Rugby World Cup 2023 host selection process enters applicant phase

The Rugby World Cup 2023 host selection process has gathered momentum with the launch of the applicant phase.

The process to identify the host of one of the world's biggest sporting events kicked off last year and now moves to a key information-gathering stage on the road to confirmation of the host union by the World Rugby Council in November 2017.

France, Ireland, Italy and South Africa have engaged in the process since formally expressing an interest to bid to World Rugby in May last year.

The application phase, the second stage of the detailed three-phase information gathering and evaluation process, follows an initial period of education and consultation, including detailed briefings and participation in the Rugby World Cup 2015 observer programme designed to maximise knowledge on event hosting and benefits.

This important phase, which provides information exchange on key areas such as rights, benefits of hosting, the evaluation criteria and selection process and high level requirements, has two key objectives:

i) provide applicants with the detailed information required to develop their bid;

ii) provide World Rugby with the information required to be satisfied that all prospective hosts are able to meet the mandatory minimum standards for staging a successful Rugby World Cup 2023

The process is also an opportunity to establish relationships and understand the economic, tourism and rugby benefits that can be derived from hosting one of the world's biggest sporting events along with information on the process, and a revised hosting framework which aims to create more unified partnerships, more effective operations and stronger commercial outcomes for World Rugby and the hosting country.

Applicants have also been provided with the criteria for evaluation. The criteria are based on World Rugby's seven priority objectives for RWC 2023 which are:

Venues and infrastructure commensurate with a top-tier major event Comprehensive and enforceable public and private sector guarantees A commercially successful event with a fully-funded, robust financial model Operational excellence through an integrated and experienced delivery team A vision that engages and inspires domestic and international audiences and contributes to the growth of rugby at all levels An enabling environment of political and financial stability that respects the diversity of Rugby World Cup's global stakeholders An environment and climate suited to top-level sport in a geography that allows maximum fan mobility

As part of the process, the unions will also supply World Rugby with an overview of key tournament deliverables such as finance, venues and intended governance support.

The applicant submissions are due by 1 September, 2016 and will be evaluated by a World Rugby Technical Review Group. The outcomes of the evaluation will be independently assessed to ensure a fair and consistent approach. Applicants that meet the criteria outlined will move to the candidate phase on 1 November, 2016.

With Rugby World Cup 2015 widely heralded as the biggest and best tournament to date, setting new attendance, viewership, fan-engagement, competition and economic impact records, anticipation is high as to who will win the right to host one of the world's most prestigious sporting events.

World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "Rugby World Cup 2015 was the biggest sporting event of 2015 and the biggest and best Rugby World Cup ever, showcasing our sport and its character-building values to record audiences around the world. From competition and attendances to legacy and economic impact, Rugby World Cup 2015 broke records on every level.

"Great events are built on strong partnerships and this process represents a major milestone in the planning and preparation phase for unions and supporting government agencies who intend to bid for Rugby World Cup 2023."

Rugby World Cup Tournament Director Alan Gilpin added: "We are delighted with the strong level of serious interest from unions and governments in Rugby World Cup 2023 at this early stage, which highlights the enormous hosting appeal of Rugby World Cup as a low-investment, high-return economic, social and sporting driver and we welcome further dialogue as the process progresses. The work we have done with The Sports Consultancy gives us every confidence that we are running a very professional, fair and transparent process, which is an important objective for World Rugby.

"Rugby World Cup must continue to inspire, to reach out and attract new participants and audiences and deliver the financial platform for rugby to continue its record-breaking growth. It must also incentivise and excite host countries and we have undertaken a complete review of the hosting model to strengthen the partnership between host and owner and further the benefits for all as we enter an exciting new era for our sport."

Editors' notes:

Rugby World Cup 2015, hosted in England and Cardiff, was the eighth edition of rugby's showcase event and the biggest Rugby World Cup to date, reaching, engaging and inspiring fans in record numbers in stadia, in fan-­zones, via broadcast and in conversation.

The best attended: 2,474,584 million fans in attendance in-­stadia across the 48 matches (98 per cent capacity), surpassing 2.2 million at France 2007 (95 per cent capacity), while a further 1,055,000 fans visited the 15 fan-zones and a further million took part in Festival of Rugby activities.

The most viewed: 16,000 hours of action watched by 183 million fans, broadcast to 683 million homes in 209 territories worldwide with an estimated audience of 120 million watching the final, surpassing all 2011 metrics with Asia and Europe leading the viewership growth and significant increases in emerging rugby markets such as Brazil, China and Germany.

The most socially engaged: Rugby World Cup 2015 was the most spoken about event of the year and the most spoken about rugby event ever, with audiences and engagement surpassing the London 2012 Olympics and total engagement on the opening weekend greater than the whole of RWC 2011. A total engaged audience of more than 300 million joined the conversation and shared content within a reach of 1.5 billion, while 400 million video views were achieved during a tournament where #RWC2015 was used twice a second.

The most competitive: The average winning margin down from 25 points in 2011 to 22 points in 2015, while the average winning margin between the world's top-­ranked teams and the emerging rugby nations reduced from 36 points to 30, demonstrating the advances in competitiveness of the global game. Ball in play time was equal best at 44 per cent while the number of scrums were the lowest at an average of 13.

The most commercially successful: Rugby World Cup 2015 was the most commercially-­successful event to date with reported commercial and broadcast deals increased by 40 per cent, Worldwide Partners locked down in record time and a global portfolio of official sponsors and suppliers. World Rugby's anticipated surplus of £150 million surpasses the previous record of £122 million achieved at RWC 2007, underscoring the Federation's mission to invest record sums in growing the global rugby family.

The Rugby World Cup 2023 host selection process follows a complete redesign of the bidding process to promote good governance and transparency, while providing prospective hosts unions and governments with an opportunity to gather all the information necessary to ensure hosting capability prior to moving through the process. This re-modelling has been assisted by The Sports Consultancy, who helped develop the documentation, tools and will support World Rugby throughout the process, including the evaluation and assessment phase. The appointment follows an initial project by The Sports Consultancy last year reviewing decision-making processes and evaluation criteria.

For more information contact:

DOMINIC RUMBLES

Head of Communications, World Rugby

T: +353-86-8520-826

E: dominic.rumbles@worldrugby.org

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