Super Rugby expansion: Tokyo and LA?

Terry be careful what you wish for mate, Chiefs 2012 champions Bro ha ha, happy days

To be honest I feel that the real interest in rugby lies in nationalism and patriotism....at least for the younger generation. It's definitely a by-product of being so globalized and having it reflected in rugby would be much more benificial to the sport as a whole than anything else. Even if US or Japan dont do so well in the beg...in the long run it would only raise the level of rugby overall. And the RWC would be spectacular. I think it's a little out-dated to not think about adding more countries in the mix....being on the old one track is too limiting. From what I've seen international is what drives the sport....has there been an increase in attention on Rugby since the recent World cup in each respective country? I think yes....with each RWC no doubt. It would be important to capitalize on this at a club level....saying no to this proposal without trying or figuring it all out is a little harsh and backward in my opinion... But of course player welfare will have to be top priority. But if that was somehow taken care of and SR revolved around it, I think this would be a great idea.

I think anyone barracking for this should first go on one of these flights and then think to themselves about what kind of standard of rugby they would be able to manage after getting off that flight.

But professionalism hasn't killed small town rugby in places like France. It has instead meant that big city teams are at the top of the pro ladder. The small towns still play the game, probably to a similar level with similar passion. But more money, people and facilities will always see the smaller towns drop down eventually. I see this as a good thing though Nick. It means those towns where rugby is a passion still play the game for the fun they've always had. And new fans and players are attracted to the game in the big cities where it would never have stood a chance previously. Big populations like Marseille and Lyon might have dozens of budding Blaco's who would never have cared for the game if not for their fancy local Top 14 or ProD2 club. If we want this great game to grow and be available and attractive to more people then we have to accept that at the professional level the bar will rise and those who were once the standard bearers will have to evolve or pass that standard on to someone new to carry. What I fear is that too much money will be put into temporary league victory at the big city clubs and not enough into creating academy structures in those cities, to exponentially increase the number of talented people playing the game. Stealing talent from the smaller towns does nothing for the sustainable success of a sport. It only aids the egos of the big wig owners and the bank accounts of the lucky few players.

DS and KPM, First of all, there are officially now a touch over 100,000 registered player's in the United States. Secondly, over the past 12 months and over about a dozen test matches and three sevens events, Rugby has received regular and solid ratings of between the high 800,000's to low 900,000's. It's actually a surprising decent base to build off.

Rugbug before I mentioned that if South Africa were given the Kings, New Zealand could have South Auckland and Australia Western Sydney. Now I believe South Auckland and Western Sydney also happen to be the two biggest areas in each country of Pacific Islanders. So if a team were formed in each place largely made up of Pacific Islanders, there would be both the players and the audience, while the Pacific Islands would get two teams.

I am all for a PI team however for it to work it would be best placed in the biggest polynesian city in the world which is Auckland and have them playing out of Mt Smart with a game each year in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga respectively. Lets get real here the PI populous of Sydney is but a blimp on the radar to that of Auckland, there are nearly as many Samoans in Auckland as there is on the Islands of Samoa themselves, not to mention the very large Tongan and Fijian communities. correct me if i am wrong but I do believe there are more Cook Islanders / Tokelauns, Niueans in NZ than there is on the Islands. if a team can not be hosted in one of the PI countries the only logical place to have them based is South Auckland

I think you are quite naive to think that the arrival of big cities like LA, SF etc, would not eventualy mean the end of some existing franchises. Not at first, but after a few years, definitely. When it comes to French rugby, it seems you dont know much about it (or prior to the Top 14 with all its SH stars). In the 80's you still had villages or small towns playing in 1st division, clubs like Lannemezan, la Voulte, Bagneres etc...where are they now?? Of course you still have smaller towns in pro d2 but little by little they are being replaced by bigger cities. look at Lyon whihc is now in Top 14. They are not a traditional rugby stronghold but as a 1M city, managed to get therte. And cities like Marseille, Strasbourg etc are on their way: they have the money, population and sponsors to attract top players. I was recently reading that even 2 big clubs like Biarritz and bayonne might not be able to stay in the top 14 as they are too close(geographically) and too small. Anyway, you're not going to convince me on that.

There is zero logic in that last sentence

DS 100,000 registered players, more than Wales and Scotland, and 5.4 million watched the U.S.A. 7s. These figures alone are enough to suggest that the entire country could support a single elite team.

i take back my comment about maybe argentina they should definately have 1 or 2 teams.

You're of course once agin guessing this is so .... 100k across the whole country - seriously what sort of deal could realistically be made for it to be viable

100,000 is the number of players, not supporters, and indicates the game is relatively widespread in some parts. With this kind of a base and a well-marketed and promoted product, an audience could be reasonable across such a huge population.

Just my two cents worth. I think it is possible to put teams in these markets as long as the tv deal is big enough to back it. I think this is where the two teams per nation thing gets bandied about by some roarers ,because if this expansion thing is going to work it needs another conference which would lead to less travel between say Perth And Denver . If this Global expansion thing happens it will be followed closely by a global draft where a certain group of players from all franchise areas will be billeted out annually otherwise this expansion idea is dead in the water . There are some on here who have a real bee in there bonnet concerning the NZRFU and SANZAR when it comes to including the pacific Islands in the bigboys sandpit ,well I agree to a certain point ,but I do think SANZAR do need to get an Island team up and running ASAP (maybe a combined team for a start based in say Western Sydney ) ,this Kiwi would have them as one of my favourites .

i hope this never happens in the current format. Putting SR in Japan would just kill it's own leagues status which is getting quite good and is excellent for asia-pacific players barred by sanzaar from playing super rugby. And the Americas are just too far to bother, on top of the logistical torment that would be scheduling and planning for such trips, fans already have trouble relating to other countries teams. they would be much better off having their own leagues and building them up with their top teams in a pacific (Heineken) cup against each other and the SANZAAR nations (if JON and sanzaar could actually be bothered helping other countries.)

awesome post

Of course Melville wants it - but doesn't mean it's logistically possible or economically viable .

So 100,000 from a population of 300m ... What sort of deal do you expect from broadcasters based on those numbers ... That's like saying American football in Aust has 7000 particpants and that will drive a mult-million dollar broadcast deal for the NFL to base a pro team in Sydney It fanciful to spout about some golden path to a massive payday - it doesn't stack up - and anyway SR isn't a cash cow it's an add on - the boardcasters want the test football and SR is just a compulsory component

" Dont want to follow the Vancouver Chiefs vs LA Brumbies.( well, they would probably rename this one actually). Professionalism has killed small towns’ rugby in some countries already (i.e France). Dont want that here, tx." What a complete load of horse manure. There's no chance that a scenario would ever occur. What would happen is new American/Japanese etc. teams will emerge, not the usurpation of existing franchises. Additionally, professional hasn't killed Rugby in small towns in France. Yes, the teams with larger population and fan bases have had the impetus through investment but look at the ProD2. Lots of small towns competing professionally.

If it gets bigger in France it'll be the Royale avec Fromage