Voice and text broadcasting company Relay Station has revealed that the Rugby Football League (RFL) has begun a pilot of its voice broadcasting technology to the phones of 2,500 Rugby League supporters in South Wales to drive ticket sales for the Engage Super Leagues Millennium Magic event, which takes place on 3 and 4 May in Cardiff.
All six games in Round 13 of the 2008 competition will be played at the Millennium Stadium over one weekend. The event gives supporters a chance to enjoy a feast of Super League action on the field and experience the special family atmosphere that surrounds a major Rugby League event. The voice of Bradford Bulls and Wales star Iestyn Harris is being used for the pilot.
Relay Station says that voice broadcasting is proving one of the most effective media for sports clubs to interact with supporters and to boost ticket sales at key matches. All that clubs need do to benefit from Relay Stations technology is record a message from the manager or player on an MP3, copy the telephone numbers of fans from a database to a spreadsheet, and send both to Relay Station with instructions when to broadcast.
The personalised message is sent to the mobiles or landlines of all fans simultaneously, or can  be spread out over a number of hours to avoid overloading ticket office staff. The technology is used by many Premiership and Championship football clubs, including Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Coventry and Stoke City.