Sports Entertainment Network’s (SEN), Rainmaker brand, has partnered with Aqua Rugby to produce its inaugural Aqua Rugby Festival.

The brand-new premium event, produced by the SEN network, aired nationally on channel 9 last Saturday.

Rainmaker falls under the umbrella branding of SEN and provides production services to broadcasters and brands.

The Aqua Rugby tournament is a two-day fete challenging Rugby’s traditional sports model while celebrating the sport and its players.

The game takes place on a 30 x 30 metre floating pitch with five players per team and two reserves.

Each game lasts for ten minutes and currently involves only select teams, coaches and players, however Aqua Rugby is looking to expand to the general public in the future.

This year’s Aqua rugby tournament took place from the 4-5^th of March in Manly over the same period as the east coast floods, making it difficult for the Rainmaker team to capture the action.

However, using five live cameras, 4 documentary film cameras, and an underwater camera, Rainmaker was able to capture content reflecting Aqua Rugby’s mission to commemorate rugby and give back to the community.

Rainmaker CEO, Richard Simkiss said he is proud of Rainmaker’s work and adaptability during the tough weather conditions.

“It just shows when you have a magnificent event proposition such as the Aqua Rugby and an amazing skilled team of professionals you really can overcome anything to create a great broadcast production for viewers,” Simkiss said.

Aqua Rugby CEO, Jimmy Galvin, said working with SEN and Rainmaker was a great experience for the event as it looks to the future.

“We’re excited to see all the hard work that’s gone into the broadcast of Aqua Rugby,” Galvin said.

Currently the event receives major funding from the local ‘Northern Beaches Council’ to support tourism post covid however the event has also amassed 33 corporate sponsors, up seven major sponsors from June 2021.

The sponsors include big name brands like ‘4 Pines Brewing Company’ and ‘Buildcorp.’

Notably, the property group, Buildcorp, already have the naming rights to the Australian Women’s XVs team, the ‘Buildcorp Wallaroos.’

Aqua Rugby is looking to expand the sport nationally before eventually integrating itself onto an international level.

With rugby’s popularity on the rise and over 405 million rugby fans across the globe, globalisation of the event proposes ample expansion and successful uptake opportunities for Aqua Rugby.