World Rugby appoints Chris Synnott as Head of Broadcast and Media Rights Sales
World Rugby has announced the appointment of Chris Synnott as Head of Broadcast and Media Rights Sales. With a focus on expanding the media rights sales strategy of leading properties such as the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups, Synnott starts with the international federation in December.
Synnott joins World Rugby at an exciting time for the sport following Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan which broke broadcast records with more than 857 million people around the world watching the action – a 28 per cent increase from the previous tournament, making it the most-watched rugby event ever – and digital and social media views of more than two billion.
The integral position will further in-house expertise within the international federation to maximise the value of World Rugby’s properties globally. Emerging rugby markets such as USA, Brazil, India and Germany have been the driving force behind a recent growth in the sport’s global fanbase and Synnott will be responsible for developing strategies that will further audience and value growth in such markets.
Synnott began his career as a lawyer and acquired considerable experience in licensing, copyright, intellectual property and sports media management, providing him with a clear understanding of how the media rights business is structured.
After 10 years of legal practice, Synnott moved to T.E.A.M Marketing as Head of TV and Commercial Affairs where he made a direct and immediate impact, implementing a new global sales process for the distribution and sales of both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League media rights. He later moved on to the Sportsman Media Group as Director of Media Rights where he was involved in international acquisition, sales, and distribution of a wide variety of sports media rights programming.
Before joining World Rugby, Synnott led the media rights department of WRC Promoter GmbH in the global sales, distribution, and exploitation of the FIA World Rally Championship across all media platforms.
Synnott brings a wealth of experience in creating distribution strategies that serve to sell broadcast and media rights in major events properties, as well as his wide network of stakeholders in the sports broadcast, commercial and legal spheres, and will report to World Rugby Chief Commercial Officer Tom Hill.
Hill said: “Chris’s excellent track record in media rights sales and distribution combined with his intimate knowledge of sports rights contracts and global media trends are well aligned with our ambition to maximise reach and revenue from World Rugby’s properties.
“His experience working on major sports events across international territories will be an asset to develop and execute a successful strategy, providing a profitable and long-term revenue stream for the sport and encouraging growth in interest and participation in both emerging and established rugby nations.”
The original article can be found here.
