Rugby World Cup 2019: Spark Sport increases capacity of help team in anticipation of busy weekend

Name: ANZ Sports Scene: All Blacks vs Ireland preview
Uploaded: 2019-10-18T11:41:18+13:00
Duration: 580 s
Description: It's do or die for the All Blacks as they take on Ireland in the quarter-finals of RWC, Kiwi sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling look to raise awareness for the health of our oceans and Israel Adesanya splashes out on a new car. VIDEO/Mark Mitchell

By Luke Kirkness

Sport Planning Editor·NZ Herald·

17 Oct, 2019 10:00 PM2 mins to read

It's do or die for the All Blacks as they take on Ireland in the quarter-finals of RWC, Kiwi sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling look to raise awareness for the health of our oceans and Israel Adesanya splashes out on a new car. VIDEO/Mark Mitchell

Spark Sport has beefed up its dedicated help team in anticipation of a busy weekend filled with rugby, most importantly the All Blacks quarter-final.

High viewership was expected over the weekend and Spark did not expect any capacity-related or other technical concerns to hamper sport-watching.

On the second day of the Rugby World Cup and first All Blacks match, the stream was impacted by buffering and glitching due to back-end delivery issues.

Over the remaining 36 World Cup matches, the streaming platform had been delivering matches into homes as expected, Spark said.

However, in the unlikely event of a faulty stream taking place tomorrow night, extra staff had been reeled in to help with any customer issues.

"We understand that streaming live sport is a new technology which can sometimes be frustrating for people who are unfamiliar with streaming live content online," Spark said.

"We want to help, so we encourage all Spark Sport customers who experienced issues last time they watched a match and haven't resolved their issues permanently since then, to get in touch with our Care teams well in advance of kickoff."

The All Blacks performing the Haka before the RWC pool match against Canada. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Over the past fortnight, 17,000 people had been assisted by Spark Sport in setting up their streams.

Most were assisted over the phone or online chat, but hundreds were assisted through in-home visits by Spark Sport staff. Others received a complimentary Freeview SmartVU device as an alternative way to watch.

Meanwhile, earlier this month a group of irate rugby fans threatened to sue Spark for $250 million.

The group called People Vs Spark Sport announced on their Facebook page that they will file a class-action lawsuit against Spark Sport (Spark New Zealand).

It would claim Spark "has misled its customers about its Spark Sport product/s and acted in a manner that aims to deceive its customers and shareholders".