Organisers of the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) have hailed the success of the tournament after taking the decision to play the women’s and the wheelchair competitions alongside the men’s event.
RLWC chief executive Jon Dutton told the BBC the decision to choose “reach over revenue” helped to make the tournament a “resounding success”.
BBC Online reported that the decisions to play all the different version of the tournament at the same time affected ticket sales, but with all games being shown live on the BBC achieved record TV figures and reached a wider audience than ever.
“We’ve got a new audience the sport didn’t have,” said Dutton.
“They’ve been attracted by how brilliant wheelchair rugby is to consume, for example, and what’s happened here in the women’s game is transformational.
“Different people will have a different take but, for us, the structure has been a resounding success.”
Jon added that the rising interest also generated additional commercial benefits.
He said: “We’ve had limited broadcast revenue and we’ve chosen reach over revenue in that regard, which was the right decision. We made it free-to-air rather than going behind a paywall. We’ve got 15 commercial partners who are new to the sport.”
Played by teams of five with all players using sports wheelchairs similar to those used in wheelchair basketball, a game lasts for two 40-minute halves on a court approximately 46m by 20m.
It has similar rules and scoring to the running game but you tackle an opponent by removing a tag from their shoulder. A team’s possession lasts for six tackles before the ball is handed over, as in rugby league.
Tries are scored by touching the ball down although players with more restricted mobility can touch the ball against the wheel of their chair.
Conversions and penalty goals are taken from an extended kicking tee which must be no higher than the wheel of the kicker and all kicking is done by hand, using a fist.
