Rugby is on the brink of seismic upheaval. Leading players are being targeted to join a new global league, at a time when they are seeking to increase their profiles and commercial value.
News of the rebel breakaway plot reported by Mail Sport last Thursday has sent shockwaves through the sport.
Backed by US investors, it offers the prospect of huge salaries and modest workloads, in what has been touted as a ‘touring circus’ featuring the game’s biggest superstars.
2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 5, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 16/3/2024
Ireland vs Scotland
Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong and Conor Murray celebrate with the trophy. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Fat contracts are being sent out and nondisclosure agreements signed by interested parties. Initial payments have been promised to those who join.
Unions and existing leagues are rapidly coming to terms with the fact that this venture may alter the landscape of a sport which has struggled to be financially sustainable since turning professional 30 years ago.
Those behind the proposed league have shown a shrewd sense of timing, amid a shared club-and-country struggle to pay leading players what they believe they are worth.
Munster Rugby Squad Training, Thomond Park, Limerick 17/9/2024 Peter O’Mahony. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie
In England, recent negotiations with the English RFU about ‘enhanced’ central contracts exposed the concerns of those who put their bodies on the line in punishing, short careers.
When an agreement was announced late last month, the new Team England Rugby management company raised the alarm about player welfare.
Their statement revealed how the five-man board – comprising Test captain Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Ellis Genge, Joe Marler and Anthony Watson – had ‘expressed extensive concerns about the current rest provisions for England players’.
But that was not the only factor in drawn-out talks with the union. The country’s leading stars also pushed for a more enlightened, flexible approach to their commercial and profile-building activities. With those behind the rebel league attempting to lure the great and the good away from their traditional employers, this issue has become a key part of the battleground.
Maro Itoje of England after the Guinness Six Nations 2024 match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium on February 10, 2024 in London, England. Pic: Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images
Mail Sport spoke to Watson before news of the breakaway plot emerged, but he highlighted how commercial deals and profile-building had been a key aspect of the talks with the RFU.
‘It was a massive part,’ said the Leicester wing. ‘Most people would appreciate that rugby’s commercial side has a way to go to compete with other sports. When you look at how many England players are household names, there aren’t many. A lot of that comes down to the commercialisation of the sport.
‘When you are playing for England, you have an opportunity to grow that. If you want the sport to grow, that is a massive area.’
Rugby players lag a long way behind their counterparts in other sports in terms of public awareness.
England footballer Jude Bellingham has a whopping 37.5million followers on Instagram.
Golfer Rory McIlroy each have nearly 3m followers while boxer Katie Taylor and Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher have more than half a million followers each.
Marcus Smith and Itoje – the highest-profile players in English rugby – have 300,000 followers each, as does Munster and Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony.
Rugby’s engrained traditions and attitudes have made even the simplest steps towards raising the profile of its participants a major challenge.
‘They are now selling shirts in the England store with players’ names on the back, which is a massive shift,’ said Watson of a ploy which was embraced by football 30 years ago. Ireland have recently followed suit as well.
‘There had been a bit of opposition – not within the RFU, but in general – about having names on the back of the shirts, but that is the first, key step to individuals having the profiles which they deserve. Marcus Smith, in my opinion, should be a household name.
‘We are moving in the right direction. Some of the values rugby has hung its hat on for so many years are outdated when we are looking at commercialisation.
‘The traditional attitude has been that no person is bigger than the team. That view is important, but when it comes to growing the sport, that attitude holds it back.’
When it was put to Watson that so-called ‘tall poppy syndrome’ – suspicion of elevating individuals above the collective – is a barrier in rugby and that it needs support from coaches to banish that thinking, he said: ‘I couldn’t agree more. Individual athletes who are smashing it need to be celebrated and allowed to be themselves.
‘They shouldn’t be overly concerned with becoming too big for their boots. They should be allowed to commercially grow to whatever level they want to. Tall poppy syndrome just doesn’t make any sense.
‘Everyone understands now, more than ever, that this is our job and it’s a short career, so you have to make the most of it. You never know when you might have to call it a day.
