Four Days of World Rugby in Baltimore: Inside Our Rugby World Cup Experiences Activation

When one of international rugby’s greatest rivalries came to Baltimore, Baltimore Photo Booth had the opportunity to help turn the week surrounding the match into an experience fans could take home with them.

Over four consecutive days, our team supported a fan activation for World Rugby and Rugby World Cup Experiences, moving through three of Baltimore’s most recognizable destinations: Camden Yards, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and M&T Bank Stadium.

The activation combined live photography, high-volume printing, personalized rugby trading cards, and custom photo keychains—culminating on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium for the historic showdown between the New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa Springboks.

It was four days of experiential marketing, thousands of fan interactions, and one major moment for rugby in the United States.

A Four-Day Experiential Activation Across Baltimore

The goal was bigger than simply setting up a photo booth.

Our team operated two interactive experiences designed to give fans a personalized connection to World Rugby while creating physical branded keepsakes they could take home.

Guests could step in front of the camera and leave with either a custom rugby trading card or a personalized photo keychain created on-site.

The trading card experience also incorporated one of rugby’s most recognizable symbols: the Webb Ellis Cup, the trophy awarded to the winner of the Men’s Rugby World Cup.

Instead of simply seeing the trophy or walking past World Rugby branding, fans could become part of the experience themselves.

That is what experiential marketing does well. It transforms an audience from spectators into participants.

Day 1: Camden Yards

Our first day brought World Rugby into the heart of Baltimore sports culture at Camden Yards.

With the weekend’s rugby match still several days away, the activation gave fans an early opportunity to interact with the event and begin building excitement around the All Blacks and Springboks coming to Baltimore.

Our team simultaneously operated the trading card and keychain experiences, managing photography, guest flow, printing, assembly, and distribution.

For an activation like this, speed matters—but so does quality.

Every station had to work together so that guests could move efficiently through the experience while still receiving a finished product that felt like a legitimate event collectible rather than a generic photo booth print.

Days 2 and 3: Taking World Rugby to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

For the second and third days, the activation moved to the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

This gave World Rugby an opportunity to engage people outside of the stadium environment and place the experience directly into one of the city’s most recognizable destinations.

Fans, visitors, and people encountering the event around downtown Baltimore could create their own rugby keepsake while excitement continued building toward Saturday’s Test.

This is one of the biggest advantages of a multi-day experiential marketing activation: the campaign does not have to wait for the main event to begin.

The brand can become part of the city before kickoff.

Day 4: M&T Bank Stadium and Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry

The activation concluded at M&T Bank Stadium on September 12, 2026, as the Springboks and All Blacks played the fourth and final Test of the series branded Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

The Baltimore match completed the first full-scale All Blacks tour of South Africa in 30 years. After three Tests in South Africa, the teams crossed the Atlantic for the finale in Baltimore.

And Baltimore showed up.

An announced crowd of 68,173 fans filled M&T Bank Stadium, setting a new record for attendance at an international rugby match in the United States.

For perspective, this was only the sixth All Blacks Test ever played on U.S. soil, adding another layer of significance to the occasion.

Springboks Defeat the All Blacks 43-28

The match itself delivered.

South Africa defeated New Zealand 43-28, scoring six tries and securing the four-Test series 3-1.

The rivalry between these two countries is one of the most important in international rugby. South Africa and New Zealand have combined to win seven of the first ten Men’s Rugby World Cups, including every tournament from 2007 through 2023.

South Africa entered the Baltimore event as the reigning Rugby World Cup champion after defeating New Zealand 12-11 in the 2023 final.

Putting these two teams inside an NFL stadium in Baltimore was not simply another neutral-site sporting event. It was a showcase for what elite international rugby can look like in the American market.

Why This Match Mattered for Rugby in the United States

The timing of the Baltimore match was particularly important because rugby is preparing for its largest-ever opportunity in the United States.

The U.S. will host the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2031 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2033. The 2031 tournament will be the first Men’s Rugby World Cup staged in North or South America.

World Rugby is therefore entering an important period of building American awareness, participation, and fandom.

A record crowd of more than 68,000 people in Baltimore provided a glimpse of that potential. The Baltimore Test was also viewed as a promotional showcase ahead of the 2031 tournament, with rugby leaders looking toward events like this as opportunities to introduce more American fans to the sport.

For us, that made the activation surrounding the game even more meaningful.

Growing a sport is not only about what happens for 80 minutes on the field.

It is also about everything happening around it.

Turning Rugby Fans Into Participants

A successful sports activation gives guests something more than signage to look at.

It gives them a reason to participate.

With our custom trading card activation, guests could step in front of the camera and become part of the World Rugby visual identity themselves.

With our custom photo keychain activation, that interaction became a physical souvenir they could carry with them long after the event ended.

That physical component is important.

Digital photos are valuable, but they can quickly become another image buried inside a camera roll. A personalized trading card or keychain becomes a tangible reminder of where someone was and what they experienced.

Every time that item is picked up, displayed, shared, or shown to someone else, the experience continues producing brand impressions.

That is one of the reasons we have continued expanding Baltimore Photo Booth beyond the traditional definition of a “photo booth.”

More Than a Photo Booth

Large-scale experiential events require more than a camera and printer.

Over four days, our team had to manage two experiences simultaneously while coordinating live photography, guest flow, high-volume printing, trading card production, keychain assembly, physical product distribution, equipment movement, staffing, and changing venues.

The systems behind an activation are just as important as what guests see from the outside.

For attendees, the experience should feel simple: Step in. Take the photo. Get something incredible.

Behind the scenes, everything has to be designed around throughput, consistency, reliability, and the overall objectives of the campaign.

That is where our experience with corporate photo activations, branded photography, live event printing, and custom experiential marketing installations becomes especially important.

Baltimore Was Part of a Bigger Rugby Story

There was something special about watching the week move through Baltimore.

We began at Camden Yards.

We spent two days at the Inner Harbor.

And then we finished inside M&T Bank Stadium alongside a record-setting American rugby crowd.

Three Baltimore landmarks became part of a campaign surrounding two of the most recognizable teams in international rugby.

For Baltimore Photo Booth, it was exactly the kind of project our company has continued building toward: a large-scale event where photography, physical products, technology, branding, and live guest engagement all work together.

We did not just want fans to see the activation.

We wanted them to become part of it.

Creating Experiential Marketing Activations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Baltimore Photo Booth works with brands, agencies, corporations, sports organizations, and event producers to build custom photo and video activations in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and beyond.

Our experiential offerings extend far beyond the traditional photo booth and can include custom trading cards, instant photo keychains, branded photo printing, AI photo experiences, roaming photography, headshots, 360 video, photo mosaics, specialty installations, and fully customized brand activations.

The goal is always the same: Create something guests want to participate in—and give the brand an opportunity to remain part of that memory after the event is over.

For World Rugby and Rugby World Cup Experiences, that meant four days, three iconic Baltimore locations, two simultaneous fan experiences, and a historic international rugby match.

For us, it was another opportunity to turn moments into Momentum.

Frequently Asked Questions About the World Rugby Baltimore Activation