FULL CONTACT: A BIG HIT FOR RUGBY’S PURSUIT OF YOUNGER AUDIENCES?

It’s been just over a week since Six Nations: Full Contact – rugby’s foray into the behind-the-scenes documentary format that’s boosted the popularity of Formula 1, tennis and golf in recent years – debuted on Netflix.

The series has, according to The Telegraph, been “a ratings hit” and was in Netflix’s top three most-watched programmes in the UK last week, as well as the highest-viewed in Ireland and the fourth-most in France. Reviews have been mixed, with MailOnline calling it “a gripping and honest insight into the lives of rugby players” while some – like The Guardian – have been less complimentary, with The Independent criticising the series’s lack of “warts-and-all access”.

What cannot be argued against, though, is that Full Contact will have helped rugby union tackle one of its greatest challenges: how to engage a new breed of supporters. With three quarters of 18-to-35 year-olds having a Netflix subscription, the series will have been thrust in front of the eyeballs of a generation that the sport has struggled to capture the attention of in recent years.

The EY Sports Sports Engagement Index, released last November, found that, despite having the fourth-largest ‘engagement base’ (i.e. the number of adults actively participating, following a sport on TV, online, or social media, or attending sporting events) of all UK sports, rugby union did not rank in the top 20 when that engagement came from 18-to-24 year-olds.

The timing of Full Contact’s release is perfect. With the 2024 Six Nations schedule beginning tonight, the six participating teams will have appreciated any bump in interest and support that the series will have offered.

While all six nations would expect their social following to grow in the days approaching the start of another campaign, it is – spoiler alert – last year’s winners, Ireland, who have seen particularly good growth on Instagram with almost 17,000 new followers since Full Contact went live on 24 January, representing an audience growth of 2.1% in just ten days. England – the most-followed of the six nations on Instagram – have added 9,783 new followers, while its least-followed side, Italy, has a growth rate of 1.2%, second only to Ireland.

If F1’s Drive To Survive, golf’s Full Swing and tennis’s Break Point are anything to go by, one sure-fire effect of rugby’s step into the documentary world will be that it will grow the profiles of its leading players. 

Already, Scotland’s Finn Russell has grabbed headlines for comparing himself to Lionel Messi in Full Contact, so it’s unsurprising that his Instagram following – like those of the show’s other protagonists – has swollen since the show went live: 

So, what next for rugby and Full Contact? This year’s Six Nations fixtures will undoubtedly have extra interest from its newly-acquired Netflix audience, and there is a clear opportunity for the six participating unions to harness that attention on their own channels.

England Rugby, who we at Ten Toes have proudly been working with since last autumn, do a great job of taking supporters behind the scenes through their excellent series This Rose, which is delivered in partnership with O2 under the Inside Line banner and has been running for years – long before Netflix came to the party. England’s TikTok account, which is hurtling towards the million-follower mark, is also a great one-stop shop for any fans who are new to the team or to the sport.

The Telegraph have suggested that a second series of Full Contact is in the works, with filming already under way. Given these early signs of the show’s success, we’re sure to see increased buy-in from teams and – with that – even better levels of access to their inner sanctums for the behind-closed-doors content that audiences (and critics!) crave.

It’s clearer than ever that rugby means business in its pursuit of a new audience. Now let the games begin!