FRG Update: Coming back soon for the Six Nations

From George, the editor of FantasyRugbyGeek.com…

Back in November I shared that I was taking a break from running FRG; the challenge of balancing an exceptionally busy new job, a family with 3 young kids and coaching the brilliant young players at my local Rugby club at weekends, meant that something had to give, and sadly that was the time I spent on FRG.

I feel the time is right to give an update. The good news is that, while I am no less busy, I will ensure that FRG will definitely be back for the Men’s Six Nations, albeit with with slightly reduced coverage compared to previous years. The first update to be published will be the Round 1 tips on the afternoon of Friday 3rd February. Tips will follow each week of the Men’s Six Nations. I will also cover the Women’s Six Nations running from March to April (assuming the Official Game will be running again).

For now FRG’s coverage of the Premiership, URC and Champions Cup will remain on hold, and it is unlikely that there will be any coverage of Super Rugby this season. I fully intend to cover the Rugby World Cup again however.

As it stands it looks like the games covering the Six Nations this year will be limited to just the Official Game and Superbru. It is a far cry from the situation just a few years ago when we were inundated with options, including Fantasy Rugby Draft, The Rugby Magazine, ESPN, The Irish Times and The Telegraph. Sadly it seems symptomatic of the wider state of the Fantasy Rugby industry right now. In the last few months we have seen the demise of The Rugby Magazine, Fantasy Rugby Draft struggling to break even (and so no longer covering Six Nations due to costs not making it viable any more) and SuperBru no longer covering the Champions Cup with EPCR not sponsoring the fantasy game anymore. This all bizarrely comes at a time where the runaway success and exponential growth of FPL shows no sign of stopping, and the global growth of Fantasy sport reaches record-breaking levels (The global fantasy sports market size grew from $25.44 billion in 2022 to an estimated $28.96 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9%). Despite this global growth and clear opportunity for fan engagement, the continued malaise and apathy exhibited by Rugby governing bodies towards fantasy sports is an extremely tough pill to swallow. In my 5 and a bit years running Fantasy Rugby Geek, I have seen a highly engaged and passionate community built around Fantasy Rugby, from all areas of the game and from all corners of the globe; yet despite this, the administrators of Rugby competitions around the world are staring a huge fan engagement open goal in the face and doing absolutely nothing about it (for the most part, Men’s and Women’s Six Nations aside – credit to them, they are embracing it and reaping the benefits).

I am enormously grateful to all those who have left some very kind messages since going on my hiatus, and even more grateful to those who have supported me on Buy Me A Coffee since November (that’s you Matt, @AFCBeer, Cecily Heaton, PaulShinfo and Vonyoda – Thank you). As always, I am also hugely thankful to the legendary Fantasy Rugby Yanks for always giving me a shout out on their brilliant weekly pod – they continue to keep the Fantasy Rugby flag flying high every week – if you don’t subscribe to their podcast already, then get to know!

I would be lying if I said that this general decline in fantasy rugby coverage had not dampened my motivation, enthusiasm and drive to continue running FRG (and who knows, if you are a passionate Fantasy Rugby fan willing to commit more time to growing the word and building on the work I have done since 2017 on the website and my social channels, then make me an offer I can’t refuse, I may consider it 😉), but I’m immensely excited at the prospect of Six Nations fantasy rugby returning in February and look forward to engaging again with the thousands of passionate fantasy rugby fans in the coming weeks.

See you in February!

George

P.S. My Six Nations private leagues are now open. Just click here to join for the Official Six Nations game and click here to join for Superbru

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