July 22, 2015

Rugby League World Cup Google+ Hangout

StreamUK explain how they provided live video streaming and more for the Rugby League World Cup

The Challenge 

Google+ matches the RLWC’s communication objectives

The pure nature of the Rugby League World Cup demanded a live event in which all nations and industry figures could contribute to the live discussion at the same time, from different locations all over the world. Google+ Hangouts enables the ability to host up to 10 live video feeds simultaneously, allowing the RLWC to combine nations from all over the world in real-time.

The result is a professional hosted live event in which the conference (chaired in Manchester’s Media City), was able to ask questions and bring in each country representative to discuss tactics, team confidence and predictions ahead of the international tournament.

The RLWC had already accomplished its primary objective of including every nation in the global discussion, but it had also abandoned a long list of carbon-heavy logistics and expenses that were naturally eliminated by streaming the global conference online.

The Strategy

Hangouts let the RLWC engage at a personal level with press and fans.

Streamed live onto a dedicated RLWC YouTube channel, the conference had all social media functionality and features to encourage fan engagement and social video sharing. Through social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, RLWC fans from all over the world were able to share the live stream with friends and fellow rugby league followers, all creating a buzz online.

The utilisation of Google+ Hangouts was also a great triumph for journalists and global press located all over the world. Streaming a live video conference online relieved commentators of travel and conflicting busy diaries, as the video stream was compatible with mobile devices, with multiple bit-rate streaming that delivered the best video and audio quality for the user’s connection. The greater the availability the greater the engagement. RLWC fans had no excuse to miss it, either live or on-demand.

‘Ripples’ helped the RLWC identify brand influencers: the feature allows StreamUK and the RLWC to see how news of the Hangout was spreading across Google+.

The event itself required a full day of setup with end-to-end testing to ensure all participants got the best experience possible. StreamUK installed the broadcast cameras to capture the players in the room as well as questions from the press. This was then fed into a vision mixer and split out into HD encoders and the Hangout.

A huge part of this production was the management of the Hangout itself. With eight players all calling from around the world, StreamUK had to manage each player’s camera settings and audio individually, as well as making sure that everyone could see and hear everyone else.

The Results

The RLWC is approaching 6,000 followers on Google+, which is thousands of followers ahead of Rugby Union Premiership teams Leicester, Bath, Glouchester, Harlequins and Saracens combined.

“Clearly the channel is directly addressing the company’s objectives around engagement,” says Irfan Serce, StreamUK’s Google+ Hangout guru. “I’m confident that this is just the beginning”.

“A big believer in its content, the RLWC is not only trying to direct traffic to its website, but it’s also developing a social environment in which its followers and fans can engage and interact on a way that has never really been done before”.