Corporate sponsors attracted to Rugby World Cup glitz - the world's third largest sporting event - will be enticed into costly deals for 2015 with promises of massive website traffic to the game's official website.
During last year's RWC, hosted by New Zealand, the official game website enjoyed 17 million unique visitors to its website. With that type of traffic - the game's best ever - future sponsorship deals, some of which include web presence, will have a greater price tag attached.
The RWC website prominently displays material relating to its commercial partners, including Heineken.
In launching its 2015 England RWC website today, chairman Bernard Lapasset also pointed to the 3.5 million downloads of the official tournament app and the 1.4 million Facebook 'likes'. On YouTube there were 4.5 million views on the RWC page.
The RWC's website was integral last year in channeling ticket sales and this will be even more so the case in 2015 when three million will be sold to 48 matches.
Paul Vaughan, CEO of Rugby World Cup 2015 Tournament Organisers
England Rugby 2015, said the internet portal was crucial in reaching its international audience - something that continues to appeal to sponsors.
“The
geographical spread of the Rugby audience means that we have to find and
use the quickest and best ways of communicating the Rugby World Cup
2015 message," Vaughan said.
“The Rugby World Cup website provides the cornerstone for all of our
digital platforms. We have a fresh look and feel with a striking new
Tournament script and we want to tell the world that England is ready to
welcome them in 2015 with open arms.
“Fans from all over the world will be able to keep abreast of everything
as it unfolds, from the build up to the ticketing launch through to the
final whistle of the RWC Final. The next three years will pass very
quickly and what fans can do from day one is to register their interest
through the website to get all the latest information.”
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