Two years working on rural Australia’s largest ever international sporting event
Polocrosse is one of only three sports born in Australia (the other two are Aussie rules football and campdrafting). It is hugely important in rural Australia where a whole community forms around the sport, with up to three generations playing on the same team!
It is probably the only sport in the world where the World Cup team is mixed gender, and where the athletes have to use someone else’s kit (i.e. horse).
Marketing and Sponsorship Management
In 2017, the Polocrosse World Cup 2019 host, Warwick Polocrosse Club contracted Tilma Group to manage the World Cup’s sponsorship and marketing for two years.
Tilma Group succeeded in securing major event support from the State Government via Tourism & Events Queensland and 50 sponsors, and managed partner relationships in the lead up to and during the event.
Tilma Group developed a marketing strategy and managed the complete implementation of the event’s $125,000 marketing budget, including social media, traditional and digital advertising, graphic and website design, and PR and media. It was a full team effort, with support from our awesome subbies Cristy Houghton of Embarketing, and Anna Hayward.
Images courtesy of the official photographers of the World Cup.
Contact these skilled photographers if you would like stunning images for your event!
(The 3 hard-working women toasting the event are Linda Tillman with photographer Amy Walker of thewifecreative. and World Cup secretary, Sarah Dudin (a sports event manager by trade).)
Outcomes
TIlma Group applied for, negotiated and secured funding from
Tourism & Events Queensland’s Major Events fund
Southern Downs Regional Council
the Gambling Community Benefit Fund
the federal Stronger Communities Program
50 sponsors
Event outcomes included
50,000 attendances and 44,700 visitor nights - 80% from outside the Shire, including 21% interstate (all states) and 8% international (10 countries), and 71% overnight visitors
$10m in economic impact for the drought-affected region, including $5.8m expenditure by overnight visitors
online ticket sales of more than $100,000 to support cash flow prior to the event
millions of impressions across digital and traditional media to raise the profile of the sport, including 50,000 unique website visitors, hundreds of thousands of engagements on social media, and 500 local, state and national media mentions
The event was deemed a massive success, and despite the exhaustion Team Tilma are very proud of the project outcomes and enjoyed being involved with such a passionate and dedicated committee and community.
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