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Within motorsport, video gaming has been used to successfully transform the image of the World Rally Championship (WRC) from the 'woolly hats and flasks of tea brigade' to one that appeals to the more advertising-friendly generation 'X'. Sport and Technology's Editor Rachael Church explores how the WRC is being marketed as a complete package of entertainment and sport and how the Sony PlayStation video game that was initially launched in 2001 has been used to lure viewers to TV coverage of the sport.
By the end of 2002, sales of video game hardware and software in the US had totaled over $10 billion according to data released by New York-based market research firm NPD Funworld. Market research firm Screen Digest predicts that the world market for video game and edutainment/reference will grow to $18.5 billion by the end of 2003 and cites the UK as the largest games market in Europe, third largest in the world after the US and Japan. Meanwhile, Informa Media forecasts that by 2008 the global games market will be worth $40 billion. With motorsport accounting for 25% of the European computer games market, it made sense for the World Rally Championship (WRC), which has 14 rallies across four continents, to gain a slice of the action.
The television and commercial rights to the WRC are owned by International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC), run by David Richards and bought from Bernie Ecclestone for $50 million in 2000. The company has a 10 year contract with motorsports' governing body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to develop the rights for the benefit of the sport while the FIA retains its authority over all sporting and technical rights. ISC is currently negotiating with the FIA to keep the rights for the next 100 years, because, according to ISC's licensing director Nick Williamson: "It is key that we continue developing the sport under a central brand and to build on the investment in the WRC's identity that we have already made."
ISC has television deals with broadcasters in 186 countries including France (TF1), the UK (Channel 4), Norway (NRK), Finland (YLE), Middle East (LBC) as well as pan-Europe (Eurosport), Latin America (ESPN Latin America) and Asia (ESPN Star).
In marketing and commercial terms, ISC aims to broaden the WRC's appeal to a mass market audience. Its vision is to be a top five global sports content provider to broadcast media by 2005 and to achieve a global television audience of 150 million for the WRC by 2005 - about half the current Formula One level at the time of writing. The first step on its path to global popularity has been harnessing the power of the WRC brand. "At the point ISC got involved, Rally had no real identity of its own," says Williamson. "What we have done is bring it from a disparate set of Rallies across the world to a single brand under one roof by putting all the values together. This has helped Rally's image shift significantly over the past two years from woolly hats to the more advertiser-friendly 'generation X'."
It's all about the right image
 The image of the sport has also improved significantly thanks to the WRC Sony PlayStation game that was launched in 2001, and the subsequent benefits in terms of increased popularity in the sport are tangible. During 2002, the WRC witnessed a 21% increase in audiences compared with 2001 and minutes of the sport broadcast worldwide were up 82% in 2002 compared with 2001. Furthermore, UK broadcaster Channel 4 achieved WRC viewing figures that were up 212% in 2002. And according to industry figures, Rallying has overtaken Formula One as the most popular motorsport in Europe.
Williamson sees the relationship between the PlayStation game and TV coverage as a reciprocal arrangement: "The game is a superb educational tool and a means of helping potential TV audiences understand the rules of engagement of Rally. But it is a two-way relationship because the TV coverage has also driven people to the PlayStation game."
PlayStation's first two versions of the WRC game have sold one million copies each and there is a large growing market in the US and Japan. "We like to think of the game as a marketing tool for Rally," says Martin Kenwright, original creator of the WRC games and CEO of Evolution Studios. "The growing success of the game in Japan is linked to the large number of Japanese manufacturers involved in the sport and the presence of a Japanese driver." ISC's Williamson adds: "In the US, the excellent coverage we get on the Speedvision channel has led to an increase in sales of the game in that market and we are now even planning launching a Rally in North America to capitalise on the increasing interest over there."
The success of the game has much to do with Sony's official licensing arrangement with the WRC says Kenwright. "However, while other games have been dependent on the success of a licensing agreement and are of appeal to hard core fans, the general public can be a lot more fussy so we also needed to produce an extremely good game," he adds.
Roots in the aviation industry
The technology behind the PlayStation game owes its roots to a different industry entirely. Kenwright's early business venture involved flight simulators but his real passion leaned towards vehicles of the four wheeled variety: "My thought was that if we could do something as realistic with cars as we had within flight simulation then we would blow people away."
The WRC game is updated every year with all the latest cars, drivers and circuits via access to race data and TV footage from production company Chrysalis. WRC 1 was launched in 2001 and was updated as WRC 2 in 2002. WRC 3 will hit the market in third quarter 2003. "WRC is the most adaptable motorsport for computer games," says Kenwright. "It is also more realistic and exciting than just driving around an oval circuit again and again."
