New Zealand may be a bit behind the times but...

Using the mobile phone application Foursquare is a great idea for the World Cup, and New Zealand Rugby as a whole.

Basically Foursquare is an application which focuses on users sharing places that people have been, and then recommending them to others. It has worked overseas, catching on rapidly, and there have been thousands of Facebook posts, tweets, and uses of the application, all with one common goal - to become the mayor of a certain place.

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Example: Lets say that I was a huge fan of the pub down the road. If I went there more than everyone else, and logged in to foursquare everytime I was there - I then would be the 'mayor' of that pub.

The pub may have a promotion going on, where the mayor of the pub gets $1 or $2 off drinks, or something like that.

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With all the influx of tourists for next year's World Cup, why not utilise Foursquare.

Have points set up in different stadiums at the start of next year.

The more the Foursquare app users visit the stadium and sign in (it does not matter what code they are watching) the greater the chance they have to be 'mayor' of that stadium. (I mean, how awesome would it be to be 'Mayor of Eden Park?')

As an added incentive, by the time the RWC 2011 tournament starts, whoever is 'Mayor' of that stadium gets a double pass to each of the games at the applicable stadium. Easy.

Members of the public, who do not necessarily follow rugby as a first sport still want to be a part of this World Cup.

With rugby taking the spotlight next year, this would provide an incentive for these people to attend more Super 15 and also ITM Cup games, in the hope of winning a double pass, and of course the honor of being 'Mayor.'

It also provides a unique angle for news, and lots of local coverage.

We are seeing more and more uses of social media in Sports PR every day, why can New Zealand not become an innovator in that aspect.

The use of such an idea for other sports is certainly applicable.