Rugby World Cup Fantasy attracts 457K fans

With a vision to raise the bar for fans globally, World Rugby turned to Genius Sports to build
the Official Fantasy Rugby World Cup 2023 game. The governing body's objectives were to:

The Challenge

At one of the most-watched global sporting events, World Rugby's Official Fantasy World Cup product had to attract new and casual audiences to its owned digital platforms.

At the same time, it needed to provide daily engagement opportunities for the most loyal and avid rugby fans.

Minimising drop-off at the seven-week tournament required the Official Fantasy experience to be inclusive, easy-to-play and socially competitive.

The Solution

Genius built a bespoke Official Fantasy World Cup product that challenged fans to select a team of 15 players with 100 credits and unlimited daily transfers.

Part of the Official World Cup app and website, the fantasy game included auto-selection features and educational content to attract new audiences. "Boosters", including Triple Captain and Super Kicker features, and leaderboards drove daily engagement.

The game was fully branded and utilised team logos and player headshots. User data fed into World Rugby's database via custom integrations with its user account system.

The 2023 Official Rugby Fantasy World Cup game surpassed targets. It will be reused for the HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 series: