Abominable Six Nations USA plan needs nipped in the bud but silence may speak volumes
Ill-conceived idea would sacrifice championship’s biggest strength
No-one could dispute Baltimore’s credentials as a sporting city. It is, after all, the birthplace of Babe Ruth, revered still as baseball's greatest and most iconic figure.
Baseball is as wrapped up in the fabric of United States culture as apple pie and thanksgiving. The philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen described it as the national religion of the US, the ultimate all-American sport.
Rugby? Less so. Nevertheless, Baltimore will on Saturday play host to a rugby match of significant proportions as the world’s two best sides meet at the quaintly named M&T Bank Stadium to contest the final game of a contrived series rooted more in money-making than sporting excellence.
South Africa currently lead New Zealand 2-1 in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, a best-of-four competition in which the three previous Test matches have been played in South Africa. The two teams shared a flight last weekend from Johannesburg to Maryland, a journey of around 8,000 miles and 24 hours.
It’s a long way to go to play a rugby match, particularly when South Africa has the stadia and supporters to comfortably stage a fourth Test. But the financial benefits of playing in the US were too tempting to turn down. You can almost see the dollar signs spinning in the minds of the suits who negotiated this deal
A cold-hearted cash-grab of a plan
The Baltimore Test is projected to generate between $4 million and $6 million more for SA Rugby and New Zealand Rugby than the match would have earned had it been staged in South Africa.
If Alan Gilpin has his way, transatlantic travel could soon be a feature of the Six Nations. Gilpin, World Rugby’s head honcho, floated the concept this week of transporting the oldest sports tournament contested by the Home Nations to the US (to be clear, not the whole championship but a one-off fixture).
It’s an abominable idea and one that should be nipped in the bud before it gains momentum. Unfortunately, the various stakeholders have been slow to react, suggesting that this is not a pipedream but a cold-hearted cash-grab of a plan that will be teased out further in the weeks and months to come.
Scottish Rugby, currently operating without a permanent chief executive, has said nothing, insisting privately that it has not held discussions with either the Six Nations or World Rugby. The RFU has similarly kept its counsel amid suggestions it would be reluctant to move home games because Twickenham fixtures are too lucrative.
Only Ireland have so far put their head above the parapet, releasing a carefully-worded statement that said no discussions had taken place but also appeared to leave the door open for future ventures in the US. Ireland have already played two Test matches against the All Blacks in Chicago, in 2016 and 2025.
“The United States is an important growth market for rugby and we welcome and embrace initiatives that help introduce the sport to new audiences and, crucially, generate new revenues for the game,” said the IRFU statement.
“There are currently no plans or discussions, from an IRFU perspective, regarding Six Nations matches being played in the United States.
Why sacrifice the Six Nations’ biggest asset?
“We believe the Six Nations holds a special place for supporters across all participating unions, and the opportunity for fans in Ireland and Italy to support their teams at home remains a central part of the competition’s appeal.”
At least the last sentence taps into what your average rugby fan feels. Central to the Six Nations Championship’s appeal is the supporters’ enjoyment of the sporting spectacle and the social activity around it. Each host city provides its own unique attractions and is within relatively easy reach for the travelling fan. Why sacrifice something that provides so much enjoyment to so many?
Gilpin has a counter-argument. Using Ireland v Italy as an example, he says that transferring the fixture to the US opens it up to each nation’s diaspora.
“...you’ve got two fantastic fan bases in the US of Irish and Italian fans,” Gilpin told the Telegraph. “If you could take a Six Nations game to the right place, to a Boston or to a New York, where there’s a lot of those fanbases, you can definitely drive the economics.
“Now, you’re going to have Irish fans and Italian fans in those respective home countries saying, ‘Hang on a minute, you know, we want to see our country play?’ The counter argument to that [is] it’s still Irish and Italian fans getting the chance to watch their team, so they’re just not the ones who live in Ireland and Italy on this occasion. But that’s a balancing piece we’ve got to work through.”
The Six Nations as a body has yet to comment but it has shown in the recent past that it is not averse to cashing in when the opportunity arises.
In 2021 it sold a 14.3 per cent stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, a deal worth an estimated £365 million to the competing unions. It means there are now seven stakeholders, instead of six, each with an equal share in the business.
There was little obvious opposition to the move. In fact, coming as it did in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, it was broadly welcomed as a financial fillip during a uniquely challenging time in which sport has been shut down.
The response was in sharp contrast to the one which greeted Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to private equity investors. The opposition to Infantino was fierce, forcing the FIFA president to reconsider.
It would be nice to think that Gilpin's plan to stage a Six Nations match in America would elicit a similarly robust response.
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