Soundcloud is the favored social platform around the Rugby World Cup, drawing 40,000 more followers than Twitter. Adobe Systems Europe Demand Marketing Dir Simon Morris said, "It seems that fans prefer to relive their favorite rugby moments though audio clips rather than talking about them in 140 characters or less." The RWC has seen its social stature grow in the build-up to the tournament -- Adobe Digital Index tracked social mentions of the tournament since July 4 with social mentions showing an increase of 116% since ADI began its tracking. However, the Rugby World Cup still lags dramatically behind football's World Cup, generating only about 5% of the buzz of last year's FIFA World Cup. The Rugby World Cup is working to be more socially aware and to engage with fans in the social space. In July this year, it launched a mobile app. So far, the RWC app has had more than 500,000 downloads. New Zealand may be the favorite to win the RWC -- but off the pitch, it is already winning the social media battle. The All Blacks have been rated "Most Social Rugby Union," based on a combination of social mentions, positive sentiment, social following and ranking within world rugby. Australia's Wallabies came second, while England was third (ADI).
RWC APP: N.Y.-based digital consulting firm Omnigon announced the release of the third and final phase of the official 2015 Rugby World Cup (RWC2015) mobile app. The usage rate of this year’s Rugby World Cup app is expected to shatter previous records and has recorded hundreds of thousands of downloads for the first two phases of the app. Fans will be able to view live and post-match stats for all matches including carries made, meters made, clean breaks, tackles success and tackles made, scrum success, scrums made and time of possession (Omnigon).
