Breakaway rugby talks not a ‘distraction’ to Rugby World Cup, says chief
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin has insisted that talk of a breakaway franchise competition is not a distraction, stating that any investment talk is “fantastic”.
Details of the supposed competition, which some state would change the sport of rugby union entirely, are few and far between but do, reportedly, include both men’s and women’s competitions.
Speaking in a year when London will host 80,000 fans for the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup – smashing the current record by nearly 40,000 – Gilpin insisted the talk of a rival competition is not going to derail preparations for RWC2025.
“I don’t think we see it as a distraction,” he said. “There’s always talk of breakaways, always talk of different competitions, and actually often to a point any talk about investment [and] innovation in the game is fantastic.
“We want to engage with that. We want to engage that in a way that allows those opportunities to be sustainable. The women’s game is a very young professional sport.
“There’s no doubt there’s so much excitement about this tournament that I don’t think anything will distract the teams and the players from that opportunity, and if that creates more conversations about what investment in the women’s game comes next, fantastic, but let’s make sure that fits into a responsible, sustainable, global calendar for the women’s game that gives players and fans the best opportunities.”
Middle Eastern sponsors in rugby?
World Rugby are set to announce a number of sponsors for the Women’s Rugby World Cup this month, with Gilpin insisting that some agreed brands “wouldn’t traditionally be in men’s rugby”.
But various global women’s tournaments have had issues in the past with the type of sponsor involved in their event. Australia and New Zealand footballing unions wrote to Fifa ahead of the Women’s World Cup in 2023 with regards to their plans to enter into a sponsorship deal with Visit Saudi, and other examples exist in sport.
“We don’t [have Middle Eastern sponsors] for this tournament and that’s not because it’s something that’s off the table for us, but that’s not something we pursued,” Gilpin added.
“We, in the New Year, will announce a fairly substantial slew of new partners for Women’s World Cup 2025 and, really importantly, some brands that maybe wouldn’t traditionally be in men’s rugby or the Men’s Rugby World Cups.”
“I think we’re seeing the potential of a different audience, attracting some different brands who will bring the tournament alive in a different way but no, that’s not an area that we’re currently concerned about.”
Congested year
Added Sarah Massey, managing director of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, on whether the competition can compete in a year when there’s also a Women’s Ashes and Women’s Euros: “The way that we look at other women’s stores is [that] we’re all working together, and that’s the way that we’re going to amplify and showcase more of women’s sport into the future.
“So we don’t really view it as competition. I realise there’s a saturation of people’s attention, but we just know there’s so many new audiences and so new people about out there that that are converting and turning and understanding and realising the potential of women’s sport and the attractiveness of watching and a team sport playing that we don’t really see it as competition, to be honest.