RugbyPass TV’s World Cup coverage draws 3.3m views, with 350k new subscribers

Source: World Rugby

World Rugby’s streaming platform, RugbyPass TV, drew a total of 3.3M views and gained more than 350,000 subscribers during its coverage of the Rugby World Cup 2023.

The governing body of Rugby Union tapped Endeavor Streaming to launch the free-to-air global streamer ahead of the World Cup which concluded last month. RugbyPass TV went live September 8, broadcasting matches in all global territories where broadcast deals are not in place. It was hosted on Endeavor Streaming’s end-to-end streaming solution platform Vesper.

The OTT platform streamed nearly 500K hours of content throughout the tournament, earning a total 1.7m global users and attracted nearly 700K live views.

More than 1,000 hours of archive content from historic matches alongside exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, documentary and content produced by World Rugby Studios featured on the streaming service.

According to World Rugby’s data, RugbyPass TV it drew large audiences across Greece, South Korea and Hungary. The platform’s biggest audience was the tournament’s reigning champions, South Africa, followed by the UK and the US.

World Rugby, chief marketing and content officer, James Rothwell said: “World Rugby’s objective is to drive global and diverse fan growth for our sport by making the game as relevant, accessible and entertaining as possible. RugbyPass TV is a cornerstone of our fan engagement strategy and provides a platform to deliver programming to fans around the world through live matches, highlights, on-demand matches and shoulder content.”

Pete Bellamy, chief commercial officer at Endeavor Streaming said “RugbyPass TV’s impressive results exemplify the power that direct-to-consumer services have in reaching fans on a global scale, particularly around highly charged moments such as a World Cup tournament. These platforms are influential and essential tools for helping sports organizations deepen their engagement with fans, offering highly personalized experiences that traditional channels cannot offer.”

RugbyPass TV also streams all fixtures from World Rugby’s upcoming tournaments, including the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups, WXV and the HSBC SVNS series.