The Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) has today unveiled the first of the game’s World Cup legacies announcing an expanded international program, and a projected surplus of more than $5million to help develop the international game between now and the next World Cup in 2013.

Chairman of the RLIF and Tournament Director of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, Mr Colin Love AM, said today that the competition had delivered on its key goals even before Saturday night’s final between Australia and New Zealand at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

“The goal of this tournament was to re-establish the World Cup as a viable event in its own right and to raise funds to support the international game,” said Mr Love.

“On the first count we’ve seen exciting and competitive matches throughout the tournament and I congratulate the players and the coaches for the spirit in which they have been played.

“To date the only team that has been able to emerge undefeated has been Australia and it is now beyond dispute that this is one of the greatest Kangaroos teams ever selected.

“The 243,349 fans – an average of over 14,300 per game - who have been to matches to date have enjoyed being a part of the event as have the millions who have watched and listened both here and overseas.

“The Australian Rugby League jumper has become the biggest selling national sporting jersey in the country, English fans have ensured a sea of red and white at each of their matches and supporters of every competing nation have created an unforgettable atmosphere of celebration.

“This tournament was always a starting point for bigger things in the years ahead and the foundations that have been laid give the World Cup the capacity to grow enormously.”

Mr Love said the RLIF had already received significant expressions of interest from parties wishing to be involved in the 2013 tournament in whichever country it is contested.

“In terms of what we need to achieve going forward, the surplus from this World Cup is not a large one and it will be important that we use those funds responsibly in the years ahead,” he said.

“We have today unveiled significant additions to the international calendar and the RLIF will begin consultation with all nations to look at the best ways of investing in the game’s development.

“In short, step one has been to ensure that Rugby League can generate funds for international development and step two will be to ensure that money is spent wisely.

“Already the event has made a significant contribution to that development by not only providing unprecedented exposure for Rugby League among some of the competing nations but through the three years of international competition conducted through both qualifying matches and the tournament in Australia.”

The following is a review of key tournament indicators. While some finals revenue projections are factored in, it is important to note that crowds and ratings data does not include any finals projections and will increase accordingly.

The International Calendar (additional to domestic Test programs and regional tournaments)

Benefits to Rugby League Nations

• PNG Government is looking to make major infrastructure investments in Rugby League.
• Profile of the game in nations including Fiji, Ireland (28 radio stations in Ireland carried interview material distributed by the tournament) and Scotland has never been higher.
• Tonga and Samoa rivalry has captured the imagination of Rugby League fans with calls for annual events.
• The RLIF will work with each nation to determine the next steps in developing the game.

Television Ratings

• Matches in Australia have attracted:
  • 4,955,723 viewers across Australia’s five capital cities
  • 3,022,426 viewers across WIN and NBN regionally
  • 971,488 viewers on subscription Fox Sports.
• English Audiences through BSkyB Television and the BBC have enjoyed free to air and Subscription Television coverage.
• BBC peaked at 1.5 million viewers for the England vs New Zealand semi-final highlights (more viewers than the England v Australia Rugby Union highlights on the same day.) To date, only one of BBC’s five weekend highlights shows has failed to reach a peak viewing figure of 1 million.
• BSkyB’s live coverage attracted a peak audience of 420,000 for the England v New Zealand semi-final and a total audience in excess of 2 million across the tournament.
• New Zealand viewership on SKY Sports attracted in excess of 1.2 million viewers throughout the tournament.
• Fiji’s demand for World Cup matches led to the country’s supply of UHF aerials selling out as people tuned into Mai TV. Special ‘live sites’ were arranged in Queen’s Park, Suva, to allow people to see the semi-final, forcing the closure of key streets. Mai TV estimates a cumulative audience of approximately 500,000 viewers.
• PCCW in Hong Kong dedicated Now Sport 6 to run RLWC back-to-back (live / repeats / highlights) throughout the tournament.

• A total of 243,349 have attended World Cup matches.
• Average crowd per game 14,315.

On-Line

• More than 1.2million visits were recorded on RLWC08 website up until the weekend of the final.
• More than 718,000 of these visitors were unique users.
• They included people from 161 countries.
• October 26 (day one of the tournament) established over a 12-hour peak period, 49,808 unique users. The total average per event day was 32,243.
• More than 272,000 video streaming sessions were conducted through Telstra including live match telecasts and highlights.

   

• Coverage has extended throughout Australia and overseas through 2GB, the ABC, BBC, Radio Network New Zealand, National Broadcasting Corporation of New Guinea and Pacific Island broadcasts.

• Of the 725 media accredited, 212 have been from overseas based organizations. They generated significant coverage across all nations and throughout Australia’s eastern sea-board.

• 6800 travel packages from official travel program taking in the UK, New Zealand and Australia (this does not include independent travellers who have arrived without pre-purchasing tickets).
• Length of stay from UK visitors ranged from one to four weeks.
• More than 40 official corporate functions have been held around the tournament
• The number of corporate hospitality packages sold at matches is 7500.

• The Australian Rugby League jersey will finish the Centenary Season as the highest selling sports jumper in the country.
• Merchandise sales at venues has more than doubled expectations.
• Overall more than 120,000 pieces of World Cup apparel have been purchased.

   

• The tournament is expected to return a surplus of more than $5million which will fund future development of the game and future competitions

• Five festival World Cup competitions were conducted during the Centenary celebrations including Universities (8 countries: Australia def England); Police (5 countries: Fiji def New Zealand); Women’s (8 countries: New Zealand def Australia); Defence Forces (5 countries: England def Australia); Wheelchair World Cup (3 countries and a Barbarians team: England def Australia).
• The five Festival competitions have been responsible for bringing 30 teams together. Together with the 10 senior teams in the main competition they took the total number of participants and support staff involved in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup to 1200.