A partnership between a Glasgow creative campaigns agency and a grassroots organisation creating better spaces in sport for women and girls has been celebrating a month-long campaign to welcome more people to women’s rugby.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup, won by England at Allianz Twickenham at the weekend (but say it quietly in Glasgow), has been widely lauded as a ‘tipping point’ for the sport to embed in the mainstream. Her Game Too has played its part with celebratory live watch parties throughout the tournament, supported by Think ALT.
Her Game Too, founded in Bristol, and now reaching across England tackling sexism in sport, partnered with ALT to stage pub and sports bar-based watch parties through the tournament, including in Manchester, which saw hundreds of fans, new and old, turn out to create celebratory atmospheres.
READ MORE: BBC Sport extends Women’s Champions League broadcast rights to 2030
Mike Murphy, strategic planner at ALT said: “Before the tournament, everything was in place for a game-changing moment for women’s rugby in the World Cup. What we’ve seen is the World Record for single matches broken, twice, the opener in Sunderland and Final at Twickenham, and the sporting public taking the Red Roses to heart. It was a privilege to be able to amplify the fantastic work of Her Game Too, and see the impact up and down the country.”
In venue incentives, sport prizes, freebies and fundraisers for Her Game Too were wrapped around live screenings, attracting hundreds of supporters.
Her Game Too was founded in 2021 to tackle sexism in football and made its entry into rugby a year later with a partnership with Bristol Bears.
Caz May, founder and CEO of Her Game Too, said: “We are all about providing a safe and supportive environment for female supporters. Rugby crowds have always been welcoming, but we were blown away by the support we received at each venue from the community. After the amazing Lionesses, we were thrilled to be able to bring people together to celebrate the Red Roses completing an historic summer for women’s sport.
“It was enormously encouraging to see how many had made a point of attending one of the watch parties as their chosen location to enjoy the sport they love, and be welcomed in such a positive and warm fashion by our event hosts.”
This was the first time Her Game Too watch parties have crossed into rugby, after the huge success of its Women’s Euro Championships watch parties earlier summer, when England’s Lionesses lifted the trophy.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup broke new records for popularity of the game, with almost 450,000 match tickets being sold, culminating in a new record for a women’s game when close to 82,000 attended the final at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham. Outside the stadiums, the popularity also reached new heights, with the BBC reporting more than 5.8m viewers and download streams for the tournament finale where England overcame Canada.
ALT has a rich history in creative sports campaigns, particularly in women’s sport, and has recently worked on the Women’s Football Euros for UEFA and the successful World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, which brought male and female boxing together under the same roof for the first time in a World Championship format.
