In a scrappy affair this afternoon the SA Rugby team defeated the Argentinians at Twickenham ,London 29-27. The win ensured the SA team retains the Rugby Championship trophy for the second year running and is their first back to back in this event.
It did seem a little odd that the Argentinians choose Twickenham over Buenos Aires as their home match and was more about the paycheck. Argentinian rugby needs the money so by playing at Twickenham to a sold out Stadium they would receive 75% of the gate takings. Twickenham can hold 82 000 people whilst the Argentinian rugby stadiums have a capacity of 52 000 and 47 000. The payment is also in GBP so having an extra 30 000 supporters all paying high end prices this is a no brainer.
The Argentinian Rugby Federation can expect to pocket somewhere between 12 and 15 million GBP which will be used to help fund their team for the foreseeable future. This is a savvy move if you think about this even if it gives away home ground advantage. Most international Rugby Unions are looking at ways to increase revenue and this is an obvious one.
If Argentina were serious about winning the match they would have played on Argentinian soil so even though they lost today they kind of won. Playing Argentina in Argentina is not that easy and I am sure any opponent would be happy to play anywhere else.
Twickenham was sold out with tickets ranging from 130 GBP right up to 599 GBP for hospitality tickets.
Many of the International Rugby Unions are in debt with Australia last month coming out of debt after the recent British and Irish Lions Tour. They were in the hole for a reported $63 million and managed to earn a bumper $120 million from the tour. New Zealand tour SA next year which will be a 8 week long tour and they will be sharing the revenue with the SA Rugby Union. The final 4th test match will either be played in London or Dubai and again this is all about the money being generated.
Bums on seats is not enough to turn a profit and sponsorships are what pays the bills. In a recent report published regarding the health of the UK club rugby teams playing in the Prem there was not one profitable club.
When you consider a rugby club like Bath that plays to home packed crowds and yet they lost £3.6m last season. The owners are always having to pay in for the short fall and this is not a sustainable business model. If you take away the millionaire owners of each club the sport would crash over night. The English Rugby Football Union has not been well run of late and they needs to earn more so they can offer more financial support.
Many of the international Rugby Unions have sold off a share holding to private investors and this is very bad for long term earnings. The likes of New Zealand and England will regret these deals as it stunts financial growth due to sharing the revenue and profit generated with others.
The solution is clear and right in front of everyone's faces and that is going back to having touring sides like they used to have 40 years ago. Proper tours of 8 weeks at a time is what the real fans want and it would boost the television revenue and through that boost sponsorships from companies looking for air time. The mini competitions are great, but the big money earner is the touring teams.