MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH A SOCIAL IMPACT LEGACY PROGRAMME

As excitement surrounding the tournament gathers momentum, it’s time to take stock on what we’ve achieved so far – and how we plan to measure success.

When we first set out on this journey five years ago, our collective vision was clear; to stage the biggest and best ever Rugby League World Cup, that would not only put the sport on a global stage but would also be a commercial success.

If I stand back and look at what we’ve achieved so far in terms of visibility, awareness and credibility, the results are already something for us to be proud of.

The recent draw, conducted at Buckingham Palace by the Rugby Football League’s patron, the Duke of Sussex, was a brilliant day for all involved and for the sport itself.

With global media interest at a high, the event resulted in front page national newspaper coverage and created a momentous buzz around the tournament.

This welcome boost of interest and excitement will help lead us towards our goal of being the most attended and viewed Rugby League World Cup.

However, our vision has always been so much more than just ticket sales and viewing figures. 

For us, the true value of what we do is around inspiring both existing and new generations of consumers to engage with the sport, whilst tangibly delivering genuine and long-lasting impact to the communities we work with.

Measuring what matters

In my view, the major sporting event world has not done enough to demonstrate the real human impact and tangible social benefit these events can deliver.

Undoubtedly these are less straightforward to measure than quantitative metrics such as ticket sales and awareness, making it hard for major event organisers to truly assess their contribution to society. As a result, the numbers presented are sometimes questionable.

We want to be at the forefront of this challenge, by setting out to deliver demonstrable, positive impact on people’s lives whilst addressing social mobility, particularly in hard to reach communities.

We have designed our InspirationALL legacy programme with this in mind, implementing a number of key initiatives that go beyond the sport itself.

Our legacy programme has a strong focus on health and resilience, including being the first major sports event to deliver a mental fitness charter. We also have an exciting cultural programme under development that will include dance, choir and storytelling.

On an international level, we’re staging a series of community competitions in July 2021. This Festival of World Cups will involve the armed forces, emerging nations, masters, schools and people with physical and learning disabilities.

In addition, through our International Development Programme, we’re setting out to engage and up-skill people from 16 nations, through workshops and business networking events.

The exam question for both us, and for rights holders going forward, is how we quantify the use of public and private funds for programmes, such as ours.

To demonstrate the tangible impact of our work we have recently collaborated with UK Sport and Sport England to appoint consultants, The Sports Consultancy and Substance to help develop a ‘theory of change’ model.

This model will give us a methodology by which to measure the real social benefit. The focus will be across the breadth of the InspirationALL programme and will not be exclusively centred on increasing participation in the sport. People, pride and place will be at the very core.

Clearly, there is a lot to do over the next 20 months, but I believe we have set ourselves up for success by designing the InspirationALL programme in a way that can be measured effectively. Setting the benchmark for the major sporting events sector in the years ahead.

One game. Together.

For me, one of the most rewarding elements of my role so far has been the pioneering work we have done around inclusivity.

The recent coverage around the draw centred a lot on the fact that, for the first time in Rugby League history, the tournament will stage the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair competitions together in a single, celebratory event. 

It was fantastic to see how well received this was and I look forward to continuing the momentum this year.

Sharing learnings

I have learned a lot personally from attending a wide range of sports and entertainment events over the years.

It is my intention to now pay this forward by passing on everything we do and learn as the RLWC2021 team via UK Sport and beyond. Our cultural approach is to view ourselves as a learning lab in an ever-changing world of media consumption.

An example of this was our partnership with the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 team last year, in which we signed an agreement to cooperate and share insights and knowledge regularly, with the aim of supporting and learning from each other.

Looking to the future, I believe all sporting events will be measured not just by commercial success, but by the social impact they make on local and global communities, the difference they make to the sport and the tangible legacy they leave behind.