More than three quarters of a million fans have attended Rugby World Cup 2011 following the completion of 28 out of 48 matches.

Martin Snedden, CEO for Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011 could not be more enthusiastic about the news.

“This is a fantastic result and resounding evidence that the Tournament is being enthusiastically embraced by local and visiting fans,” he said.

“We reached the milestone last night after nearly 27,000 fans braved a wet Wellington night to see a thrilling match between Argentina and Scotland. Rain or shine, fans up and down the country are dressing up, painting their faces and really getting into the spirit of RWC 2011.

“This weekend alone, nearly a quarter of a million fans passed through the gates for matches, which included the historic double header at Eden Park where 120,000 fans attended the two matches.

“We couldn’t be happier with the passion and joy fans from around the world are showing at matches.”

RNZ 2011 also announced that tickets are continuing to sell strongly. Sales to date total 1.32 million against a target of 1.35 million.

Shane Harmon, General Manager Marketing and Communications, said: “The surge in sales since the Tournament began means we are bang on track to hit our sales and revenue targets.”

Revenue totals NZ$259 million ($202mn), leaving $9.5 million of sales to be achieved to reach the Tournament end target of NZ$268.5 million ($209.5m).

“This is the last week of the pool phase of the Tournament before the knock-out matches in Auckland and Wellington. This week already we have sell out matches at North Harbour for Samoa’s critical final pool match against South Africa, Ireland’s decisive clash with Italy at Otago Stadium and Japan against Canada at McLean Park in Napier, Harmon added.

“However tickets are still available for the other remaining pool matches in Nelson, Palmerston North, Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton so we urge fans who have yet to experience the excitement and fun of a RWC match to move fast or they will be disappointed.

“Tickets are also still available for the semi-finals and quarter-finals and we are expecting sales to rise over the coming weeks as the make-up of those matches becomes clearer.”

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said Rugby World Cup 2011 was on track to be an exceptional event.

“New Zealanders the length and breadth of the country are proving to be wonderful hosts. The atmosphere in venues and around the host cities and towns has truly added to a festival atmosphere,” he said.

UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner, this week appointed to position as chairman of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Sport Technical Committee (STC), has claimed his main goal in his new job is to combine the IPC World Athletics Championships into the able-bodied version, potentially starting at London in 2017.

Currently the IPC organises its own Championships every four years while the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) stages an event on a biannual basis, and Warner told insideparasport: “There are really two points to my role which consist of a short-term and long-term goal.

“Short-term, it is about helping to ensure the success of the athletics competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and London 2012 is obviously a key reason why I was appointed to the position.

“In my discussions with Xavier Gonzalez [the IPC chief executive] I made it clear to him that I could really assist with the IPC’s preparations for London 2012 due to my position as chairman of UK Athletics.

“I’m based in London and I obviously have very strong links with LOCOG having worked with them for many years so it is fantastic that I can act as a type of bridgehead between the two organisations.

“But long-term, post-London 2012, the key thing is to make sure that the sport continues to grow and I think that we need to explore with the IAAF about combing their Athletics World Championships with the IPC Athletics World Championships.

“I have strong contacts within the IAAF which will be extremely helpful in any discussions.

“Combing the two will not happen straight away as there is still a long way for the IPC Athletics World Championships but that is certainly something that must be considered over the coming years.”

Warner’s comments have come quickly after the announcement earlier this week that IAAF President Lamine Diack and IPC President Sir Philip Craven had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work closer together.

Diack claimed he is ready to discuss “the prospect that future World Championships for able-bodied athletes and athletes with a disability could be held in conjunction with each other”.

London are among four bidders for the 2017 IAAF World Championships but have still to release full details of their bid, which has to be submitted by September 1. Insideworldparasport understands that it is considered likely that London will bid for both due to the fact that UK Athletics have delivered numerous successful world class disability events in recent years.

“It’s difficult to compare different bodies but UK Athletics certainly considers this IPC position to be a very prestigious appointment on the international stage,” Warner said.

“There will people out there who disagree and they are entitled to say what they like but I am proud to have this position.

“Under my chairmanship, disability athletics has also been held just important to UK Athletics as able bodied athletics has.

“There was not many chairman’s or Presidents of national athletic governing bodies at the Christchurch 2011 World Athletics Championships earlier this year but I was there because I felt it was very important to be there and to see the great things that went on and also the things that can be improved on.

“UK Athletics has shown how committed it is to disability athletics by investing heavily in the sport and making top appointments such as employing Peter Eriksson as Paralympic head coach when he was widely regarded as the best in the world.

“So Paralympic athletics could not be more important to us which is why we are so proud of this appointment.”

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has reaffirmed its commitment to growing the Women’s Rugby World Cup brand with the approval of a three-point plan to ensure the flagship event continues to grow.

The approval of the plan by the IRB Council follows an extensive strategic review of Women’s Rugby World Cup by tournament owners Rugby World Cup Limited.

