By Genius Sports 
As the HSBC SVNS calendar reaches an exciting climax, Genius Sports’ bespoke predictor game adds several new features to enhance user experience.
World Rugby enjoyed such success with its gamification strategy at the 2023 World Cup, (registering over 450,000 fans) that it rolled out a new HBCS SVNS Predictor game ahead of the HSBC SVNS 2024.
Strengthening World Rugby’s global fan engagement strategy, the predictor game will once again enable the rights holder to engage and retain new, casual and avid rugby sevens fans around the world.
The Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens is the latest event in a thrilling season so far, as the format’s intense pace and dazzling display of skill has fans hooked across the globe. According to World Rugby, 63% of current fans watched rugby sevens format for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where it made just its second appearance on the Olympic stage, presenting huge opportunity to grow and diversity its fanbase.
HSBC SVNS Predictor requires simple registration or an existing World Rugby account to play – in turn providing World Rugby with valuable first-party data, allowing them to better identify and understand its growing fanbase, including new fans in international markets.
During each event, players make six team-based predictions for both pools and knockout stages, as well selecting their SVNS Star (the player users think will score the most tries across the selected event stage).
Points tallies are calculated based on how both team and player selections perform in real-time, and each users’ team is entered into the Global Leaderboard, where they can measure their progress with some healthy competition.
Crucially, ahead of the most anticipated event of the SVNS calendar so far, several updates to the game have been introduced to maximise the fan experience. Firstly, removing the ‘lockout’ mechanism allows fans to make their predictions at any point across the live weekend, maximising the number of opportunities fans have to participate therefore driving further user acquisition for World Rugby.
The addition of a QR code during live broadcasts is another unique addition. Capitalising on the growth of second-screen sports viewing – 31% of Gen Z fans play online games on a second screen whilst watching sports (Nielsen) – the new feature encourages TV viewers to enhance their experience by downloading and taking part in the game. It’s also a light-touch method that allows newer SVNS fans to extend and solidify their interest in the game, helping World Rugby convert fans from casual to avid.
To learn how Genius Sports can help engage your league or team engage fans, book a demo.
Play HSBC SVNS: https://play.svns.com/
