In sports marketing, there's a key principle that leading teams double down on: fans don't just want to watch, they want a role. They want to participate.

What's challenging is that participation isn't just one thing. It's not just clicks, votes or entries. It's a spectrum of behaviours that signals how deeply a fan identifies with your team. How likely they are to return, spend and advocate. 

Most marketers tend to focus on what fans do with them. The smartest teams are thinking about how fans participate and the distinct value that each interaction can create. And this is exactly what we're seeing from the strongest rugby engagement tactics in 2025: designing for specific types of participation was the engagement strategy.

The engagement shift: intentional participation versus volume

Many traditional engagement metrics tell you what fans did - they measure certain outcomes but rarely capture impact. Two campaigns can generate identical click-through rates while creating completely different levels of emotional connection. That gap is where long-term value is built (or lost).

Looking across rugby campaigns globally this year, five distinct participation types consistently showed up. Each with a different strategic purpose, and each replicable across teams and leagues:

• Habitual participation
• Identity-based participation
• Reflective participation
• Participatory control
• Predictive participation

These categories offer a more strategic lens for planning. Rather than optimizing for scale alone, teams can design campaigns around the specific type of connection they want to build.

Let’s take a closer look:

1. Habitual participation: how to turn engagement into routine

What it builds: consistency, frequency, season-long connection.

Habitual participation isn’t about creativity. It’s about repetition.  When engagement shows up at the same time, in the same format, fans stop deciding whether to participate. It becomes part of their routine.

That’s how teams move from one-off spikes to week-over-week momentum.

Rugby Australia (Wallabies) - "Pick your Starting XV"

This campaign's format never changed. Same timing. Same mechanic. Same expectation. That consistency mattered. Fans didn't need to relearn how to engage - this campaign became part of fans' pre-match ritual throughout the international calendar. It also gave them a structured way to feel knowledgeable, valued and included in lineup discussions that usually happen behind closed doors. 

Key Insight: Habits can beat hype. Rituals are important to build into your season, even though they aren't as interesting as big one-off moments.

2. Identity-based participation: how to turn fans into advocates

What it builds: emotional attachment, self-identification, shareability

Identity-based participation works because it’s personal.  When fans can see themselves in a player, a ritual, or a point of view, engagement stops being about the team and starts being about who they are.

That’s the shift from casual support to long-term loyalty.

North Queensland Cowboys - "Personality Quiz"

This personality quiz allowed fans to discover which NRLW Cowboys player they were most similar to. Each question was rooted in real player attributes, interests, or pre-game rituals, giving fans a playful but meaningful way to learn about the women’s side and connect with players on a personal level.

That sense of personal alignment (“I’m most like…”) is powerful – it deepens emotional investment, allowing fans to see themselves represented in the team. It also increases visibility for the NRLW roster in a way that feels fun rather than promotional.

Dolphins - "Pet Detective"

Easily one of the cutest campaigns of the year! In this activation, fans were shown photos of players’ pets and asked to match each pet to its owner. It was simple, adorable, and deeply personal.

By spotlighting players outside of game-day contexts (through their furry friends), the Dolphins created a warm, humanizing moment that helped fans feel closer to the team. The prize component (a $500 WAHL pet grooming pack and a signed jersey) certainly added incentive, but the real value came from showcasing players’ personal lives in a way that fans don’t normally get to see.

Key Insight: When fans see themselves reflected, they show up differently (and more often). There is a clear trend towards player-led content that fans love to engage with.

3. Reflective participation: how to extend the life of the season

What it builds: nostalgia, shared memory, off-season relevance

Reflective participation works because it extends emotion over time.  When fans are invited to revisit defining moments, engagement doesn’t end with the final whistle. The season stays emotionally active.

That carryover is what pulls fans back next year.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks - "Moments of the Year"

This campaign invited fans to revisit major highlights from the Sharks’ season and vote on the moment that defined the year. For fans, it became a chance to relive emotional highs and share which stories meant the most to them.

For the club, it gave them valuable insight into which moments fans resonated with – insight they could use in membership marketing, end-of-season content, and storytelling for the following year. By extending the emotional life of the season, the Sharks kept fans connected long after the final game.

Key Insight: Reflection isn't just backward-looking. Based on fan input, it can build insight for what should come next. 

4. Participatory control: how to give fans real influence

What it builds: ownership, in-stadium connection, emotional payoff

Participatory control puts fans in the driver’s seat, letting them shape experiences in tangible ways. By providing opportunities to influence outcomes, teams shift fans from spectators to collaborators, fostering ownership and deeper engagement.

Hong Kong China Rugby- "Be the DJ"

This campaign let fans choose which song would play during halftime – one of the few parts of a live match environment fans can realistically influence.

By giving supporters the ability to shape the in-stadium experience, Hong Kong China Rugby turned spectators into active contributors. The impact is subtle but powerful: when fans hear the song they voted for echoing around the stadium, the game feels a little more theirs.

Key Insight: Influence creates ownership, and ownership breeds loyalty.

5. Predictive participation: how to build anticipation before kickoff

What it builds: emotional investment,  attention, rivalry energy

Predictive participation works because it creates stakes before kickoff. When fans commit to a prediction, they’re no longer just watching — they’re waiting to see if they’re right.

That anticipation pulls attention forward and makes every moment feel more personal.

Rugby Australia (Wallabies)/ British & Irish Lions -
"Predict the Outcomes"

Launched in collaboration with two rival teams, this campaign asked fans to predict key moments of the upcoming match. Like first scorer, total fan attendance, winning margin, and more.

When fans make a guess, they’re emotionally invested in seeing if they’re right, which heightens attention and involvement throughout the match. This was especially effective during the very rare and high-profile international Lions tour to Australia, giving both fanbases a shared interactive layer to the rivalry.

Key Insight: Prediction turns passive viewing into personal stakes.

Final thoughts

Participation is a big strategic lever to pull as part of your engagement strategy.

The strongest rugby campaigns of 2025 weren't about reach; they were about designing the right kind of connection. 

When teams are intentional about how fans participate, results become more predictable, and loyalty becomes easier to earn.