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The Rugby Football League partner with InCrowd to launch their Our League membership platform

In 2017, InCrowd partnered with the Rugby Football League (RFL) in order to build, launch and deliver priceless experiences for fans in time for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and the 2018 rugby league season.

The Rugby Football League (RFL) approached InCrowd to realise their ambitions to build a world leading membership platform for spectators, viewers and participants of rugby league. Plans for a membership website and mobile apps included exclusive content, member benefits, participation features, a ticketing integration, gamification and polls to help drive fan experience and return on investment for the RFL. The launch was planned to perfectly coincide with the 2017 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2017) in Australia, giving new members the chance to support England in their quest for glory.

InCrowd provided the necessary resource and expertise to ensure the deadline was met, resulting in the on time launch of the official Our League app and website. InCrowd worked with many of the RFL’s partners integrating Tickethour, and a loyalty scheme via Rewards4 Rugby League. Working with StreamAMG, the platform also saw live streaming of a match 4 days post launch, which proved a successful addition to increase registrations with over 40,000 live views of England’s warm up fixture against Affiliated States. Live streaming was also delivered for the Women’s Rugby League World Cup (WRLWC2017).

Fans were able to fully immerse themselves in the RLWC2017 and WRLWC2017 for free, including behind the scenes content and huge prizes, including Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final ticket discounts, signed England shirts and premium tickets to all major UK rugby league events in 2018. The Grand Prize was an all expenses paid trip for two to Australia, to watch the RLWC2017 final. One lucky member, Neil Cunliffe, and is wife were flown to watch England in the final in Australia as a result of finishing top of the membership leaderboard after the Quarter Finals.

 

2018 Rugby League Season

After RLWC2017, work was extended to the 2018 Rugby League season. In the first seven weeks of the season the Our League platforms powered by FanScore had already seen nearly 12,000 participants in the Betfred Super League predictor game and consistently receives 3,000 – 4,000 Betfred Man of the Match votes, thanks to InCrowd’s first live participation TV initiative with Sky Sports. Since launch, over 12k Our League members have voted for their Man of the Match.

Membership is a significant step forward for the Rugby Football League. In September we didn’t have anything and now in February we have a membership system with over 36,000 active members.

Richard Donlon, Systems Manager, The RFL

Working with Sports Technology Group (STG) and FluidCM we have been able to deliver a rugby league player dashboard showing stats and comparison to other players within a player’s division.In addition to this, InCrowd and the RFL have big plans for the future of Our League. These plans include a wider ranging comparisons within the player dashboard, a Betfred Super League to community leagues match centre, private predictor leagues, head-to-heads, coaching content and personalised membership experiences. We are excited about our continuing work with the RFL to engage the rugby league audience.

For more information, or for details on how InCrowd can help you reach out to your fans, please contact enquiries@incrowdsports.com

Visit the Our League website here

Download the iOS app

Download the Android app

 

About InCrowd

InCrowd provide a fan engagement & sponsorship activation platform. Our understanding of the avid and emotional mindset of a fan is combined with in-depth data analysis and ground-breaking digital technology to offer rights holders and brands a unique opportunity to reach out to sports fans in the moments that really matter. Many of the world‘s top rights holders & brands use InCrowd’s fan marketing platform to collect more fan data, sell more tickets and increase sponsorship revenue. We also help sponsors connect with new customers and convert fan interaction into revenue & advocacy. 

InCrowd at the 2015 Rugby Expo

InCrowd will be present at the Rugby Expo from November 26th – 27th on stand A6. We will be on hand to discuss our club apps, sponsorship opportunities and to explain our award winning stadium connectivity solution.

We will also be running our mobile game competition; ‘Handoff Challenge’ where you will be able to test your skills against some rugby legends. The top scorer across the two days will be awarded an iPad.

So feel free to come and say hello and take part!

 

A Ryder Cup for rugby?

With a hugely successful 6 Nations behind us and Rugby World Cup approaching, I look at how rugby fans are treated to relatively little international competition rugby and how a few small changes would create a compelling tournament with similar aspects to golf’s Ryder Cup.

 

If we have any more days like Saturday (the final day of the 6 Nations), 2015 will be a boon for rugby fans and players alike, not to mention for sponsors, broadcasters and merchandisers. I am a rugby fan but it is the first time I have watched three back to back matches.

But the excitement surrounding the 6 Nations and the World Cup is a stark reminder of how little international competition rugby we are treated to in the UK. British teams, like their Southern Hemisphere counterparts, rarely compete in more than one tournament annually. Around the big competitions, we as fans snack on friendlies such as the Autumn Internationals, an annual tour of Southern Hemisphere teams to the UK, which while compelling, lacks the building narrative of a league or knockout format.

It is this narrative that had us all enthralled at the weekend, it is this narrative that would have a Welsh fan rapt by a Scotland vs. Argentina game, if it would indirectly affect the fortunes of their national team. As it happened, the friendly I have in mind in November 2014 didn’t even hold much allure for the Scots themselves; Murrayfield was left almost half empty.

The irony of the Autumn Internationals is they consistently boast the world’s best players, greatest showdowns and higher concentration of top ranked matches than the Rugby World Cup. Nearly half of its 2014 friendlies had winning margins of less than one try, yet we struggle to recall those winning moments. They simply didn’t matter as much to the fans, the press or the big business that surrounds our sport.

Rugby’s governors would merely have to tweak the Autumn Internationals to create a more exciting – and lucrative – competition. Considering the political and logistical impediments to changing international schedules, the most difficult part of what I propose (finding time in the schedules of the world’s greatest players and buy in from the governing bodies) has already been achieved.

The annual spectre of the Autumn Internationals could be refashioned into an annual tournament pitching the best of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres against each other. Think the Ryder Cup meets Lion’s Tour, think Super Bowl or Grand Final, think All Stars vs. Barbarians. If England’s recent World Cup performances in cricket and football are anything to go by, we may need another tournament.

Excited fans also attract business. The 2015 World Cup will generate broadcasting revenues in excess of £100m and sell over 2.3 million tickets. The 6 Nations generates £300 million in revenue each year, double that of the RFU (England’s governing body) a substantial amount of whose income comes from the 6 Nations. The Autumn Internationals could be much more profitable for each nation with the added ingredient of narrative.

Here’s how it might work:

Firstly, take the top six teams from each hemisphere:

Northern Hemisphere GroupSouthern Hemisphere Group
EnglandAustralia
FranceArgentina
IrelandFiji
ItalyNew Zealand
ScotlandSamoa
WalesSouth Africa

4 matches per team
Each team from the Northern Hemisphere Group would play four teams from the Southern Hemisphere Group including two of the “big three” – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – and visa versa.

Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere battle
A similar points system would operate to the Rugby World Cup. Teams would collect points to climb the standings in their own group and also to build points for their hemisphere (or group) as a whole. Every point for every team would matter in the context of the Northern vs. Southern Hemisphere battle.

Grand Final
Following the end of the group stage, the top team from each Hemisphere would play a Grand Final worth double points for their Hemisphere. The build up to this final would be immense, there would not be a neutral supporter in the world.

Hemisphere with most points wins
A trophy and prize money would be awarded to the Hemisphere with the most points with prize money distributed to players based on how many points they won for their Hemisphere. A separate trophy would go to the winner of the Grand Final.

Cricket, football and athletics each have successful secondary tournaments that don’t come around every year. There’s little obstacle for World Rugby to follow suit. I can’t wait for the World Cup but I don’t want to wait another four years to see England play competitively against the likes of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.