The start of March saw the NRL roll out its new season hype spot revolving around the league’s ‘Run To What’s Real’ tagline and focusing on the sport’s tribalism.
Interestingly, the 60-second TV ad, which was amplified across the NRL’s television, digital and social channels, doesn’t feature any new major stars of the game as Australia’s footie players are in the middle of a much discussed collective bargaining rights negotiation with the league.
Developed with creative agency Emotive, the hype film builds on 2022’s ‘Unreal’ brand platform which focused on the entire game from the amateurs and grassroots to professionals and the Grand Final.
Dropping online from 2 March and debiting on TV during the 2 March match, the Australian media reported that the final cut of the ad wasn’t actually finished until the afternoon before the 20:00 kick off of the season’s opening game between the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium.
The official NRL Telstra Premiership promo, which aired on officially broadcasters Channel 9/Fox League and streamers 9Now/Kayo Sports urges fans to ‘Get ready for fresh starts, fierce rivalries, and 27 rounds of unmissable entertainment’.
The campaign sets out to build awareness of, excitement around and interest in the new season which will run from 2 March to 1 October.
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This fan-centric campaign, which includes scenes from last season’s action, emerged as the players boycott NRL media requests and promotions after an initial failure to reach an agreement the league on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) – the contract which governs the minimum terms and conditions of the players’ employment.
Indeed, the platers have stated that they are even prepared to go on strike if they are not offered ‘a seat at the table for discussions and decisions about changes to the length of the season, the size of any fines issued to those who break league rules and changes to drug use and criminal proceedings policies.
It follows in the footsteps of some classic new season NRL campaign such as 2022’s ‘Unreal’, 2021’s ‘Defy Impossible’, 2020’s ‘Simply The Best’ and 2019’s ‘A New Era Begins’.
Broadcast partner Fox also rolled out its own 2023 NRL Season campaign at the start of March which saw Braith Anasta and Michael Ennis on hoverboards and water-powered jetpacks.
“Rugby League is entering a new era with the Dolphins joining the competition and we’ll be there every step of the way to bring fans closer to the action on Fox League,” commented Fox Sports Executive Director Steve Crawley at the launch. “We’re privileged to have an immortal in Mal Meninga front Super Saturday for us alongside Yvonne Sampson – while the Matty Johns Show and NRL 360 return bigger and better than ever before.”
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