“I thought it was a fantastic occasion,” Chris Seed, New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States, told RugbyPass.
Seed attended a 300-person New Zealand tailgate gathering before taking in the match alongside several US Congress people, representatives of the current administration, IndyCar driver Scott Dixon and former All Black Grant Fox. Hosting matches in the United States provides the added bonus of drawing in government officials and business executives who are eager to discuss business while taking in the experience.
“It’s a great branding and influencing opportunity,” said Seed. “When the All Blacks play [in America] it gives New Zealand a moment to connect with a broad range of Americans.”
However, there are still elements to perfect before the Rugby World Cups arrive in America. For the second year running, in-stadium microphone issues plagued the referees and left the fans waiting as the action was delayed. Contrary to previous years, the delay did not kill the atmosphere. If anything, it gave the players a rare chance to revel in it.
“It was super special,” said South Africa captain Siya Kolisi. “In the stadium, my goodness, because there was a long stoppage and in that moment, we’re still in the zone. But then you get to appreciate the crowd singing and enjoying the environment. It was really special.”
As locals mixed with the influx of visiting fans, they got a taste of what the World Cups could bring to their city. Ambassador Seed recalled speaking with several American fans who were accustomed to attending Ravens games, and found the atmosphere of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry to be much more passionate than the average NFL game. “They had quite a lot of admiration for the way in which the anthems were sung and the haka brought something special to the game,” said Seed.
From Major League Rugby Co-CEO Alexander Magleby’s perspective, high-profile matches on American shores not only provide “great entertainment,” they help share rugby with more people and re-ignite the flame for what he calls “old rugby audiences”, be it parents who used to play and want to pass on that passion to their children or expats who yearn to see their favourite sport in the US.
Magleby, like Seed, also used the match as an opportunity to network and gauge potential investors’ interest in Major League Rugby.
“My schedule is jammed with business meetings, investor meetings and stakeholder meetings. That’s a good thing,” Magleby told RugbyPass.
The American sports market
As previously reported by RugbyPass, the importance of the American market — both as an economic boost for a sport with plenty of financial upheaval in recent years and as a potential gold mine for new talent — is evident at the highest levels of rugby circles. With that comes an expectation that the market will deliver.
“We need America to be strong,” Rian Oberholzer, CEO of South African Rugby, told journalists. “We need the American supporters and population to support the event.”
While there is an understanding that rugby in the US will likely never compete on the same playing field as the major American sports, there is clear determination on the part of World Rugby and the major unions to make sure they crack the market.
Tellingly, according to Ross Young, World Rugby’s general manager for US operations, the governing body has received increased interest in hosting World Cup matches on the back of the FIFA World Cup. Every city saw the positive publicity host cities won and the bonds they forged with the visiting faithful. No city wants to miss out on the next big party.
As the number of successful high-visibility games increases in the US market, the expectation is that the appetite for rugby will only increase and that fans who Young says “have been starved for content” will get what they’ve been missing.
Just introducing high-profile matches won’t be enough to win over the market, according to Magleby, but it can serve as a layer of the cake that MLR and USA Rugby are hard at work building. Magleby is pushing for professional infrastructure in more cities around the country that offer professional teams bases of operation.
He would like to see MLR in “12 to 16 cities by the World Cup”. Currently the league only has five teams. Magleby and USA Rugby CEO Bill Goren would also like to have a clear development pathway that connects high school, college and pre-professional leagues to the pros. Goren hopes the legacy of the American Rugby World Cups will be increased participation numbers, from the current 100,000 to about 500,000 total players.
In the near term, the Baltimore participants have both set a target of becoming the second favourite team of American rugby fans. The All Blacks are leaning on their historic success, branding and unique cultural touch-points like the haka to break through to American audiences.
And they are not just focused on established rugby fans. Each time they come to the US, the All Blacks make a point of engaging in the community, often taking time to sign autographs in public spaces and entering schools to teach rugby skills. In Baltimore, they visited Harlem Park elementary and middle school, where enthusiastic students tried performing the haka alongside their new idols. While the hope from a New Zealand perspective is that these students will turn into All Blacks and Black Ferns fans, the overarching desire is that by 2031 they will be playing the sport and watching it regularly.
The Springboks meanwhile are betting on two factors to capture American hearts and minds: their relentless winning and the aura of their captain Siya Kolisi, a figure who transcends boundaries as South Africa’s first black captain.
With the backing of their main sponsors Nike and Coca-Cola, Oberholzer says South Africa Rugby is “silently positive that the Springboks brand will be one of the more supported brands at the coming 2031 World Cup in America.”
Whether either side can successfully turn Americans into supporters remains to be seen, but what no-one is questioning is the United States’ ability to host a lucrative tournament.
“I must say Baltimore has been treating us tremendously well. Thank you for that,” Oberholzer noted ahead of the match. “The stadium, the facilities that we’ve got here, we can see your World Cup working here.”