More Than a Game: Whisper To Showcase Social Impact of Rugby League World Cup as Part of Host Broadcast Coverage

More than a game: Whisper to showcase the social impact of Rugby League World Cup as part of host broadcast coverage By Will Strauss, Editor

Friday, October 14, 2022 - 09:19

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On the eve of the delayed Rugby League World Cup 2021, SVG Europe caught up with the two host broadcasters for the tournament, Whisper and BBC Sport, to find out how they will cover the matches for both a global and domestic audience. In the first of the two interviews, we speak to Whisper head of sport Pete Thomas and match director Matt Roberts.

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) kicks off this weekend (Saturday 15 October) with the best men's, women's and wheelchair nations going head to head for the biggest prize in the sport.

Delayed due to the pandemic, the 2021 edition, which is being hosted in England, will see all three competitions played out in parallel for the first time.

The first match sees hosts England face Samoa in the men's tournament, in a game that will be played at St James' Park stadium in Newcastle. And the hosts are far from a shoo-in to win this one. But more of that later.

Broadcasters from around the globe have picked up rights for the highly anticipated tournament, with live match action being broadcast or streamed to 22 territories and totalling more than 150 countries.

The BBC will broadcast all 61 games in the UK, some on TV, some streamed, but all free-to-air. While BeIN SPORTS has the rights in France and Spark Sport has exclusivity in New Zealand (with some matches free via Warner Bros. Discovery). In Australia, matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports via the Foxtel and Kayo Sports platforms.

To feel like we've given a voice to everything that's going on as part of the World Cup, and show the social change that will take place, is up there with us showing the best angle of a try in the final.

The host broadcast duties for the RLWC are being shared by BBC Sport and Whisper, the independent production company.

Whisper is doing 45 of the games during the four-week tournament, across 21 stadiums, most of which are in the north of England, the part of the UK where the sport of rugby league is most popular. The BBC will do 16, including the men's and women's finals.

Telling the story of each match, and capturing the excitement of the crowds and the event, are, of course, top of the agenda for both parties but there is more to the host coverage than match-winning tries and hard-hitting tackles, as Whisper head of sport Pete Thomas (pictured, below) explains.

It's a really interesting one, with this tournament. Obviously, we are looking at the core product of what's happening on the field and delivering the entertainment of, and the storytelling of the sporting event that's taking place in front of you. And the fact that this World Cup is unique, three World Cups in one World Cup, I don't think that's ever happened before. The way that the Rugby League World Cup has presented that is something that really appeals to us.

So the challenge we set for us, is to represent those three competitions as part of one bigger tournament and for it to feel like one family and to encourage viewers to be across all three in one and to follow all those games. That's something that we are really desperate to get across as part of our World Feed.

But there is another angle too, he adds.

I think also the efforts that the Rugby League World Cup are going to off the field, the programmes that they are putting in place to support local people, even the teams themselves, there are some fantastic things that are going on alongside the tournament.

Through investment, the event's Social Impact Programme has led to improvements in local facilities, economies and the physical and mental health of populations living in deprived areas where the tournament is being staged. That will be showcased on-screen.

We are asking, continues Thomas, how can we show what is going on alongside this tournament, the social impact change that's coming as part of this tournament, what the game is doing to help people, and how it helps people on a daily basis? That's a big target for us.

Optional kick

As with any major sporting tournament, there is also a pseudo-educational aspect to the coverage. This is crucial for attracting and retaining those occasional rugby league viewers or those who are watching the sport for the first time. But not at the expense of the avid supporter.

The wheelchair [tournament] offers us a route into that, says Thomas. Most people won't have seen the wheelchair game. There are rarely, I think, [disability] versions of sports that tie in so much to the core game. The wheelchair game, when you're on-site, it just feels, smells and looks exactly like rugby league. But there'll be lots of people coming to it for the first time. So we are working on explainers, little accompanying VT packages that don't feel like they're being forced on you, but are there to educate and to give you a little bit of advice.

The main gallery operation, graphics, digital clipping and video referees will all be housed in one building: creating the maximum amount of content from the feeds and allowing the most efficient workflows with multiple games a day through one gallery.

I think a big part of this is also to ensure that we inform viewers all the way through as to what's going on in the wider picture of the World Cup and the tournament itself, so that you're not watching a game on its own.

Whether that's creating heroes, or creating characters that people can relate to, that helps you to then become informed about the game. Or if it's just the context of the results of group tables. They might seem like really small things, but as long as we're continuing to infor

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