Rugby needs to look to USA and other wild ideas
When I read this week in Morning Wire that Premiership rugby clubs are keen to head to the United States again I was pleased, if not too surprised.
It didn’t really take off in 2016 and 2017, when clubs from the Gallagher Premiership last went across the pond, but that’s not to say rugby cannot make it work on the East or West Coast.
As long as it is done properly there’s little reason to oppose it, but clubs will be conscious of their fans based in and around their English stadiums who, due to club mismanagement, no longer get 12 home games a season.
Their season tickets now only cover nine domestic home matches – in addition to the Premiership Rugby Cup and European fixtures – so clubs must ensure they continue to value their loyal supporters.
That said, there are a number of radical things rugby could do to catapult the game into markets it has yet struggled to penetrate.
North-South rugby match
We have a Lions series and, soon, New Zealand and South Africa will have similar extended tours around both countries.
The idea of special occasions in rugby are nothing new, and sometimes they’re the only parts of the game that are guaranteed to turn a profit.
So why don’t we revisit long-shelved plans of a northern versus southern hemisphere match?
It would combine the best and brightest of the Six Nations with Japan, North America and the rest of Europe, taking on the might of the Rugby Championship as well as the Pacific Islands, South America and Africa.
Chiefs would need to ensure there’s representation from a vast number of countries to some extent to ensure there was global reach, but it feels like the kind of match that would get private backing, sponsors and a prime broadcasting agreement.
It may not be the finished product but it’s a great, fun idea.
Match relocation
Maybe Saracens are onto something – why do all fixtures need to be in the same, traditional, place?
While Twickenham is getting its facelift the men’s national team are likely to tour the country when they play pre-World Cup warm-up matches.
And while Twickenham is a cash cow – especially for Premiership Rugby when they actually fill it – taking the international game to different regions, as the senior men’s cricket and football teams do, can fuel growth.
Whether the Premiership can afford to move its final is dependent on revenue and which teams are playing, something that cannot be known until a week before the final.
But there’s opportunity there to do something special.
IPL reboot
There was a wild plan years ago where sevens players were bid on in an IPL-style auction.
Why don’t we bring something similar back and funnel some private money into the game?
The development of some sort of all-star league would be fun but there is a player welfare element whereby competitors will need to arrange with their clubs a time to play.
While it fell on deaf ears when it was first given a shot, why not bring it back with some proper City backing?
I’m not entirely sure how you fix the global game, but the above ideas are at least new approaches to a solution.
And if the sport is going to use private equity backing then why not use it properly to thrust the game into the spotlight.
I commend Saracens for being so vocal about their ambitions.
Whether the game is brave enough to go back to the United States remains to be seen.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11