How can we get rugby fans excited about the metaverse?
Rugby is all about coming together with other fans to share your passion for the game. Whether this is in the stadium or in the pub. Virtual reality does not really appeal in that context.
As an official supplier of the Rugby World Cup 2023, Meta wanted to demonstrate the potential of the metaverse to rugby fans and get them excited about the added possibilities it can bring to their beloved sport. Not trying to replace real experiences but giving access to places, moments and experiences that would normally be outside of their reach.
To promote the Rugby World Cup coming to France and get the public excited to host it, France 2023 organised a train tour: a physical train stopping at 51 train stations throughout the country, bringing the World Cup experience to the fans.
As one of the official suppliers of the Rugby World Cup 2023, Meta was given the opportunity to create a VR experience inside one of the carriages.
The challenge was not just to deliver a VR experience that would get rugby fans excited about the possibilities of the metaverse. We also had to do it within the confines of the carriage whilst giving as many people as possible the opportunity to experience it seamlessly and effortlessly.
Giving fans a moment
that might otherwise not
be accessible to them.
And make it one that every French rugby fan will have dreamed of: joining the team on the pitch, in front of a roaring crowd and singing the national anthem with them - a true goosebump moment.
Build your ultimate
fan avatar and
get your VR pass
via QR code.
Scan the code to enter the VR experience on the train
Inside the
VR experience
Get in the locker room with your VR experience buddy and check yourself out in the mirror
Feel the anticipation in the tunnel, and get a glimpse of the French team players
Join the French team on the pitch
Sing the French national anthem and engage with the players
Take a
metaverse selfie
And get it as a takeaway from the metaverse automatically on your phone
Results
Over 27.000 people created their fan avatar, and even more (approx. 30-40%) entered the experience with one of the pre-loaded avatar options.
That’s an average of 273 rugby fans going through the experience every day the train was open to the public.
97% of people who did the experience enjoyed it and 85% said that they would want to participate in similar experiences during the Rugby World Cup in 2023**.
“I loved creating my avatar depending on what we like, appearing in the locker-room and being able to participate in the experience”
“I really liked it when the referee approached and asked for a fist-bump”
-Quotes from Havas Play Survey Lille, Bordeaux, Lyon-
And almost a quarter of the participants who were already aware of Meta stated that the experience has positively impacted their image of Meta.
*data coming from the microsite used to generate the QR code for each user who created an avatar. The microsite generated 27,065 individual QR codes. Based on estimates from the brand ambassadors running the experience an additional 30-40% of users did the experience using pre-loaded avatars.
**on-site survey conducted by CSA Research Institute and Havas Play. The survey was done in three main cities: Lille (21/07/22-23/07/22), Bordeaux (21/08/22-25/08/22) and Lyon (30/09/22-02/10/22) interviewing 1,032 individuals aged over 16.
