BUCS Super Rugby League Management Committee

Transcription

1 BUCS Super Rugby League Management Committee Date: Thursday 5 th October Time: 2pm 5pm (lunch served at 1:30pm) Venue: Twickenham Stadium, Box 3083 Attendees: Ian Pickup Chair (IP), Chris Campbell - SAG Deputy Chair (CC), Mark Richard Northumbria (MR), Ian Smyth - Leeds Beckett (IS), Mark Saltmarsh RFU (MS), Mark Imrie Rugby Vertical (MI), Richard Jackson Rugby Vertical (RJ), Sam Hurley Academic Rep (SH), Paul O'Leary - BUCS Programme Manager (POL), Nick Sargent - BUCS Marketing (NS), Simon Cruise - BUCS Executive Support (SC), Katrina Bass BUCS Intern Apologies WRU Rep; South Institutional Rep, Barbara Sike BUCS Programme Assistant (BS) Ref Agenda Item Actions 1.0 Introduction and Welcome IP welcomed everyone to the new season of BUCS Super Rugby. Introductions were made for everyone due to new members of the group. 2.0 Matters Arising Discussion about student reps on LMC early in season and students currently have a lot on their plate with studies & training etc. CC mentioned about SAG also looking for a student rep, likely to be a different student though due to commitment levels. It was brought up about James Forrester from Hartpury being a BUCS regional student rep and could perhaps be interested.

2 3.0 Rugby Detail - Stats collection and analysis for Data collection will be increased this year as was seen to be valued last year in many facets of BSR. Data is also being collected from each programme s performance analysis teams. - Rugby Union Programme Assistant Barbara Sike is now in post and will be spending half of time working on BSR, primarily statistics and marketing, and the other half on the wider rugby union programme. - BSR Crowd Charter (appendix A) Discussion around how to implement. Difficult due to different institutions and their own procedures. Some onus on institutions and must have awareness of certain kick off times/fixtures etc that are likely have larger issues. Importance of social media within general crowd of BSR means that it may be the best vehicle to get the message out through the institutions. Discussion that there is a need for more authority figures, whether from each institution or security etc at fixtures as Head Coaches can t be expected to police crowd as well as focus on the game fully. Action to make charter more positive and consistent sentiment deemed good, just needs rewording. SH - League structure for and beyond Next season will be 10 team league with 4 team Championship League to be main focus. BUCS Points for teams not in Top 4 of league will be given additional league BUCS Points while Championship teams compete for extra points this is the proposal that needs to be rubber stamped by Competitions Group. The discussion started around there being issues if a closed shop e.g. franchise approach was to be taken. PO L responded that this was not the plan. Discussion is to around number of teams within BSR. There are pros and cons to each number of teams (8, 9 or 10) and to type of relegation (automatic/playoff). Action to draw up a number of options and circulate before next LMC for discussion at meeting. PO L

3 4.0 Marketing, Media and Communications - Marcomms Plan for Plans for this year were explained, they include features, live streams and match reports and also some video content from Media Day at Twickenham. Unfortunately no budget for a series like the TEAMS series from last year. IP asked for clarification between Rugby Vertical and Cheers Mate. MI explained that Cheers Mate is owned by RJ and streams other sports/games. Rugby Vertical has the agreement with BUCS and all games are streamed through Rugby Vertical by RJ. MS brought up the importance of maintaining the link between BSR and EnglandRugby.com - Marketing stats season to date 9 videos 50,000 views Facebook 150,000 reach Twitter #BUCSSuperRugby 1.4m impressions The importance of these stats being made available was stated. Crucial when it comes to sponsorship discussions. Weekly reports are being put together by NS Unilad Sport (815,000 likes) stream has had great viewing figures, looking to push out via Unilad (32m likes) in upcoming games 1 st rugby game streamed through Unilad Sport Streams Bath/Beckett 4800 views (BUCS) (Unilad Sport) Trent/Exeter 6116 Unilad Lboro/Hartpury Total NS to look into Twitter streaming also 5.0 Live Streaming Compression was an issue last year investment into equipment to ensure compression not needed therefore should have a better broadcast quality. Discussions with BT Sport ongoing they are happy with quality but are discussing budgets as to whether they can afford to show BSR. RV looking into other broadcasters as potential options. Improvements with studio show pregame and half time. Aiming to highlight universities during pregame more focus/branding on BUCS? Universities more on board this year had MOS sent out to them by RV to help them prepare for livestream games. Still some technical issues at venues. BUCS/BSR branding brought up as being important for awareness. Post protectors/flags/logos on sleeves etc. This had been previously mentioned however, BUCS were waiting to see if a commercial partner would be involved so as not to have to buy again quickly. -

