Did you know the Rugby League World Cup starts this week?
If you’re reading this in the north of England then the answer is probably yes. If down south then I suspect the answer is much more likely to be no. This is a huge problem.
Rugby league has one of the most watchable products in British sport. It is fast, physical, easy to understand and packed with elite athletes. Yet once again, as its biggest international tournament approaches, it’s trapped inside its own bubble.
The issue is not the quality of the sport. It’s the distribution and storytelling.
Four years ago, the 2022 Rugby League World Cup was everywhere. Every match was available through the BBC. England’s opening game against Samoa reached a substantial audience and, importantly, the tournament brought people into the sport who had not previously watched rugby league.
This time, every match sits exclusively on Premier Sports in Britain and Ireland. That might make commercial sense in a rights negotiation, but it raises other questions.
Such as: what is the purpose of a Rugby League World Cup?
It’s the shop window the sport has. The moment when people who do not watch Super League every weekend are introduced to the players, the international rivalries and intensity of the sport. Putting that shop window behind a paywall reduces the chances of people discovering it.
Rugby league needs personalities, narrative and cultural relevance
The wider problem is that rugby league too often markets itself to people who already love rugby league.
George Williams, Mikey Lewis, Herbie Farnworth and Jack Welsby are brilliant players. But how many casual sports fans could pick them out of a line-up?
The sport should be creating personalities, rivalries and storylines that mean something beyond its traditional heartlands. That’s the job for the marketing department.
Team-wise, Australia remain the benchmark, but they are no longer untouchable. New Zealand regularly beat them, while Samoa reached the last World Cup final. Tonga have also become a genuine force and England have players performing at the highest level in both Super League and Down Under in the NRL.
There is always jeopardy, brilliant athletes and off-field drama. We just don’t have any noise around the World Cup.
Where are the players on mainstream podcasts, breakfast TV and being serenaded by politicians? Where are the documentaries, creator collaborations and crossover campaigns? Where are Premier League clubs in rugby league heartlands pushing England’s World Cup campaign to their own enormous audiences?
Sport today competes in the attention economy. Rugby league needs to build personalities, narratives and cultural relevance.
Rugby league has spent years wondering why it does not receive the attention it deserves, but no sport deserves any attention. You must compete for it.
With the World Cup about to begin, rugby league’s biggest challenge is not convincing its existing supporters that it matters but connecting with and convincing everyone else.
Simon Dent is an entrepreneur and brand builder with more than 20 years’ experience. He is currently chairman of Counteruck.