The 2015 Rugby World Cup must be held outside a rugby union stronghold if the sport is serious about becoming a truly global game and breaking out of its current “ghetto”, according to the contents of a new report.
‘Putting Rugby First’ also warns that union is being left behind by the likes of cricket, which has a similar geographical base and background, when it comes to broadcasting in new markets such as China and the United States.
And it urges officials to exploit the commercial potential of Sevens, a cut-down version of rugby, in much the same way as cricket has used Twenty20 to bring in new fans.
Japan lost out narrowly to New Zealand, a rugby powerhouse but a less financially attractive proposition than south-east Asia, for the right to host the 2011 World Cup.
By contrast, football staged its 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, providing a huge boost to the sport in that region.
“The top 10 countries in which rugby is played make-up just five percent of the world’s population,” report co-author William Field told AFP on Saturday.
“New Zealand rugby is not going to get any richer by becoming more popular in New Zealand. The market is saturated.”
He added: “Rugby Union is still stuck in a ghetto. Over half of the world’s four million registered players are English and 97 percent of people watching last year’s World Cup final came from ‘Foundation Unions’ (Europe’s England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France as well as the southern hemisphere trio of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand).
Field is a partner at Spectrum Value Partners, a consultancy group whose work encompasses the sports industry.
His co-author is Quentin Smith, the chairman of English Premiership side Sale and a consultant with Addleshaw Goddard, a London-based law firm with a sports law practice.
Their report makes six key proposals – reform of the International Rugby Board’s structure; improved corporate governance; a five-year development plan; specific programmes to deliver growth; the 2015 World Cup being hosted in a “prioritised territory” and the inclusion of Sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Field added: “When Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, announced a 150 million dollars investment programme in 94 associate and affiliate countries he said: ‘We want to see results that will challenge world cricket’s existing order’.
“In some ways the IRB have already done a pretty good job in that respect, with Argentina reaching the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup.
“That did not come about by accident. But they are still not in the Tri-Nations or Six Nations (union’s two major annual international competitions) so, you have to ask, where is the follow-through?”
The report also argues the structure of the IRB is “undemocratic” with Smith saying: “It could take just four ‘Foundation Unions’ to veto proposals agreed by the other 111 nations.
“Unless the game shakes up its structure and strategy, it will continue to lag behind other more innovative sports in the competition for global fans and finance,” he added.
The IRB expects to announce the hosts of both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups in July next year.
Full details of the ‘Putting Rugby First’ report, due to be delivered to over 1,000 administrators and stakeholders next week, are available at www.puttingrugbyfirst.com.
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