ALEX HICKEY | Sport
GETTING CREATIVE
The Crusaders marketing department has come up with a novel approach to ensuring home Super Rugby games are entertaining.
With the million-times defending champions slumping to just one win from seven games, there’s concern crowd numbers may begin to dwindle.
But not if Marketing Coordinator Johnson Scott has anything to do with it.
Scott believes he’s identified a gaping hole in the live sport match day experience, which can make up for the team’s on-field struggles.
“Sport in New Zealand has gone really hard on discouraging streaking, or pitch invading, in recent years. But what if we went the other way and said, ‘No problem, run out on the field, fill your boots.’
“The thing is, you’ll often see the biggest crowd cheers when a streaker evades a security guard, or – even better – when a security guard catches up with them and smokes them into next week. So we’re encouraging that.”
This creative thinking is something of a first for Scott, who in recent years has been able to coast through his job, relying on the team to bring the entertainment. With little sign of that happening in 2024, he’s had to ramp things up.
“This used to be the cruisiest job in the world, but it’s a lot harder this year. There’s no Razor, no Richie, no Sam Whitelock…and no vibe. If we’re not going to get an atmosphere from winning, we’ll get one from streakers – no doubt about it.”
Police have been asked not to arrest any pitch invaders, starting from the next home game against the Rebels next Friday.
However, it’s not like there won’t be any punishment for streakers. The Crusaders have asked security staff to be “extra violent” when removing streakers from the ground – just to make it extra entertaining.
More to come.
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