Rugby, reach and relevance: Why the second screen is winning
Opinion
Sporting moments create opportunities for mobile live stats, tailored offers, or loyalty rewards, rather than interrupting the flow of the game, says Digital Turbine’s chief business officer.
Live sport remains one of the few environments where brands can still capture collective attention at scale: millions watching the same moment, feeling the same emotions, in real time.
The Guinness Rugby Six Nations offers a clear example. England’s opening match against Wales was the biggest peak audience of the year for ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, drawing 5m viewers across ITV1 and ITVX.
Recent sentiment around the coverage of the games highlights a growing tension. Ads shown during scrum resets – moments that are frequent and predictable from a broadcast perspective – delivered strong recall.
On paper, that looks like success. In reality, fans didn’t like this disruption at all. In some cases, the negative sentiment of these ads was as high as 60-80%.
High recall in the wrong moment doesn’t build brand equity; it erodes it. It creates a “brand tax” where audiences remember the ad but resent the brand that interrupted the rhythm of the game. Put simply: interrupt a moment fans love, and that sentiment sticks to your brand like a bad smell.
Sport is no longer just programming. It’s culture
Why this example is especially relevant today requires us to zoom out. The sports experience is no longer a scheduled broadcast event; it has evolved into a powerful cultural and commercial ecosystem. Teams operate like year-round media franchises, while players increasingly function as brands in their own right.
Take Bristol Bears’ Ilona Maher: her reach extends far beyond the pitch through TikTok and Instagram, connecting with audiences who may never watch a full eighty-minute match.
For fans, sport now exists across multiple surfaces: live broadcasts, streaming, social media, podcasts, and group messaging threads. Sponsorship, content, and community have blended into a continuous experience.
The global appetite for this experience is surging. The 2023 Rugby World Cup generated 800m viewing hours worldwide, and the United States is set to host the men’s and women’s tournaments in 2031 and 2033.
As an Aussie living in New York City, I see this as more than just a sign of one of the greatest sports expanding beyond its traditional strongholds; it is an opportunity to engage a new generation of fans hungry for new superstars.
With global sports media rights expected to exceed $60bn annually, demand isn’t slowing down, but how fans consume that content is changing.
The match no longer lives on one screen
Broadcast delivers the spectacle: the tries, the tackles, and the roar of the crowd. However, the interaction surrounding those moments increasingly happens simultaneously on a different device.
Look around during any major match and the pattern is clear: fans watch the game while checking their phones for stats, messaging friends, or reacting to refereeing decisions.
Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 report shows nearly two in three adults now use their phones while watching television. What we used to call the “second screen” is now an integral part of the primary viewing experience.
These screens aren’t distractions; they are extensions of one another, working like dual monitors. When a try is scored or a controversial call is made, fans reach for their phones to participate in the conversation.
I saw this firsthand at a recent Knicks game. My ticket lived on my phone, and midway through the game, a mobile offer nudged me toward the team store. By halftime, I was back in my seat with a bag of Skittles and a haul of Knicks merchandise.
That is the shift taking place: moving from advertising around the game to making a brand part of the fan experience. While TV broadcasts the moment, mobile activates it.
Attention is rented. Intent is owned
For much of the past decade, the advertising industry has treated attention as something that can simply be bought. A 30-second broadcast spot may reach millions, but it cannot guarantee that those viewers actually want the brand there. That is how campaigns generate recall that brands eventually regret.
Mobile environments operate differently because they signal intent. When a fan opens a sports app during a tense second half, that action carries weight. Sports apps consistently see engagement spike two to three times during live matches because fans are actively seeking information.
These moments create opportunities for brands to contribute through live stats, tailored offers, or loyalty rewards, rather than interrupting the flow. When merchandise searches spike immediately after a goal, that moment isn’t just emotional; it’s actionable.
Designing for fan states
For brands planning around major tournaments, whether the Six Nations, the Rugby World Cup, or the next global sporting event, the implication is clear: a media strategy built purely around broadcast inventory is no longer enough.
Instead, brands must design for “fan states”: anticipation before kickoff, tension during play, celebration after a score, and post-match analysis. Each moment carries a unique emotional context. The brands that succeed will be those that can separate excitement from frustration.
In sport, presence isn’t just about placement; it’s about active participation. And with that participation increasingly happening on the second screen, I know I’ll be phone-in-hand for the 2031 Rugby World Cup, whether I am in the stadium or in front of my TV.
Michael Akkerman is the chief business officer at Digital Turbine