Allowing South Africa vs New Zealand to clash with NFL is classic rugby
South Africa and New Zealand choosing to stage their money-spinning Greatest Rivalry rugby match in Baltimore on the opening weekend of the NFL season is, at best, short-sighted and realistically rather daft.
What is the point in the sport trying to break the US, five years out from a North American World Cup many are fearing may underwhelm, when it will clash with the country’s biggest sporting export?
At least for the two nations, who recently completed a three-Test series down in South Africa, their hosts – the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens – are not occupying their M&T Bank Stadium this weekend and are instead away to the Indianapolis Colts, a nine-hour drive away.
The Ravens are also playing on Sunday, meaning there’s a pretty large bet that the All Blacks and Springboks are big enough draws to get locals out of the house on a Saturday before game day.
Stars and stripes of NFL
Tickets remain available for pretty much every block, but they are on resale which suggests there is an appetite at least in part. Interestingly, however, the tickets are listed on Ticketmaster as an opportunity to watch the All Blacks, despite South Africa being the designated host of this year’s Greatest Rivalry series – which, by the way, is a woeful name.
Those tickets can be snapped up for around £100 – extortionate compared to the starting cost of tickets in South Africa but very cheap relative to many UK and US comparables – and rise to upwards of £1,100.
It’ll certainly boost the coffers as planned, but will it show off rugby in its best form in front of fans who are used to three-hour matches and padded-up players?
In choosing to go up against the NFL, rugby union has decided to target hyper-local fans in the Baltimore area and niche fans of the sport nationwide. Expats will play their part, too, but it will be one almighty test of the market – not just in its attendance but its broadcast too.
Domestic numbers inside North America will be interesting, and whether they can match figures for matches involving Ireland in Chicago is worth watching. But overseas, too, the viewership will be monitored.
Kick-off
The match kicks off at 5pm Eastern Time, which equates to 10pm for the UK, 11pm in South Africa and 9am – the following day – in New Zealand. This match is being curated for the Kiwi audience, but they’ve got to show up in front of their screens too.
But back to the behemoth that is the NFL – which began early this morning UK time – and its scheduling. There is no direct clash on Saturday, no match is being played, so all eyes will be on rugby. But has it been lost in the chaos that is domestic US sport?
It would have helped if there was some jeopardy in the series – South Africa are 2-1 after three Tests and cannot lose the series – by hosting a third and final Test in the US rather than the first three in South Africa.
It just feels like, once again, rugby takes two steps backwards for every positive step it takes forward. And until its bosses realise how often it shoots itself in the foot, I fear there is little hope for the sport breaking through properly in the US. Less than 2,000 days until October 2031…
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11