USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in America, has appointed SPORTFIVE as the organization’s exclusive global sports marketing agency of record.
USA Rugby has partnered with SPORTFIVE to help grow its business and increase engagement with its members and more than eight million fans in America (per GlobalWebIndex 2019). In its role, SPORTFIVE will provide USA Rugby with its extensive expertise delivering best in class services for global rightsholders, including insights and research, digital audience development and fan engagement, commercial and sponsorship development, media rights negotiations, and experiential marketing and live event production.
SPORTFIVE’s Data and Insights team will leverage third party and proprietary research tools to develop a comprehensive understanding of USA Rugby’s current fanbase and potential avenues for growth. The agency’s Digital team will work with USA Rugby to further develop and execute a social media and creative strategy across their digital channels. SPORTFIVE will also provide USA Rugby with custom go-to-market strategies and comprehensive sales support to help grow its roster of corporate partners.
In addition, SPORTFIVE’s Media Division will provide strategy and marketing services for USA Rugby’s media and content relationships in an effort to maximize the organization’s audience. Rooftop2 Productions, SPORTFIVE’s experiential marketing and production agency, will also provide activation and live event services to the organization and its sponsors.
"This partnership with SPORTFIVE is a game changer for us as we look to expand the footprint of rugby in America,” said Ross Young, Chief Executive Officer of USA Rugby. “SPORTFIVE's proven expertise and track record will increase our ability to deliver value for fans, commercial partners and the rugby community across the spectrum. Their portfolio of clients and range of services across digital marketing, sales and public relations will complement the foundations we've built and allow us to build our positioning against some of the top brands in the U.S. sporting world.'
“Rugby is a hugely popular global sport that is gaining a larger foothold in the US, and as the governing body for the sport in America, USA Rugby has tremendous growth potential,” said Marc Tarozzi, Executive Vice President of Rooftop2 Productions and SPORTFIVE. “With SPORTFIVE’s long history of driving the businesses of global sports properties, and with our extensive knowledge of sports like rugby, we’re excited at the opportunity to help USA Rugby grow its business and fanbase.”
SPORTFIVE has an experienced and robust global network providing cutting edge services to sports rightsholders around the world. The agency has a portfolio of more than 60,000 rightsholders, brands, hospitality clients and broadcasters, and managed rights and delivered premium events across more than 30 different sports, some of which include Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Boston Athletic Association (Boston Marathon), Bundesliga, English Football Association (FA), English Premier League, Los Angeles Lakers, LPGA, and PGA TOUR, among many others.
In rugby, SPORTFIVE works with the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) selling marketing rights for the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. It also works in different capacities with several top teams in the French Top 14 league, the French National Rugby League, the French Rugby Federation, the French Supersevens League, and the Six Nations Rugby Championship.
ABOUT USA RUGBY:
Founded in 1975, USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in America, and a Full Sport Member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and World Rugby. Headquartered in Glendale, Colorado, USA Rugby is charged with developing the game at all levels with over 110,000 active members. USA Rugby oversees four senior national teams, multiple junior national teams and an emerging Olympic development pathway for elite athletes. In 2009, Rugby returned to the Olympic movement. Rugby Sevens was played most recently at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021) with the next upcoming Games in Paris 2024.
ABOUT SPORTFIVE:
SPORTFIVE utilizes the unique emotional power of sports to create and enable pioneering partnerships in sports. By delivering responsible commercialization, full-service-solutions and long-term value for all stakeholders in sports, SPORTFIVE strategically and creatively connects brands, rightsholders, media platforms and fans by leveraging a global network paired with decades of experience and innovative spirit. As market leader and with customer centricity and vast data intelligence at its core, SPORTFIVE often leads the sports business into the future through its innovative digital solutions and thereby always aims to be the most progressive and respected partner in sports. SPORTFIVE operates as an international sports business and marketing agency with a global mindset and network of over 1,200 local experts based in 15 countries around the world, active in football, golf, esports, motorsport, handball, tennis, American football and many more. For more information please visit SPORTFIVE’s website, content hub and social profiles.
ABOUT ROOFTOP2 PRODUCTIONS:
Rooftop2, a SPORTFIVE company, is a Sports & Entertainment agency that makes fans cheer for properties, teams, and brands by creating experiences and content that tell clients’ stories through unmissable moments which build the meaningful connections and lasting memories that drive business results. Rooftop2 offers end-to-end solutions, including all aspects of ideation, creation and execution, for Sports Experiences, Experiential Marketing, Live Events and Content Creation. For more information go to www.Rooftop2.com, and follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rt2nyc/) and Twitter (Twitter.com/Rooftop2NYC).