R360’s Biggest Problems
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So the sports washers appear to be serious about their efforts to add rugby to their portfolio.
The latest venture has put the establishment is damage control, but in this case an early intervention seems to be the right model.
Rugby fans around the world are more attached to their tribal allegiances than the sport itself.
If you’re born in Munster and have a rugby background you support Munster, Ireland, and the British and Irish Lions. You support your teams, your people, and even the Lions more than being a purist love of the sport itself.
Rinse and repeat the fine people of Christchurch, Hamilton, Pretoria and Cardiff. So much of it is about history. This is the issue for R360; it’s hard to buy that, even if you’re shagging a minor royal.
The benchmark is how much following does the 6 Nations get in New Zealand (or Australia)? It’s rarely commented on although it is very relevant when it comes to reciprocal tours every year; not to mention any upcoming World Cup, and involves quality rugby.
Some might use the excuse that the time zones don’t help, and that’s fair, although R360 is unlikely to be more helpful there. Regardless, the NZ media approach to the 6 Nations tournament drifts from sneering to indifference for reasons that are hard to understand.
There is an argument that another oil funded rebel venture in LIV has survived for longer than most predicted. But golf is different in that, Ryder Cup excepted, you are watching the event as a sport with no real skin in the game. That’s not how rugby, or most other sports, works.
Note that sportswashing in the world’s biggest sport has been about buying the biggest clubs, and associated history, rather than taking on the sport’s Goliath that is FIFA.
Shh; don’t give them ideas.