articles, broadcasts and more. Together they form a simple way to quickly turn the vast Opta sports database into content to connect with fans and helps create highly sponsorable assets.

Video has also played a huge part in this World Cup so far with several viral moments, tense press conferences and thrilling match highlights as well as stats-based analysis. Stats Perform has provided over 800 video clips to World Rugby during the competition, who are distributing them to partners through an easy-to-implement widget, used by media giants like NBC, The Guardian and the Top14 league to name a few.

Stats Perform is also providing video to its clients via API feeds. “We have a team of 12 video journalists at the tournament providing a wide range of clips from key press conference coverage and data-led insights videos, to fun behind-the-scenes content. Varying delivery methods, formats and languages make it really easy for any client to implement our video,” says Fleet. “The videos help give fans a more immersive experience at the tournament, drive stickiness and also help keep fan (and potential fan) awareness levels high.”

Fleet concluded: “There is magic in the detail of sport, and it’s been brilliant to see World Rugby, CapGemini and all the global media and broadcasters bring that detail to life for rugby in 2023.”