{"id":742929,"date":"2026-06-17T19:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/742929\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T19:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T19:40:13","slug":"rugby-finals-how-matatu-cracked-the-code-to-fill-stadiums-and-grow-the-womens-game-alice-soper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/742929\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby finals: How Matat\u016b cracked the code to fill stadiums and grow the women\u2019s game \u2013 Alice Soper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first is the occasion. Some matches come with their own magnetism, such as the Super Rugby final<\/a>, while others have to create it for themselves, think Super Round or Matat\u016b\u2019s record breaker. The latter are cases of the sport putting itself out there, of making a moment and then inviting fans to join in. The occasion is what underpins the emotional stakes. Tugging on the heartstrings, playing to sectionalism, making you feel that you simply must be there.<\/p>\n

\"Matat\u016bMatat\u016b player Winnie Palamo with fans after the Super Rugby Aupiki match against Chiefs Manawa in Christchurch. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

This translates over to the second factor, the marketing push. Last week, Matat\u016b and the Hurricanes went hard on this. Set a new women\u2019s record and \u201cfill the tin\u201d for the semi-final, their asks were clear and tied back to the occasion. This didn\u2019t result in sell-outs for either franchise but it helped them build all-important momentum. In the Hurricanes case, the call to \u201cfill the tin\u201d was modified this week to add \u201cto the brim\u201d. The rallying cry resonated, driving a speedy final sell-out. If Matat\u016b secure a home final this season, a sell-out is now also within reach.<\/p>\n

Marketing tells the story of the occasion but you need a community to hear it. That\u2019s the real work that Matat\u016b has been putting in. The southern franchise took five years to set the new standard. Starting with intention, they stepped away from the bigger stadiums early. Until this season, they primarily played their home games at Ng\u0101 Puna Wai. In doing so, they took control of the atmosphere and experience for their core fanbase.<\/p>\n

The Aupiki seasons are still impossibly short. If a franchise waits to activate their base at kickoff, chances are they will only cut through just as the final whistle blows. Matat\u016b tackled this issue by being the first franchise to employ their head coach year-round. They followed the success of England\u2019s example and reached out to the regions. Running Matat\u016b-branded camps for under-16 and under-18 girls in partnership with their provinces from Otago to Tasman. They found other opportunities to pull on team colours, taking a Matat\u016b team to the global sevens tournament.<\/p>\n

All of that groundwork meant they had spent the time turning up for the community so when they put the call out to turn up for Matat\u016b, their community heard them loud and clear. Breaking the record, setting a new standard and showing women\u2019s rugby in Aotearoa how it should be done.<\/p>\n

A sense of occasion, a marketing push and a community to pull through. That\u2019s the secret behind getting bums on seats. Draw that attention regularly and the rest of modern sport\u2019s financial equation will take care of itself.<\/p>\n

Alice Soper is a sports columnist for the Herald on Sunday<\/a>. A former provincial rugby player and current club coach, she has a particular interest in telling stories of the emerging world of women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first is the occasion. Some matches come with their own magnetism, such as the Super Rugby final,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[8845,33529,617,64,63,23182,74936,30256,93749,33087,357938,1096,152708,17084,1635,350859,16308,5480,15726,25065,5587,35431,1862,92593,26914,8278,129780,354699,49840,33372,357939,760,44988,31025,588,85,16131,22386,9501,320,319,357940,5399,24351,1720],"class_list":["post-742929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-across","tag-alice","tag-and","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-behind","tag-bought","tag-broadcast","tag-changed","tag-code","tag-cracked","tag-deals","tag-equation","tag-era","tag-fans","tag-fill","tag-finals","tag-financial","tag-franchises","tag-friction","tag-from","tag-fuel","tag-game","tag-grow","tag-healthy","tag-how","tag-leagues","tag-matat","tag-merchandise","tag-professional","tag-removes","tag-rugby","tag-soper","tag-sponsorship","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-stadiums","tag-success","tag-that","tag-the","tag-to","tag-topup","tag-while","tag-womens","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}