Today, O2 and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) honour thirty years of their pioneering and award-winning partnership. To mark the occasion – and celebrate one of the longest-standing shirt sponsorships in the world – the Men’s and Women’s England Rugby teams have united for a photoshoot featuring some of the most iconic England Rugby shirts of the past three decades. O2 has also lifted the lid on its plans for this year including unprecedented support for the women’s game in 2025.
The industry-leading partnership – which was born in 1995 – has been pivotal in not only growing rugby’s audiences but also connecting fans to the sport in new and evolving ways. O2’s role in the game has been heavily defined by its fierce commitment to gender parity – it was the first brand to commit to equal investment in the men’s and women’s games back in 2021 – which will only be gaining greater focus and momentum in 2025 and beyond.
Gareth Griffiths, Director, Partnerships and Sponsorship at Virgin Media O2, said:
“Since 1995, O2 has been side by side with England Rugby, making it one of the longest standing professional sports shirt sponsorships in the world, and we could not be prouder of everything we have achieved with the RFU over the past 30 years.
“Our Wear the Rose campaign continues to be a powerful and emotive way to support our England teams and has enabled us to bring the sport into the lives of millions of people via Priority from O2 – our award-winning reward platform which reaches more than half of homes in the UK – and have worked with the RFU and Red Roses to tackle rugby’s gender awareness gap. We are so excited for what 2025 has in store, for the women’s game especially. Come on England!”
To celebrate 30 years of partnership, the England men’s and women’s teams have come together for a celebratory and nostalgic photoshoot to honour everything that has been achieved by O2 and the England Rugby teams over the past three decades.
Growing the Game
O2’s mobile network is the largest in the UK, providing millions of customers with access to rugby-related rewards and experiences via its Priority reward platform and bringing more people than ever into the game. From offering pre-sale access to the biggest rugby matches, to once-in-a- lifetime experiences to meet the players, O2 had over 3.5 million accepts across England Rugby offers and Priority Tickets.[1]
As well as its iconic rugby partnership, O2 is famous for the live music experiences it brings its customers through its Priority Tickets platform and sponsorship of 21 venues across the UK (including London’s The O2 arena). Marrying its credentials in the worlds of music and sport, O2 has brought acts such as Sugababes and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to the stage at halftime shows – encouraging new audiences to grab a ticket and try a game for themselves – resulting in record-breaking attendance at Red Roses matches[2].
Elevating the Red Roses
As part of its unwavering support of the Red Roses, O2 signed a landmark principal partner deal with England Rugby in 2020, committing to parity in marketing spend across the women’s and men’s team – the first brand in the industry to do so. O2, in partnership with the RFU also commissioned the first women’s rugby team documentary ‘Wear the Rose: An England Rugby Dream’. A two-part series which aired on ITV1, attracting over 1.25 million viewers across ITV1 and on ITVX. Those who tuned in to the documentary watched 21% more coverage of the Rugby World Cup than those who didn’t and saw a growth of 14% in awareness of the Red Roses.
In 2023, O2 and the RFU joined forces with the Women’s Sport Trust to help close rugby’s gender awareness gap by delivering an annual report that provides much needed data and insights to inform fans and industry alike as to how they can help tackle the issue. Thanks in part to a series of O2-led collaborative activations, the gender awareness gap in rugby has shrunk to 15% (a 10% reduction YoY), whilst also boosting overall national awareness of the women’s team and the desire to attend a Red Rose match continuing to rise. [3]
Bringing fans closer to the action
At O2, fans come first. The brand has strived to bring them closer to the action than ever before – from training experiences with the Men’s and Women’s Squad to its iconic O2 Blueroom matchday experience. The O2 Blueroom at Allianz Stadium allows Priority members to enjoy pre- and post-match pints whilst getting up close and personal with their favourite squad members. Guests have included current captain, Maro Itoje, and World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year, Ellie Kildunne, as well as TV favourites Vernon Kay and Mark Wright. To date, fans have also claimed an estimated seventy-five thousand free pasties when visiting.
The action doesn’t stop on matchday. O2 has also created the award-winning O2 Inside Line content series, which brings both existing and new fans closer to the players and the team than ever before. With all the behind the scenes action, including live streams from the England Rugby camp to the players telling their unique stories in their own words via the England Rugby Podcast: O2 Inside Line. The series in 2024 generated over 58 million views alone, a figure that continues to grow year-on-year.
O2 has also invested heavily in enhancing the connectivity at Allianz Stadium to ensure the fans matchday experience is more immersive and interactive than ever before. During this year’s Guinness Six Nations O2 upgraded its mobile network to bring enhanced 5G connectivity to spectators, representing one of the largest 5G deployments at any stadium in the UK to date.
Claudio Borges Executive Director of Commercial and Marketing , RFU, said: “Our teams always speak about the pride they feel in wearing the England shirt and for three decades of players to have had the consistent presence and support of O2 throughout is a sensational achievement, one of the longest-standing partnerships in sport. Looking back over our sport’s 30-year journey, side by side with O2, we’ve won Grand Slams, lifted trophies, seen huge growth in the women’s game and achieved record-breaking Red Roses attendances to name but a few. We thank O2 for everything they’ve done to support and grow the game with us and to a continued successful partnership.”
ENDS
Maro Itoje, England men’s captain said: “For 30 years, O2’s commitment to England Rugby has been unwavering, so as a team, it makes us incredibly proud to be supported by such a loyal partner. I want to extend my thanks to O2 for their longstanding support – it’s been an amazing journey so far, and we’re excited for what lies ahead.”
Zoe Aldcroft, Red Roses captain said: “We take immense pride in representing our country and we greatly appreciate the support O2 has given England Rugby, and us as Red Roses, for such a prolonged period. We have felt O2’s incredible commitment for a number of years and it has been pivotal in bringing more eyes on women’s rugby. In an exciting year for the game, we know they will continue to back us and help elevate the sport.”
[1] Historic data from 2017-2025
[2] Reference to record breaking crowd of 58,498 at the England v France Women’s Six Nations match on April 29th, 2023.
[3] Report data from ‘The Visibility of Women’s Rugby Union, Women’s Sport Trust, July 2024’ and results from the ‘Wearable Report’ campaign, September 2024.
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