South Africa are said to have their sights set on hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023, but they won’t be the only country to have thrown their name into the ring.
Rugby’s international profile continues to rise, with the 2015 World Cup – to be hosted by England next year – representing a new pinnacle in popularity for the sport. Whilst this will only be the eighth edition of the tournament after the first was held in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, tickets for the 2015 edition have already sold out – with mass raffles being needed due to the high demand.
Hence the frenzied speculation surrounding who will host future editions of the tournament in recent months. The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be hosted by Japan, however, the host of the 2023 edition is still to be decided by the recently renamed World Rugby. Rumoured candidates are beginning to be discussed, with South Africa being seen as a frontrunner.
South Africa booming
It is not just within rugby and other international sports where South Africa’s profile has risen substantially in recent times. The country has also become a powerhouse within the online and mobile casino industry. Providers, like Zebra Casino, have gained massive user-bases and amassed huge revenues through their variety of authentic casino games with vibrant graphics and quick-fire gameplay. Whilst these casino games were originally only available on computers, Zebra Casino recently expanded into the app market – you can download the mobile casino here – which has further increased its strong positioning within this competitive market. The popularity of a casino online in South Africa has seen the industry swell and the country’s economy continue to strengthen. It thus makes sense that South Africa would wish to host an international sporting event to further expand its economy and international profile.
Luck of the Irish
However, South Africa – if we choose to bid – will face tough competition for the right to host the RWC in 2023. Ireland have announced their intention to bid for the event with a £100 million pound commitment to staging the tournament. This commitment was announced by IRFU chief executive Philip Browne, who revealed that: ”We are under no illusions it’s going to be competitive and we have to put our best foot forward.” The cautionary nature of Browne’s announcement is understandable considering that World Rugby will not officially open the bidding process until next year and has yet to even formally announce a deadline for applications.
A Five-Horse Race
Whilst South Africa, who famously hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and Ireland are considered the frontrunners, they are not the only countries expected to put their names in the ring. The USA, Italy, France and Argentina are also rumoured to be wanting to bid.
Whilst South Africa has prior hosting experience and Ireland has actually put some money on the table, the other countries cannot be underestimated. All have previously seen major sporting events played in their territory and thus have the necessary facilitates, infrastructure and money needed to host successfully.
Cash will no doubt play it’s part, especially given that London looks set to host the most profitable tournament ever next year. World Rugby will need to weigh up filling it’s coffers with going further afield and continuing to build the game’s international profile.
I’d like to see USA host it, they have the infrastructure for it just not sure about the popularity?
They generate pretty good crowds when big games are played there. Even without media interest. Agree, a RWC in the USA might be good fun. Locals would not know what had hit them!!
A bit of confusion over the £100 million figure, I think. The Irish didn’t just pluck it out of the air, that is the fee which World Rugby (aka IRB) expect from the successful bidder.
The other part of the deal is that the host pays for all the costs and get to keep the ticket revenue, but of course the broadcast rights belong to World Rugby.
This is why the ticket prices in England will be higher than most people wanted, even though they will sell them all, or as near as makes no difference. It looks like England Rugby 2015 will more or less break even. New Zealand 2011 made a loss which was covered by the government. I understand the minimum tournament fees for 2011 and 2015 were reduced to £80 million and £96 million respectively after the global financial crisis started.
I don’t actually think SARU can or should compete for a RWC any more. There is no R1.8 billion lying around, and we cannot hope to sell tickets covering anything near that. I don’t see the government providing much, and frankly they should not. We need to keep the money in the domestic game, not spend it trying to buy world events.
A random example – Tonga v Georgia is priced at (average of the 4 categories) £40 per adult, that’s R720. Good luck trying to sell that contest on South Africa. Maybe R40?? Here is the complete schedule for info.
http://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws.com/worldrugby/document/2014/11/21/c435a06c-3086-4d7b-9128-5ce2a6acb8c0/RWC2015_pricing.pdf
There is a Lions Tour scheduled for 2021 – better to make some profit out of that rather than a loss in 2023.
Inciteful and interesting comment Iain. Thanks. Agree that with a minumum fee due to the IRB, it almost seems out of SA’s reach, and difficult for the govt to justify the spend
Thanks for that useful info Slider. There was a chance that I’d be in London at the beginning of October and I was considering the England v Australia game at Twickenham but when those ticket prices in pounds are converted they come out at R5690 for the best to R2891 for the worst tickets. Eye-watering stuff – almost as amazing as Dan Carter’s salary at Racing Metro. 1.3 million pounds p.a sounds decent but when converter to Rands it is R23m pa. Crazy stuff.
Maybe the IRB needs to pick a host country for 2023 that has a weak currency. Anyone for SA or Argentina?
Yep, brutal on us Saffers using Rands … But the RWC is about making cash these days. Funds a lot of what the IRB/World Rugby initiate during the year. Be a struggle to generate that in Rands …