‘Also, people have seen the nature of the sport and how it has gone in the last two or three years (with clubs going bust), so this commercial growth is required. People have had to shift their thinking, because the sport is not in the greatest shape and this is a key to solving some of its issues.’
Watson was asked about the Oxford Street test, a hypothetical scenario whereby the top rugby players in England walk down the busy London shopping street to gauge the recognition levels among the general public.
So, would many be recognised? ‘No,’ he said, candidly. ‘Some of the guys playing in front of 82,000 at the weekend could walk down Oxford Street with no issues.
‘I would say out of an England matchday 23, maybe six or seven would get stopped a few times. These guys are at the absolute pinnacle of their sport. It’s not to say they want to be recognised, but it’s a reflection of the sport that they’re not.’
The wish of the players is to take small steps in the right direction, with as much urgency as possible.
They have agreed with the union that activities with individual sponsors can take place during Test windows – and that activities with English RFU sponsors can take place outside those windows.
Names on shirts is another key development and there is a desire to tap into online markets. ‘Social media has a pivotal role,’ said Watson.
‘It’s about getting new guys in camp in front of a camera, to get viewers to know them, rather than them having to get to 30 caps before people start to recognise their name.’
Belatedly, rugby is waking up to the need to emulate the more progressive attitudes which have galvanised and popularised other sports.
Players have negotiated a greater say in the nature of content produced in documentaries such as Full Contact on Netflix, which goes behind the scenes of the Six Nations. Season two is due to be released early next year, with Andy Farrell’s Ireland set to feature again.
Watson argued that the first series was ‘decent’, but that rugby needs to fully engage with such projects which can elevate awareness outside traditional markets and demographics.
‘Rugby needs to celebrate what it is,’ he said. ‘The environment is not sanitised, the sport is not sanitised. It needs to embrace that and expand upon it.
‘There will always be some closed doors. But the more access they have, the better final outcome it will be, which means more bums on seats watching that, which potentially brings more promotion for the sport, which is better for everyone.’
Rugby potentially wasted its trailblazer status in this area. The Living with Lions documentary in 1997 was an acclaimed, wartsand-all account of an epic tour to South Africa, only for subsequent versions of the concept to become too corporate and bland as they became more controlled and less spontaneous.
But it is not just about occasional documentary series – there is a wider, pressing need for rugby to abandon its outdated suspicion of free speech and learning how to properly sell the game to the public.
That is another means of promoting the product and drawing more spectators and viewers to the game.
Last month, contentious remarks about the Haka by Marler served to ignite the build-up to the England v New Zealand game way beyond any of the diplomatic words which came from the two rival camps.
‘We can take bits from every sport, like the entertainment aspect of boxing; hyping up big games and guys not being afraid to speak their minds in the media,’ said Watson.
‘That is brilliant. Everyone forgets that sport, at the end of the day, is part of the entertainment industry.’
At the heart of rugby’s drive to thrive is a desperate quest to attract younger followers.
There is a realisation that to do so, the creation and promotion of superstars must be actively encouraged; superstars to whom a new generation of fans can look up to and relate. Players like all-action Leinster wing James Lowe and Connacht maverick Mack Hansen.
‘You need to get a hook into people – a way for them to start liking the sport,’ said Watson. ‘With the younger audience, it might be finding the individual who they feel that they have similarities with.
That’s the power of social media, it’s the power of these Netflix documentaries and it’s the power of allowing profiles to build.’
There is no doubt those behind the new rebel league are attuned to these issues and attitudes. They are setting their stall out to promote and celebrate the sport in new markets, with new ideas, to gain new audiences.
If the establishment are to withstand this challenge to the status quo, they have to wise up, fast. The divisive impact of the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV golf circuit has alerted all leading sports about the dangers of complacency.
If this new league takes off, players in Ireland and everywhere else will have big choices to make. They will face a stick-or-twist decision about remaining in the traditional rugby landscape, or taking a leap into the glitzy, well-paid unknown.
They will consider workload and welfare, profile-building and profit, along with loyalty and national allegiance. Of course they will.
The battle lines have been drawn.
By Chris Foy and Rory Keane
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