Cube Brings Award-Winning Event Retail Infrastructure Solutions to RLWC2021

As the RLWC2021 came to an end in November, we take a look back at our journey through what has been the biggest and best Rugby League World Cup ever!

When the Cube International group announced its partnership with RLWC2021 as the event’s Official Retail Partner in 2020, the Cube team were all set to bring a full, best in-class, merchandise, and retail programme to the event, including the operation of bespoke official merchandise stores at each of the 61 matches across the men’s, women’s, and wheelchair tournaments. The three tournaments, were to be held together for the first time in the tournament’s history, and planned to take place across 21 venues throughout England.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament had to be postponed for year, making the event officially open on 15th October 2022. Despite the year’s delay, the Cube group worked in close collaboration with the RLWC2021 team throughout. Both Cube Partnership, Cube’s expert sports retail, ecommerce, licensing and merchandise division and Cube Management, Cube’s well-established event operations, infrastructure and services business, joined the Cube Modular team in providing a full online and onsite retail and merchandise programme for the RLWC2021.

Cube Partnership built its RLWC2021 product propositions around the tournaments’ official branded suppliers including replica jerseys from the thirty-two competing nations, complemented by additional ranges of Cube-designed own-label collections. The official merchandise collections have been available on the Cube-operated official RLWC2021 online store since September 2020 and were on sale at all the tournament’s venues and stadia.

The onsite merchandise programme, managed by Cube Partnership’s retail ops team, included 5 managers, 3 retail teams and 170 sales assistants, and brought official merchandise products to fans and visitors across the tournament venues for the duration of the event. Cube Management managed the installation of all the fully branded shops, working in close collaboration with Cube Modular, the suppliers of the units. For maximum installation efficiency, the Management team based its operations in Oldham for two months, a central location close to all the venues, where the units were built, stored and transported to and from each stadium venue.

In addition, the Women’s Sports Alliance, also part of the Cube International group, gave the event a global story telling platform, bringing to light some of the most inspirational female players’ stories, profiling their journey before and during the event. The WSA successfully managed to build hype not only around the teams, but also the whole tournament, including championing the inclusivity element of the tournament through creatives, including film, photography and journalism.

For the finals held at Old Trafford, Manchester, Cube showcased its award-winning new innovation Cube Sight & Sound – a new event, stadium and venue retail solution, incorporating a large format video screen situated above one of its retail, merchandise or F&B modular portable buildings. Bringing promotional, activation and revenue-making opportunities, the unit perfectly demonstrated its brand activation, product visualisation and information sharing capabilities at live events. 

Andy Smith, Cube Partnership’s Retail Director, said: “We were thrilled to be involved in the RLWC2021, the pinnacle event of rugby league. The onsite retail programme may have been complex, as it included the three tournaments in one combined schedule with 58 stores at 21 venues and over 170 staff, but we are so pleased that it was a success and that we have been a part of its legacy in making it the ‘biggest and best’ Rugby League World Cup ever.”

Brandon Weston, Cube Modular’s MD, added: “It was great to see our sustainable retail units being utilised at this major, global, and celebrated event. It was another fabulous demonstration of just how versatile Cube Modular’s range of units can be, and how they can be transported from venue to venue in a short space of time. A true showcase of their incredibly flexible nature!”

Harry Lonsdale, Cube Management’s Project Manager, concluded: “A lot of preparation went into the planning of this globally renowned event. With the busy logistical nature of the tournaments over the different venues, Cube was proud to showcase all the different retail outlets and merchandise propositions that it can offer and its operational, logistical and installation expertise. I can’t believe the tournaments are already over!”