A new bidding process is about to start for the 2035 hosting Rugby World Cup rights and South Africa will not be part of the bidding process. The reason is the money is not there and World Rugby needs big money to fund all the other countries around the world. The sport of rugby is not in a financially strong place and they need the money.
This week the SA Rugby Board had a press conference and during that conference the CEO stated they never expected to host another Rugby World Cup. In the past years the Rugby World Cup was more of a rotational event with the idea the hosting of the event was designed to grow the sport.
When Covid happened and the lockdowns that followed it stripped the International Rugby Board of the money it had stashed away in the coffers. The majority of rugby unions around the world were basically bankrupt which resulted in many of them selling off shares which will ultimately dilute future earnings.
south Africa funny enough is the only International rugby union that is making a profit today which is down to the national team winning the last two World Cups. The sponsorship deals would not be there if the side was not winning and this is just common sense that sponsors back winning and successful teams.
The next World Cup in 2027 is being hosted by Australia and the 2031 World Cup is going to the USA. The last World Cup SA hosted was back in 1995 so one would have normally expected hosting rights to be awarded already if the rotational hosting rights was still the IRB's hosting criteria.
New Zealand and SA are in the same boat when it comes to generating money and the money is just not there compared to other countries around the world. The Rugby World Cup has to generate enough profit to sustain the game globally as profits are shared with all the other rugby unions around the world.
Rugby World Cups will always generate a profit through ticket sales sponsorships and television coverage but you also have to have government backing and in put. The currency in SA being the Rand is virtually half the value of the Euro and 85% of the Dollar so one would have to generate far more many Rands to match what other countries would generate. In other words the hosting of a World Cup in SA would be too much of a risk especially as this event is hosted every 4 years and needs to sustain the other countries around the world.
When you look at the World Cup draw that everyone knows was not exactly right as the top 2 teams are set to face off in the quarter final being SA and New Zealand and not a strength vs strength type draw. Normally teams ranked one and two would be in separate sides of the pool so they would not meet before the semi final or final yet this is now giving other teams a chance. This has been done to generate more interest and help boost the coffers with more fans attending the event. The aim is obvious and that is to try and find a new champion but I do not see that happening as either SA or New Zealand will be winning the World Cup in 2027.
Sadly the sport of rugby like all other sports is definitely being ruled by money and not what is best for the sport. Countries like the UAE will become hosts in the future and this would not be growing the sport in that region, but this is more about world rugby chasing the dollars.