# Canterbury Rugby Football Union

> Canterbury Rugby (the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, CRFU) is New Zealand's most successful provincial rugby union, based in Christchurch, Canterbury. The organisation fields teams in the NPC (National Provincial Championship) and Farah Palmer Cup competitions, and governs community rugby across the Canterbury region.

## About

The organisation is deeply embedded in the Canterbury community, supporting 45 clubs and approximately 60,000 people actively involved in rugby across the region each week through playing, coaching, refereeing, volunteering, and spectating.

In 2026, Canterbury Rugby moved to One New Zealand Stadium, a new purpose-built facility in Christchurch, marking a significant new chapter for the organisation.

## Sections on this site

- Partnership and sponsorship opportunities: /becoming-a-partner
- Corporate hospitality at One New Zealand Stadium: /corporate-hospitality
- Current partners: /partners
- NPC and FPC fixtures and squads: /fixture-calendar
- Community and club rugby: /play-rugby
- Club finder: /find-a-club
- Organisation strategy and people: /strategic-plan-2028
- News: /red-and-black-news
- Contact: /contact

## Partnership Overview

Canterbury Rugby offers commercial partnerships to businesses seeking brand exposure, audience engagement, lead generation, and corporate hospitality in New Zealand's South Island and nationally.

Key partnership facts:
- Canterbury Rugby accounts for 25% of total NPC television viewership despite the competition featuring 14 teams
- Total NPC viewership on Sky reached 4.1 million in 2025, with Canterbury matches contributing 1.04 million of those viewers
- From 2026, the NPC moves to free-to-air broadcast on TVNZ, removing subscription barriers and expanding the audience further
- Canterbury Rugby's average television viewership has tripled over the past three years
- Per-game viewership is 1.8x Auckland FC, 2.1x Mainland Tactix, 3.5x Wellington Phoenix, and 6.7x NZ Breakers (Nielsen research)
- Partnership assets generate over 4,100 brand exposures per season
- LED signage for one partner generated $68,000 in media value during the 2025 NPC (Nielsen research)

Partnership opportunities span brand placement, digital content, match-day activations, corporate hospitality, community alignment, and B2B networking.

## Digital and Community Reach

- 121,000+ followers across Canterbury Rugby's own social media channels
- 220,000+ followers across wider Provincial Rugby channels
- 55,000+ EDM subscribers
- Platforms: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube
- Approximately 60,000 people actively involved in Canterbury rugby weekly
- 45 affiliated clubs across the Canterbury region

## Audience

Independent research by Honoco identifies four Canterbury Rugby audience segments: Canterbury Socialites, Canterbury Tribals, Canterbury Guardians, and Canterbury Social Impacts. The audience over-indexes nationally across financial services, insurance, automotive, travel, retail, construction, and home renovation purchasing decisions. Canterbury Tribals are 127% more likely than the average New Zealander to be a primary business decision-maker.

## Hospitality at One New Zealand Stadium

Three hospitality tiers are available for corporate partners:
- Otautahi Lounge: premium social hospitality in the West Stand with indoor-outdoor flow
- Premium Reserves: semi-private hosted experience with in-seat food and beverage service
- Private Suites: highest-tier exclusive spaces with private terraces overlooking the field with suites that can accommodate between 20-46 guests

## Contact

General enquiries: info@crfu.co.nz
Partnership enquiries: zac.topping@crfu.co.nz
Address: 3 Malvern Street, Rugby Park, Christchurch
Website: https://www.canterburyrugby.co.nz

## Further Detail

For full partnership information including commercial benefits, audience data, activation examples, and hospitality options, see: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67b78bd2b63af40bd0e9d1b1/6a56a2a59bf63b8b4285a1bc_llms-full.txt