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£800m for Nations Championship is tough to turn down – Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
Rugby is far from flush with cash and the offer of £800million over eight years by Qatar to host the new Nations Championship finals is tough for Six Nations Rugby and SANZAAR to turn down.
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We all know that the international game is the sport’s cash cow and New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia have all reported substantial losses in recent years, while the RFU and other northern hemisphere unions have faced challenges too.
We have also seen Wasps, London Irish and Worcester fall by the wayside in the Gallagher Premiership and while they might be separate entities, everything trickles down from the top and money is in short supply in rugby right now.
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Of course, the devil is in the detail and it will be interesting to see how the £800m is divided up and utilised by the various unions, but that is up to them and this is presumably by far the most lucrative offer on the table.
There will inevitably be criticism but the biggest sporting event on the planet, the FIFA World Cup, was hosted in Qatar a couple of years ago and the other contender for that title, the Olympics, is in the running to be staged there in 2036.
Qatar close in on £800milion deal to host Nations Championship finals series after entering exclusive negotiations with Six Nations and SANZAAR. Qatar Airways lined up as title sponsors for eight-year deal. Full story ?@TelegraphSport? https://t.co/KGXBV65co9
— Matt Hughes (@MattHughesMedia) June 5, 2024
The country has also hosted the World Athletics Championships and events in golf, tennis and other major global sports are regularly hosted there, so it’s hard to argue the case that rugby should stand alone or be considered different from other sports.
Given the financial aspect and the deals being done in other sports at the moment, there is obviously a danger that rugby will be left behind if it doesn’t make such a move and it could be a sliding doors moment. Who knows how we will be looking back on this in a decade.
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Rugby is generally very traditional and wouldn’t take chances like this but the opportunity to have monster occasions like this and generate so much revenue and interest off the back of it is something other sports do.
Qatar Airways has reportedly been lined up as a title sponsor for the six-game finals series involving all 12 tier-one teams, while other companies such as Qatar Energy and the Qatar National Bank are thought to have indicated their interest in becoming commercial partners.
Sponsorship is an area that hasn’t been easy for various rugby tournaments in recent times and TV rights have been an issue for most competitions outside of France’s domestic leagues too so Pitch International’s role will be key.
One major advantage of this proposal is that the location is relatively central and equal for the northern hemisphere countries, South Africa and the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
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There are also a lot of expats from the UK, Australia and other competing nations living in the region so you would hope the tournament organisers would be able to persuade them as well as other sport-loving locals and travelling fans to buy tickets.
There are eight official stadiums in Qatar, seven of which have been built since 2010, and all of which are located within a 54km radius of Doha, so the venues are available and the infrastructure is there.
3?? #HSBCSVNS tournaments played,
2?? Championship trophies ?The one and only @Dupont9A ??#HSBCSVNSMAD | @FranceRugby pic.twitter.com/1xLOcpwZb4
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) June 3, 2024
It’s hard to see Guinness Six Nations games being staged outside of the nations involved and Qatar might be interested in hosting a Premiership or Investec Champions Cup fixture. Who knows, but it would be at a much lower level, so this is the one glaringly obvious opportunity open to rugby.
I remember Harlequins beat Wasps in an LV= Cup game in Abu Dhabi back in 2011 and we see the HSBC SVNS staged in Dubai but there aren’t many other examples of high-profile rugby games or competitions in the region.
This is a new tournament being introduced in 2026 so it’s a lot easier to see how it could happen and, given the current financial circumstances in rugby across the globe, £800m in revenue being guaranteed for four editions is clearly not to be sniffed at.
Every sport is trying to broaden its horizons, tap into new markets and get as big a slice of the pie as it can nowadays and rugby is no different, so you have to hope those in charge can navigate the obvious challenges and make the right decision.
The Nations Championship is a new tournament and it has to be a showpiece event. What you don’t want is for it to look and feel exactly like other competitions or what has gone before it, so it should definitely stand out.
It is just a proposal with a two-month exclusivity period at this stage for negotiations, but the sum of money being mentioned will raise eyebrows given rugby’s various recent financial bad news stories.
It remains to be seen whether it comes to fruition but the sports marketplace is fiercely competitive and it’s fair to ask whether rugby can risk being left behind.
