Network Ten has revealed its full sponsors' line-up ahead of the upcoming 2019 Rugby World Cup, with brands including Ford, Swisse and insurer TAL among the key brands backing the event.
Arnotts, BetEasy, Jim Beam and Movember also join the list of brands Ten has secured for the global Rugby Union tournament that kicks off tonight when Japan takes on Russia.
Under the rights deal won by Ten and Foxtel, Ten has secured a limited free-to-air broadcast deal, with viewers able to watch 10 games from the tournament, including all games featuring Australia's Wallabies side, right through to the final.
Each game can be viewed live on Ten or streamed on the network's broadcast video on demand (BVOD) platform 10Play.
Speaking to AdNews, Network Ten national sales director Lisa Squillace says the response from brands had been huge, with many attracted to the opportunity to get behind "big sporting events".
Despite the decline in overall TV viewership and live game attendance in Rugby Union over the past few years, Squillace says a global competition is a "completely different scenario", with viewers eager to support Australia on the international stage.
"We haven't had a problem selling sponsorship to be honest. The code, especially due to Australia's performance in the last couple of games has started to attract interest again," Squillace says.
"A world cup is completely different. People are excited to be a part of it and rugby is a real corporate brand-safe experience for sponsors and they recognise the value in that, as well as being behind our national side, The Wallabies."
Ten chief sales officer Rod Prosser says one of the most interesting things for him while selling for the event, was the uptake in sponsorship by the Melbourne market.
Noting its strong ties to the AFL, Prosser says it was surprising how strongly the market was willing to back the event from an advertiser perspective.
"What I'm completely surprised about is the uptake in the southern market with rugby, not just through our major sponsors but also spot sales that have been coming out of this market which is a testament to the fact that rugby has its place,' Prosser says.
"We haven't been too aggressive around the audience numbers but from an audience perspective, we've certainly put some guarantees around it for our partners which they have seen as extremely positive."
The 2019 Rugby World Cup has been one of the other major sporting events on 10 in 2019 including the Supercars Championship, the MotoGP, the Australian Formula 1, The Rugby Championship, the Bledisloe Cup and the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The tournament fits into the network's new strategy around promoting "big event sport", which AdNews previously spoke to Prosser, sports sales director Nisar Malik and head of sports Matt White about.
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