Current game WRC 2 has over 800km of photo realistic track and 115 Rally stages across the 14 countries that host the sport. Car modifications are modeled to an unprecedented level of accuracy due to the access Evolution Studios has been allowed to the data of all the WRC teams. A physics model, developed specifically for WRC 2, makes slides, skids and handbrake manoeuvres more realistic than ever. Hinged body parts and removable panels mean that the inner workings of the cars can be seen in detail. And a new damage model based on real WRC team data produces progressive damage to all parts of the vehicles.
The Rally stages are compiled using satellite data to provide the most authentic experience available including a draw-distance of 5 kilometres. Each stage is densely populated with villages, churches, animals, spectators and marshals offering the ultimate in Rally interaction.
WRC 2 features the up-to-date team drivers and co-drivers for the current season. According to Evolution Studios, the drivers' features are authentically recreated to a level never seen before in any video game thanks to the use of innovative digimask technology.
At present, the WRC drivers have contracts with their teams that give the latter permission for their images to be used in the PlayStation game. But in light of a recent court case in Germany which ruled that goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's image had been used without permission in a FIFA video game [see Sport and Technology news], should ISC be concerned? Williamson thinks individual deals can do more harm than good: "I can see some drivers eventually seeking their own games in exchange for fees [following the example of Colin McRae]. But how can they profit out of the video game if they cannot innovate in the way that we can by having the whole package of the WRC and the elements with which to pin the technology on?"
Likewise, Evolution's Kenwright is also worried that individual drivers may want games named after them and seek deals outside the arrangement between Sony and ISC. "Teams and individuals however need to consider what damage could be done to their brands if they sign up with a poor quality games manufacturer," he cautions.
Value for sponsors
 As well as having the latest teams and drivers, the WRC PlayStation game is notable for having sponsors liveries constantly updated. According to Williamson: "The way we have modelled it, only the sponsors in the actual events are allowed in the game and we can offer this as an additional benefit of being a sponsor of the WRC." And the figures are compelling. "Even if we only sold one million copies of a game and each one was played for 10 hours each year in a 10-year lifetime, that's 100 million hours played. And we aren't even attempting to put a media value on that," adds Williamson.
This year the Rally of Australia introduced a clause in its sponsorship contracts that sponsors would receive weighting of presence on banners within the WRC PlayStation game on the same level of exposure at the live event.
And Williamson sees other sponsorship opportunities developing: "Ultimately I see us as being able to sell banner space within the game in the future if we get the target audience right. And so far we are delivering to the right audience." The WRC's focus is the lucrative 18-35 year old demographic which is also the core market of PlayStation. "We are using the PlayStation game to approach that market and build the WRC in that age group," explains Williamson.
The WRC's website has also been successful at attracting the desired demographic according to Williamson. "We launched WRC.com 18 months ago and are receiving 100 million hits per year. We also get growth of 50% in hits after each Rally. The website has a huge technological content including split times and I can see us taking the Rally live on the website in some way in the future." He also envisages an online element within future WRC games.
Looking to the future
Evolution's Kenwright similarly has a road map of where he would like to take the WRC in terms of technology. "Online will become very big," he says, " because we can reproduce the stage verbatim. I envisage a pay-per-view style revenue stream emerging where fans will pay to drive a virtual car in a particular Rally and compete with the actual drivers in a proper running order." These plans, Kenwright is confident, are one or two years away from fruition. "We are merely scratching the surface in terms of what is possible," Kenwright adds.
Technology underpins the whole of the WRC says ISC's Williamson: "We are already utilising technology that can be accessed by most consumers," he explains, "or the immediate technology that is just beyond them. What we will be able to do with our GPS systems for example on PDAs and mobile phones will allow people to interact remotely with the sport. Likewise, what happens in our Rally cars will end up in a consumer's car in a year or so. It is all extremely accessible technology."
But how can other sports learn from the example of the WRC? "Governing bodies are currently hoping they aren't missing the boat," says Kenwright. "They need to look at games consoles as another medium in which to place their sports, in the same way as they do on television, radio and the internet."
Kenwright is confident that any sport can be represented successfully on a computer game and in turn the game can bring new fans into those sports.
"With the level of graphics becoming increasingly realistic, the next level of consoles will mean that the consumer will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between video coverage of sports and computer graphics."
Williamson agrees with Kenwright that multiplatform delivery of sports will be integral and that governing bodies can learn from the example of the WRC: "We are not an elite sport with its own technological gems. The technology we use can be used to benefit everyone. There's a huge community out there that can't be ignored." Williamson also believes that other sports would benefit from the "rigours we have put around our brand values." He continues: "Identify what your USPs are, bring them under one brand and leverage every communication channel possible. And above all, don't get sucked into the short term lure of the rights industry - whether TV rights or image rights. Look to see where the long term value lies."
Rachael Church - Editor
(rchurch@sportandtechnology.com )
Nick Williamson, licensing director, ISC, tel +44 (0) 20 7584 7584
Martin Kenwright, CEO, Evolution Studios, tel +44 (0) 1928 570400
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