Ulster Rugby Annual Report

The Ulster Juniors are grateful to the staff at the Ulster Branch, Barry Willis, Paul Whitten, Lesley McGaughey and Jill McCullough for their help with the logistical and organisational work behind the scenes. They would also like to thank Ulster Branch Representative Jim Lyttle for coordinating with the other representatives, David Anderson, Terry McCracken, Neil Workman and Senior Vice President Gary Leslie in supporting the Juniors and attending the games at an extremely busy time of year for Branch officials. Their thanks are also recorded to Ballyclare RFC, their President David Campbell and his team behind the scenes for hosting the home game against Munster and to Katie Barnard for her outstanding care and attention to the players, to the other members of the coaching and support staff, and, of course, to the players. COMMERCIAL AND MARKETING REPORT Following a difficult year both on and off the field a Brand Reputation Plan was developed and implemented to enhance relationships across all stakeholder groups going into an important year for the commercial department. Sponsorship continues to be one of the key pillars of success with all five main jersey sponsors renewing their sponsorship agreements for a further four years, a very encouraging outcome. Sponsorship income increased again on the previous year, contributing almost a third of the overall commercial income. Knockout rugby this season helped to offset the challenge presented as a result of having one less home fixture during the regular season and we look forward to capitalising on the traditional number of home fixtures during 2019/20. Match attendance whilst down on the previous season continued to be well above average across the PRO14 and European Clubs with average attendance of 13,775 during 2018/19. The local derbies continued to be the matches that sold out with tickets being in high demand. Brand sentiment Following some on-field and off-field issues last season, a brand audit was conducted to identify issues and how they affected stakeholder relations. From this, a Brand Reputation Plan was developed and implemented to enhance relationships across all stakeholder groups. This action plan assisted in Ulster Rugby retaining all sponsors, sustaining support levels and improving brand sentiment (20%+ positive shift). (b7;oꢄ1om|;m| Ulster Rugby’s video content strategy continues to lead the way in comparison to other PRO14 Clubs, with video consumption rising to over ten million views per annum. The live streaming of Professional and Domestic fixtures and events continues to be a valuable platform for the promotion of rugby at all levels and delivers added value for many sponsors and partners. Website In October 2018, Ulster Rugby, in partnership with Sotic, planned, designed and launched a new responsive website with the customer journey at the forefront

of delivery. The enhancement project allowed users to have easier direct access to the latest Ulster Rugby news and video content, making sure they were able to keep up to date with all things ‘Rugby in Ulster’. This has resulted in a 13% increase in page views to five and a half million per annum. Social media Our social media follower numbers increased by 13% this season, meaning Ulster Rugby continues to have the third largest digital audience of Professional Rugby Clubs in the UK and Ireland. Ulster Rugby also performed well in terms of engagement figures across all social media platforms, and currently has the most engaged Facebook audience of any Club rugby team in Europe. This is testament to the quality, volume and breadth of content produced. (bu|-Ѵ ꢄ!;-Ѵb| We launched an innovative Virtual Reality Experience in January 2019. The project, which was completed in partnership with Belfast-based tech firm, Retinize, with support from Bank of Ireland and NI Screen, allows users to experience match nights like never before by viewing interactive behind-the-scenes content through VR headsets. The three minute clip featured highlights of the players’ pre-match routine, including the team talk by captain Rory Best, as well as on-pitch action and reaction from the crowd. It is expected that ten thousand users will experience the VR in 2019, with access available on Ulster Rugby match nights, during stadium tours and as part of our community engagement programmes. Domestic game promotion We have made a significant effort to promote some of the successful initiatives being delivered across the Province by rugby development staff such as over 60s rugby, X7s and the U20s development programme. An important part of this delivery was a more coherent social media strategy for rugby development, and this has led to a significant increase in reach. APPOINTMENTS AND REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS Once again this season, a significant number of Ulster players, both male and female had their talents recognised by being selected to play for Ireland at various levels. One of the highlights of the season, as referred to above, was the magnificent win over the All Blacks at the Aviva on 17th November 2018, the first occasion on which Ireland had beaten New Zealand at home. Rory Best, Jacob Stockdale, Iain Henderson and Jordi Murphy all played in that match. Other Ulstermen to represent the national team during 2018/19 were Will Addison, John Cooney, Stuart McCloskey and Rob Herring. On the Women’s team there were caps for Claire McLaughlin, Kathryn Dane and Claire Boles. Our representation on the Ireland Under 20s was significant, but with the extension of our year-end from April to June, two World Championships were played. The capped players were M Dalton, J Dunleavy, M Agnew, J Stewart, A Hall, J Hume, M Lowry, D McCann, A Kernohan, C Reid, I Hughes, S Moore and A Allison.

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IRFU ULSTER BRANCH ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19