World Rugby appoints HBS as production partner for Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups

World Rugby has confirmed the continuation of its successful partnership with HBS (Host Broadcast Services) to produce the host broadcast for every Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cup through to 2029.

With World Rugby seeking to grow rugby by increasing accessibility and relevance, HBS will play an active role in projecting the Women’s Rugby World Cups in England in 2025 and Australia in 2029 and the Men’s Rugby World Cup Australia 2027 to new audiences in line with the global body’s multi-platform audience growth strategy.

The partnership between World Rugby and HBS has driven significant advances in audience growth, with Rugby World Cup France 2023 achieving 1.33 billion viewing hours, a 33 per cent increase on the 2019 edition, with significant audience growth achieved in the USA and Germany among other strategic markets. The last Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand also attracted record viewing audiences with over a quarter of the population in New Zealand tuning in to the final. Both events received industry awards for their innovative and impactful coverage.

Under the new deal HBS will again provide the full host broadcast for rugby’s showcase competitions in partnership with World Rugby, including the overall production plan, project management, provision of broadcast equipment and technology, implementation and running of the Rugby World Cup International Broadcast Centres and servicing of rights-holding broadcasters around the world with satellite distribution, unilateral venue services and content creation services.

Mindful of host broadcast production’s environmental impact, HBS and World Rugby will embed sustainability principles in their operations, working hand in hand in the planning phase to reduce avoidable carbon emissions and using innovative technologies to support the international federation’s climate targets.

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “We are excited to be extending our successful partnership with HBS to project our major events to the world. HBS is aligned with our mission to grow rugby’s audience share by focusing on accessibility and relevance and we are both motivated by this challenge.

“At the heart of this partnership is innovation and we are looking forward to working with HBS teams to find creative ways to bring Rugby World Cup to fans around the world in a way they haven’t experienced it before, while finding the necessary efficiencies to limit the environmental impact of our joint production.”

HBS CEO Dan Miodownik added: “We are very proud of our collaborative partnership with World Rugby over the past years and are delighted to carry on working together for the next series of events. The growth of women’s rugby continues apace and the next edition in England ties in with the launch of our new HBS branch in the UK, and we will start this new cycle with the usual objective to keep evolving and innovating to match World Rugby’s ambition.”