World Rugby has completed its desired roster of six Rugby World Cup Partners more than two years out from the next tournament taking place in Japan in 2019.

Mastercard yesterday became the sixth brand to sign on for another campaign.  They will be the preferred card and digital wallet for the event which gets under way on September 20th, 2019.

“Rugby World Cup 2019 is set to be a very special and ground-breaking event that will reach beyond our traditional audiences to inspire and attract new fans and participants, and our Worldwide Partners are at the heart of the story,” said World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont.

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“The inventory of Worldwide Partners has been secured in record time and with record value, which speaks volumes about the global prestige of the tournament as we accelerate towards the exciting prospect of a first Rugby World Cup in Asia and ensures a strong platform for the continued global development of the game.”

Mastercard joins Emirates, Heineken, Land Rover, Société Générale and DHL in the top tier of partnerships.  All six are renewals from 2015 and set a high benchmark for when Ireland will hopefully be hosting the tournament in 2023.

It can only be seen as a positive for ireland’s bid that the company has a strong presence here with over 200 staff employed in a Research and Development unit based at Leopardstown.

It secured the rights to be the preferred credit card partner of major rugby backer Bank of Ireland in 2015, ending a 40 year unbroken run for Visa in that position.

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Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht Rugby as well as Irish Rugby’s main sponsor Vodafone and Rugby World Cup Partner Heineken are all full members of Sport for Business.  Here is a look at what we do.

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The company used Keith Wood as an ambassador for its activation around the last Rugby World Cup.

The next level down is that of sponsorship which will be the focus of securing renewals or new deals over the coming months.

This level of partnership is secured and managed centrally by World Rugby which also retains the income for the global development of the game.

As part of the agreement, Mastercard will look to package ‘Priceless’ access and experiences such as man of the match and different competitions to win trips to Japan.

It will likely have a strong presence at the 12 venues and repeat the 2015 promotion where there were benefits attached to booking tickets for the tournament using Mastercard as opposed to other cards.

Mastercard will also provide an exclusive incentive for cardholders to use their Mastercard when purchasing Rugby World Cup 2019 tickets.

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