4 6.0 Commercial and Sponsorship - Rugby Vertical strategy Desire to improve standard of Rugby through in-depth analysis 2 sides to business Broadcast business Investment has been made into audio and video improvements. Helps when it comes to awareness and sponsorship opportunities Improvement in broadcast performance has been noted already but more can be done Look towards further opportunities with mainstream broadcasters e.g. BT Sport, looking towards them paying for content rather than showing it for free Platform business Looking into feature rich website and app to act as digital CV for players Useful for players and clubs when scouting and for performance analysis - Update on commercial activity Meeting with financial institutions and high profile agencies to look for further investors into RV with a view to developing platform and looking into discussed GPS trackers. Looking to align RV and BUCS commercial discussions. MI has been pulling together sponsorship packages and looking at sponsorship agencies to focus sponsorship proposition. Looking to increase awareness and promotion Half time competitions etc. and further links when having games at professional venues Discussion about boundaries for types of sponsorship e.g. gambling and the process for RV going through BUCS to agree sponsorship clients. Noted by RV that process must be efficient so as not to cause issue with potential sponsors. RV has scheduled meeting with Vince Mayne and Lazar Zindovic to discuss processes and procedures. Discussion around commercial revenue and where the money would go and how it would be spent. Looking with regard to player welfare etc, whether money comes back towards supporting players etc. SH and his role in LMC to be helpful in this role, along with IP and his experience. A look into how students and their futures are managed not all will go into academics or turn professional and thus must be managed accordingly. Potential to look into a relationship with Rugby Players Association & Welsh Rugby Players Association.

5 7.0 RFU - England Students (encompassing HE & FE) Issues arose last season with calendar clashes with the Championship Final and BSR Playoff. Playing game with France is not less of a problem as it is post BSR season. Ireland fixture is proving to be an issue and thus will likely not go ahead this season. Intention for England Students to continue but process the calendar must be managed accordingly by BUCS and RFU. It was discussed that if the date of the Championship Final can be confirmed early by RFU enough then BUCS schedule can be looked into being amended accordingly. CC mentioned that in discussion with DoRs that many would not want to release players for England Students as club performance is part of their job security so want to keep players to better chances of a good result at club level. The importance of engaging all levels at institutions was mentioned so that all are on board with areas as England Students to avoid institution/representative clashes. PO L responded that the role of Programme Manager was to consider wider situations such as this, outside of just BSR performance but this has not necessarily been the case within the institution where DoRs are still the main decision makers. It was agreed that England Students is mutually beneficial so whilst acknowledging the above, we would work together to create a calendar that works for both BSR and England Students. - Player survey A piece of research looking into the benefits and issues of playing in BUCS Super Rugby has been carried out. The results will be available BUCS/RFU soon. Study was done via comparison with players who had played in both Premier A (pre-bsr) and the inaugural BSR season. Paper will be circulated when available. 8.0 A.O.B - BSR team entry fee Currently BSR teams pay the same amount of money as any other rugby union team entry. BUCS still have resourcing issues, particularly on marketing side. An increase in BSR team entry would be ring-fenced for BSR purposes and thus would help to improve BSR product. An amount of was mentioned. POL & NS CC raised the importance of communicating how the money would be spent so there is transparency. This will help justifying the increase. POL and NS to look at the true cost of additional services BUCS deploys to deliver BSR and report back to the LMC. - Sevens Raised at SAG about the future of both Championship and Trophy Sevens and how this fits into the calendar. To be thought about in advance of the next meeting.

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