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The Rugby World Cup Is Headed To The United States
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Hey Friends,
The next decade of international Rugby competition has been set, and the United States has been chosen to host both the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Rugby World Cup Host Country
2023: France (Men’s)
2025: England (Women’s)
2027: Australia (Men’s)
2029: Australia (Women’s)
2031: United States (Men’s)
2033: United States (Women’s)
This marks the first time that a Men’s Rugby World Cup will be hosted in North or South America, and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont is certainly excited:
"The U.S. is seen as the Golden Nugget. The country has a huge amount of fantastic athletes - men and women - who probably don't see a lot of rugby. I think this will give them the opportunity to see our game and we will leave a sustainable sport that will go from strength to strength,” Beaumont told reporters on Thursday.
And World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin added:
"We look at the US opportunity a little bit the same way we did with Japan (2019) - it's a great place to deliver outstanding tournaments and have those really big moments in the sport to get fans and players really excited. The two biggest growth opportunities and addressable [growth markets] are the US and the women's game and so when you bring those things together it genuinely is a bit of a no brainer."
The Rugby World Cup takes place between October & November, and 25 NFL & MLS stadiums have already offered to be host cities: Atlanta; Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Glendale, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Of course, this decision also comes with a pretty big economic incentive. The most recent Rugby World Cup in Japan had nearly 2 million spectators, including about 250,000 inbound visitors from six continents. And the tournament created more than 45,000 jobs and had a direct economic impact of around $2.68 billion in Japan.
So the United States will look for similar results, and between World Rugby and USA Rugby, the event organizers have already committed to spending/investing $500 million in the planning and promotion of the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup.
But this is also the perfect example of the globalization trend we are seeing throughout professional sports. For example, the NFL is attempting to widen its total addressable market by playing games in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Mexico. The NBA is doing the same with its Basketball Africa League, and we all know about the international expansion masterclass that Formula 1 has put on with Netflix.
Still, that’s not to say it will work with Rugby. The last Rugby World Cup was watched by 850 million people—making it the world’s third-largest sporting event behind the World Cup and the Olympics—and Nielsen says that the sport has 400+ million fans globally. But there are still only 1.5 million people in the United States that play Rugby, and if expansion throughout the US were easy, every sport would do it.
Rugby Participants In The United States (2006 to 2018)
Moreso, I think this probably speaks to the approach that we are currently seeing and will continue to see by professional sports leagues over the next decade-plus. Many leagues have worked diligently for a long time, attempting to maximize cash flow through domestic media rights, tickets, merchandise, sponsorships, and more.
But at some point, that becomes more difficult to scale as the business gets bigger, and the most obvious next step is to increase your customer base through geographic expansion. The world’s largest sports leagues are already doing it. And don’t be surprised when everyone else, including smaller leagues, starts trying to do it too.
I hope everyone has a great day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
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