Rugby’s future? Private equity buying up players

[NellyWellyWaspy]

I would also add that there is already a very marketable version of rugby which I am very surprised hasn't taken off more & thats the World Series 7s.

It in the olympics so already is more visible, its simpler, its shorter, the players are all young & good looking, no fat props with cauli ears etc.

Yet with all that going for it, no one seems interested in creating a wider world 7s circuit?

Not really, the game is frenetic and no time to go for a beer, and the game is too short for TV companies to cover, except for tournaments. Then you spend most of your time not watching your team.

[Skippy]

Having been to the Dubai 7s a number of times — there’s plenty of time for beer, a lot of beer. Consequently, I never had a Scooby who actually won it — always had to look it up the next day. Not sure it makes much for TV viewing — never tuned it to watch it.

I do wonder if sport is now reaping the reward of having sold its soul to the Dirty Digger back in the 1990s. Hiding your wares behind a paywall was probably a great way to bilk an existing generation of fans. As the tide starts to move out on that group, there’s only a trickle coming in to replace it. It’s beginning to look like a number of sports have been swimming naked all along.

[baldpaul101]

Not really, the game is frenetic and no time to go for a beer, and the game is too short for TV companies to cover, except for tournaments. Then you spend most of your time not watching your team.

Think you are missing the point, creating superstar based teams playing short easy games against each other in televised competitions isn't aimed at people going the match & having a beer.
Creating competitions like the Hundred etc, is essentially what 7s already is, just create some nonsense franchise titles, spread the pool of 7s players around the franchises, & you're there.

[mike909]

Creating competitions like the Hundred etc, is essentially what 7s already is, just create some nonsense franchise titles, spread the pool of 7s players around the franchises, & you're there.

At least 7's isn't competing against itself, so to speak...like the 100 was vs T20. Which was why I always thought it a bizarre concept.....

[Bloke in North Dorset]

BiND...
Do your comments on Eusebio or Pele not contradict there statement you're making?

People idolised Pele, not because of the club he played for, but for himself.

People idolised him because he was a great footballer but did it do anything to bring extra money in to club football in Brazil (and Portugal in Eusebio's case) from around the world? Can anyone outside football fanatics even name the clubs they played for?

Despite having some of the best known player it didn't stop Man Utd ending up in the wilderness for a number of years and it might not stop them now. How much did Ronaldo cost 2nd time round? I don't follow it closely but comments I do see are not favourable.

A few years ago Real Madrid bought the Colombian James Rodriguez after he starred at a world cup.
Within 48 hours, hundreds of thousands of shirts with his name on were sold.
These mostly weren't Real Madrid fans, it was supposedly Colombians following their new star.

And yet Real Madrid have been fairly close to bankruptcy.

At the moment, it's only the top few superstars that seem to transcend their clubs, but there could well be more in the near future.
With rugby constantly trying to expand and find new fans, it could very well be fans of players, rather than fans of clubs, that are the next growth area

I'm all for players maximising their income and for clubs to be getting their share. It may also help grow the club, or possibly game, in the short term. I don't think its the sustainable route for the growth of rugby that article claims it is.  A few stars may even attract a bit of media interests and a few new fans, but will they stay?

We should also remember that relying on the media to promote star players is a Faustian pact, as Cips found out to his cost.

The top clubs rely on the egos of multi-billionaires or capital funds to keep going and for me its got financial crises written all over it. A lot of QE money has gone in to Football, lets see what happens when it/if it starts getting unwound.