2008 Rugby League World Cup Assured Commercial Success

Thursday, May 8, 2008

MEDIA RELEASE

The Rugby League International Federation has today been told the 2008 Rugby League World Cup in Australia, the most ambitious attempted in the tournament’s 54-year history, is already assured of commercial success.

At a meeting of RLIF delegates in Sydney today, Rugby League World Cup 2008 Tournament Director and RLIF Chairman, Mr Colin Love AM, detailed an outstanding list of major corporate sponsors and broadcast partners for the event.

The 13th Rugby League World Cup starts on October 25 with the Official Opening Ceremony on October 26 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The tournament will feature 18 matches at 12 venues in three states over 29 days, culminating with the final on November 22 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

As well as funding support from the Queensland, New South Wales, Victorian and Australian Governments, Mr Love today confirmed that Jetstar had come on board as the official Australian airline, joining a list of corporate partners from major global corporations, which includes: VB, Bundaberg Rum, Telstra, Coca-Cola, Powerade, Harvey Norman, InterContinental, AAMI and Gillette.

“The family of sponsors to come on board represents the cream of Australia’s corporate world, with significant investment from existing Rugby League partners who recognise the value of the sport in reaching consumers,” Mr Love said.

“It’s an outstanding major group of companies that want to be part of history. One thing is certain … they will get enormous exposure.”

With just 170 days to go before the first match, Mr Love also confirmed that the first World Cup in Australia in 31 years has also secured a worldwide audience with a list of national broadcasters that includes: The Nine Network, Fox Sports, Sky Sports (UK), Sky Sport (NZ), Maori TV, Telstra Bigpond, ESPN 360.com, Mai TV (Fiji and Pacific Islands), Showtime Arabia, Canal Satellite (Spain), Ego Total (Israel), Measat (Malaysia Brunei, Indonesia), Orange Sports (France), Gateway Broadcast Services (Africa) and Starhub (Singapore).

Host Broadcaster the Nine Network will televise all nine Super Pool matches and all finals. Fox Sports, who announced details of their involvement today, have secured all other matches along with replay rights for all games.

The Queensland Government has won the right to host the tournament final and a semi-final at Suncorp Stadium, along with five pool matches.

NSW has also supported the event and will host the Opening Ceremony game, a semi-final and pool matches across the state.

Victoria will host one of the tournament’s most anticipated matches, Australia v England, which is being played on November 2 between Derby Day and the Melbourne Cup.

The Federal Government has thrown its support behind a range of tournament initiatives including Festival of World Cups involving Police, Defence Forces, Women, University and Wheelchair tournaments, as well as volunteer programs.

Australian and overseas Rugby League fans have shown they intend to be part of history and attend World Cup matches. Already more than 25,000 tickets have been sold to the Final at Suncorp Stadium on November 22, which appears certain to sell out.

Early sales have also been encouraging for the opening match in Townsville and also for matches in Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle.

Nine official domestic and international travel agents (Australia, UK and New Zealand) have been brought into the World Cup program as licensed travel agents and they are experiencing a great deal of interest from domestic and international tourists.

Interest received suggests thousands of British tourists will make their way to Australia for the World Cup.

Corporate Australia too has embraced the event with over 2000 corporate hospitality packages sold across the 12 venues.

A total of 22 licensees are participating in the World Cup program across 20 different licensed product categories from both Australia and overseas, making it the largest ever licensing program for a Rugby League World Cup.

Australia’s leading sports retailers, Rebel and A-Mart, have already committed to stocking their shelves with World Cup product in anticipation of national pride reaching fever pitch in October and November.

“This is the strongest revenue position for a Rugby League World Cup at this stage,” said Mr Love.
“It’s important to remember the enormous costs associated with an event like this. The most critical fact is that we are in a position to lay a solid platform for the future of the international game.”

Mr Love also recognised the strong team that has been established around the World Cup for their endeavours so far, including hospitality manager Brian Thorburn, leading sports licensee, Velocity Brand Management’s James Ashworth, MJW Advertising, IMG Media and NRL Director of Marketing and Commercial Paul Kind.

For further information:
World Cup Communications Manager:  John Brady 02 9339 8524, 040 888 1222
World Cup Media Director: Tracie Edmondson   02 9237 04488, 041 625 8342