Rugby is staring into the abyss when it comes to Gen Z
Look at rugby in Britain today and objectively try to answer the following questions. Is it appealing to you? Is it sexy enough to invest in? Would I take my kids or young relatives to watch it?
These are the questions rugby chiefs will always be grappling with, and good luck to them. But rugby continues to have an engagement problem with younger people.
Data from EY suggests rugby does not feature in the top 15 most engaging sports among Gen Z Brits.
Sent falling down the table by the likes of wellness sports and chess, rugby union could be staring into an abyss whereby old people stop attending and there’s no one to fill their seats, à la, to some extent, county cricket.
When Morning Wire addressed a separate abyss – social media – on how to engage fans further in the sport the responses were interesting.
Gen Z problem
“Parents, fairly, don’t want their kids playing such a rough sport so go really big on touch,” one response said. “Encourage both players and fans to be more expressive and not have to adhere to weird values. It is very tricky to do, but make it “cool” to mainstream audiences.”
Others focused on geo blocking content online while one insisted a playground should be built at every ground.
Humorous as that final point sounded, former Saracens bigwigs have told Morning Wire in the past that their installation of a play area does keep families within the stadium – spending money – for longer. So there’s that.
From an English point of view the top flight’s governing body Premiership Rugby have looked to fantasy sport to push the game, while they’re in the early stages of looking at proposals whereby atmospheres can be bettered with optional away ends.
And for the United Rugby Championship, which covers teams in Scotland, Wales and on the island of Ireland, their partnership with Roc Nation is aiming to catapult the sport by stratospheric proportions, led by Springboks captain Siya Kolisi – who seems to be the sport’s best bet at transcending its boundaries.
But it appears, on the surface at least, that none of the above is having the desired cut through to engage young audiences.
Formula 1 has Drive to Survive, rugby union has Six Nations: Full Contact. Cricket’s Hundred has end-of-season play-offs, rugby union has end-of-season play-offs. Football has heartlands with incredibly passionate fans, rugby union has heartlands with incredibly passionate fans.
But nothing is working, according to the data. So what are the solutions when the perceived solutions aren’t working?
Any solutions?
A great reset of ovalball? Leaving it to domestic leagues to figure it out for themselves? A drastic new direction at governance level to reshape the game? Who knows.
Cricket has turned to the subcontinent and its success with the Indian Premier League while football thinks the answer to growth is more matches – to the displeasure of many players – and tennis is headed to Saudi Arabia and China.
Rugby has one thing on its side, at least. It is dirt cheap. In a world where the Dallas Cowboys are valued by some at $10.32bn and the likes of Rory McIlroy can invest in a Formula 1 team with an estimated valuation of $1.3bn rugby union comes in at a relatively desirable price point.
Maybe that’s the “sexy” bit we were looking for earlier on.
As for appealing, it can be and is to many. But unlike the NFL, it hasn’t been able to convert a complicated rules-based niche game into something casual fans want to experience because of the atmosphere or excitement of the sport being in town.
If you’ve reached the 600-word mark, congratulations. You’ll realise that there have been no answers proposed thus far. That can be left for those paid to come up with them.
But the abyss is big, and it’s growing like a black hole. Soon the problem could consume any potential solution. And then rugby is in real, real trouble.