The bid team hoping to deliver an All Ireland Rugby World Cup in 2023 now knows the timetable of application and decision following the publication of the host selection process by World Rugby yesterday.
The final decision will be announced in May 2017 and while Ireland appears to be a front runner it is likely to face opposing bids from Italy, South Africa and perhaps most dangerously the United States.
England’s hosting of this year’s event looks set to break records for commercial income, ticket sales and global interest which will likely heighten the competition to be the next host after Japan brings the event to a new market in four years time.
New World Danger
Sport for Business highlighted in November the dangers of tournament partners looking to expand the reach of their investment to new markets. We reported on comments from Heineken and Jaguar that will have struck a dissonant chord with the Irish bid team and the Irish Rugby Football Union.
“The continued growth of rugby into new markets, following the award of Rugby World Cup 2019 hosting rights to Japan, is making the sport even more attractive from a commercial perspective,” said Tim Ellerton of Heineken International speaking at the World Rugby Conference.
“I think it’s great for us if the Rugby World Cup continues to go to emerging markets. We’d love to see a World Cup taken to America having seen the figures from Chicago, or places like Brazil and Moscow.”
“That’s where our volume is and that’s where the people who are consuming and engaging with our brand reside. To keep rugby in the traditional rugby markets isn’t going to help us grow our brand.”
As if that wasn’t a tough enough pill Mark Cameron of Jaguar Land Rover added to the developing sense of new world being better than old when he said “to have a tournament in Japan, on the doorstep of the biggest market in the world, which is China, where a third of our business volume is, is strategically very important.”
Those thoughts will need to be smartly challenged as part of the Irish bid should the US decide to proceed. The diaspora card may be more important in a bid to highlight how an Irish tournament can energise markets beyond the traditional hinterland.
The process
The expression of interest phase of the process will be launched on 14 May, 2015 and close on 15 June, 2015, providing prospective hosts with a year to benefit from the detailed knowledge-sharing and preparation window ahead of the release of tender documentation in May 2016.
A new step in the process will see interested unions invited to participate in a workshop in June 2015 to discuss all aspects of Rugby World Cup hosting. Detailed tender information will be sent to all interested unions in May 2016, while the deadline for confirmation of a union to tender has been set for June 2016.
The announcement of the Rugby World Cup 2023 host union in May 2017 will provide the successful country with six years to deliver the event and maximise the benefits of observing the delivery of Japan 2019, the first Rugby World Cup to be hosted in Asia.
The new timetable will also enable tournament owners Rugby World Cup Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of World Rugby) to extensively review all bids against criteria and for the RWC Board to deliver a detailed recommendation that will be good for the ongoing prosperity and development of rugby worldwide.
“Rugby World Cup is one of the world’s most recognisable and popular major sports events,” said World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
“With a six-week global shop window, upwards of 500,000 international visitors, multiple sporting, social and tourism benefits, economic benefits of up to £2 billion and minimal infrastructure overlay, it is also an attractive event for potential hosts.”
“Today’s announcement is great news for Rugby World Cup and for our member unions. The host selection process gives unions a clear timetable to consult with relevant stakeholders, including national and regional government, deliver feasibility studies and hone their bids to host an event that truly delivers the platform to promote and grow rugby around the world.”
“The fact that several unions and nations have publicly expressed a serious interest in hosting Rugby World Cup 2023 prior to these details being announced, further underscores the strength of the Rugby World Cup brand in the global major event marketplace. This announcement brings to life their plans.”