Key review considerations included tournament timing within the international Women’s Rugby calendar, the tournament delivery model, tournament format and the global qualification criteria with the objective of further boosting competition standards, global profile and fan engagement.

The following recommendations were agreed by Council: 

• -Women’s Rugby World Cup to move to every four years from 2017 to optimise the international competition calendar and enable the world’s top players to compete in the pinnacle Fifteens and Sevens events
•  
• -Women’s Rugby World Cup to be capped at 12 teams to ensure the highest competition standards

   -The global qualification process to be streamlined to ensure the participation of the world’s best teams on the world’s biggest stage 

The announcement comes at an exciting time for the sport with Women’s Rugby enjoying unprecedented growth and profile, Women’s Rugby World Cup set for a record-breaking France 2014 event, the IRB Women’s Sevens Series going from strength to strength and Women’s Sevens set to debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Women’s Rugby is one of the world’s fastest growing team sports with an unprecedented 1.5 million women and girls participating across every continent.”

“At the forefront of the phenomenal growth are our flagship women’s Fifteens and Sevens events and we are committed to ensuring that Women’s Rugby World Cup is cemented as one of the prestige properties in women’s sport.”

Details of the qualification process and tender process for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 and 2021 will be announced in due course.

IRB Rugby Committee member Cheryl Soon said: “The Women’s Rugby World Cup is a fantastic event and today’s announcement is great news for the Game.”

“It’s a long-term commitment to the Women’s Game, which is growing at a record speed. To enhance that, we need to support the development of the Game and get the schedule right.”

“This will allow the top players compete in the Olympics, the Women’s Rugby World Cup and then the Rugby World Cup Sevens, if they choose to. The top players can take part in the top events.”

With Rally Australia being confirmed on the 2014 World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, event organisers believe the event will provide many opportunities to further develop the Coffs Coast.

Rally Australia will be staged on 11-14 September 2014, following the announcement on Friday of the full 2014 WRC calendar by the FIA, the world governing body of motorsport.

After the successful staging of the 2013 Coates Hire Rally Australia this month – won by Volkswagen’s Sebastien Ogier – early news of a change from biennial to annual frequency will allow the organisers and their partners to maintain the momentum and devote more resources to enhancing the event, Rally Australia Chairman Ben Rainsford believes.

“Confirmation of Rally Australia 2014 is great news not only for us as organisers, our local suppliers and our partners including Coates Hire, East Coast Bullbars and the Forestry Corporation, but it is also a reward for the Coffs Coast community, which made a very big contribution to the success of our recent event and the previous one in 2011,” Rainsford stated.

“I thank the New South Wales Government through its Destination NSW organisation, Coffs Harbour City Council and the many other parties that have supported our bid for an annual WRC round.

“Knowing that we can turn around straight away on organising 2014 means we can retain local staff, supply chains, logistical arrangements and potentially sponsors and put more time into improving the attractions for spectators.

“As Australia’s only other four-wheel world championship outside F1, Rally Australia has a tremendous opportunity to become one of our biggest and most exciting motorsport festivals and to make an even bigger contribution to the Coffs Coast regional economy.

“We’re already reviewing plans for 2014 and hope to announce some new initiatives soon.”

Rainsford added that Rally Australia had signed a contract for events in 2014 and 2015 with the WRC commercial rights holder WRC Promoter GmbH, although confirmation of 2015 would be subject to the normal FIA processes.

Rally Australia is also pressing ahead with a bid for 2016, he said.

The re-launch of the Ladies European Tour’s YouTube channel has led to the channel receiving a 10 fold increase in subscribers to coincide with live streaming of the 2013 Solheim Cup according to organisers.

The LET YouTube Channel is rapidly growing into one of the most popular golf channels online with a healthy combination of live streaming, physician highlights and features, giving the viewer an unparalleled opportunity to immerse themselves into the world of women’s golf.

The Ladies European Tour is in a unique position with members from all five continents giving a vast potential market for viewers to tune in and watch their favourite player.

Ladies European Tour Chief Executive Officer Ivan Khodabakhsh said: “The new YouTube channel has been an unprecedented success. Over 30 hours of The Solheim Cup were streamed in HD and we picked up new fans in areas ignored by regular TV coverage.”

Charlie Muirhead, CEO and Founder of Rightster, who partnered with the LET to distribute and market the video content, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the Ladies European Tour to provide viewers in markets without broadcast distribution of the Solheim Cup, giving them the opportunity to enjoy the drama of tournament as it happens. Partnering with Rightster allows LET to focus internal resources and funds on what they do best while we manage the complexity of live streaming and crucially, the task of finding and engaging the right online audience.”

YouTube viewing figures for The Solheim Cup hit six figures over four days including live streaming, exclusive features, highlights and interviews with the leading players, produced by LET Production Partner UCOM.