Sports Marketing: Football Vs. Rugby

Sitting at home tonight after picking up my youngest from soccer (European Football), I was flipping the channels and came to Spike TV. They were airing “The Ultimate Fighter” again and as I half watched a promo came on that the Rugby championship, Melbourne Vs. Parramatta, is to air Sunday at 11:00 am, 10:00 central. I was intrigued.

You see, I love professional American football (Packer, Chief and Steeler fan) and Rugby seems like a sport I could really get into. Mind you, I know virtually nothing about it, even though the first date I ever took my wife on was a rugby match — teams were visiting the US to promote the sport and a match was played at the old County Stadium in Milwaukee. Quite the romantic, hey?

I also, as a youth, ordered several “rugby jersey’s” from Lands’ End. The rubber buttons sold me.

Have you ever watched rugby? I want to understand the game. What I recall from the match we saw in person was how fast the guys were and how hard the hitting was — without pads! I kept wondering why we didn’t see more injuries. It was bone-crushing hitting. Hard and loud.

It seems like rugby should be very popular in the US. But it is not. So, I put on my analytic cap and surmised that its lack of mass appeal has to do with the marketing that the league is doing. It’s obvious that the teams are not representing American cities and thus the natural US geographic rivalry is missing, but heck, this is a classic American-type sport us football fans should love. Two teams, football like, scoring, smashing into one another and demonstrating athleticism.

Yes, I plan on tuning in Sunday. Here are the details. I’m hoping to get excited about another sport, hopefully one with far less prima donnas and great athletes. A sport that might transport me back to simpler times. Who knows, maybe I can even help them market the sport in the US and I can become the Jerry Jones of rugby.

Boy, I miss those Lands’ End rugby jersey’s…