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NZ Rugby World column, June 2007
There is no point in having power unless you abuse it. Our new editor, Marc Hinton, lived that dream last month, signing off with a punchy article on the rape and pillage of our players by the northern hemisphere. Twelve years ago when the game went pro, we had a decision to make. What was the critical competitive factor? The competitions? The brand? The stadia? We took the view that it all started with talent and that the players were the only thing that would keep New Zealand prosperous in rugby. We would never have economic or commercial clout to compete with the likes of England but we would have superior results, performance and value through players. We were the first union to centrally contract players, which was an extension of what we had been doing commercially with Laurie Mains from 1991 onwards. At that time, you may recall, we were under attack from Super League in Australia and we called upon New Zealand business to keep our players in the All Black jersey. I was at Lion Nathan at the time and we had eight players on contract (they couldn't be paid to play rugby of course in those days) including Inga Tuigamala, Michael Jones, Frank Bunce and Walter Little. Coke helped Sean Fitzpatrick and Philips employed Ian Jones and whenever the Aussie raiders came calling we went to work putting together commercial solutions for the good of the game. That morphed into professionalism and central contracts and now, 12 years later, we're facing the first challenge to that system. It is the single biggest threat we have faced since the game went professional. I have always been a believer that talent has the right to move and to choose. At Saatchi & Saatchi we are used to people poaching our talent once we've trained and developed them. We know that sometimes it's good for people to leave. We also know that to sustain the enterprise, we need to fight tooth and nail to convince our inspirational leaders to stay with us. It gets down, of course, to a combination of pride, motivation, inspiration, lifestyle and money, whether you are in advertising or in rugby. Steve Tew's challenge now is to adjust to this new reality of French/English clubs throwing money and lifestyle promises at our players and to do this he'll need a combination of new revenue, new strategy, new ideas, and new initiatives. He won't need a laissez-faire attitude of "oh well, we'll just develop replacement players to see us through". That would be short-sighted, defeatist, and downright pathetic. I rate Steve highly and believe he has been well prepared for this challenge. He has a good governance structure to support him, a brilliant coaching staff, a very strong brand, and hopefully the 2007 Rugby World Cup in his hands. |
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Last month our editor challenged us to come together to find an equitable solution. Here's my eight-point plan: 1. Build annual revenue. As Jerry Maguire said, "You've got to follow the money". The money is in the US. The NZRU need to develop a complete marketing plan for the US. The good news for them is that all of us at USA Rugby are of the same mind and are interested in co-ordinating a joint plan with Steve. We'll be meeting with him in early June. 2. We need new sponsors. In 1995 we expanded the sponsor base from fundamentally local companies to international partners such as Coke, Philips, and adidas. This trend needs to be accelerated and we need to bring on board at the elite level more global sponsors of this stature. 3. We need new revenue models. The NZRU needs to look at football clubs Manchester United who have their own television station and Real Madrid for ideas. They need to invest in a franchise in USA Rugby (the LA All Blacks) and develop their own videogames, mobile games, etc. at a global level. 4. We need to revolutionise marketing and merchandising. Adidas are a fantastic partner. We need to breach rugby and breach black. We need to expand into fashion, beach rugby, women's rugby, retro fashion and do it globally. We need to introduce styles and colour into the offering. 5. We need to reconfigure our competitions. The balance of power has switched to the Africans and the Australians in Tri Nations and Superl4. The media are tired of the competitions, as are spectators and players. We need a major intervention and reinvention. Bring on the Pumas. Bring on a World Club Championship. Bring on Leicester, Munster and Stade Francais. 6. We need to make money out of our skills and expertise. Besides players, what the world needs most are referees and coaches. We have them in abundance. The NZRU should franchise its academy system, its referee and coaching skills and take these to the world and charge for them. 7. We need to develop our sevens squad, the New Zealand Maori and our women's team into revenue-generators. We need to put on some tournaments, own them ourselves and take the risk behind these properties. 8. We need to defend now. We have over $70m in reserves compared to $7m 10 years ago. We need to put this money into players right now so that we can defend the French and the English charge. We need to back ourselves to generate more revenue long-term whilst simultaneously raising the stakes so the English and French can't compete over the short-term. We need to make them sweat. |
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