Rugby gaining some ground in scrum for sporting cash

By Kate Holton and Emma Thomasson LONDON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Dan Carter is as big as it gets in rugby union, the poster child of a sport played in more than 100 countries. But Carter would need to work for more than 24 years to earn what football's Cristiano Ronaldo is paid a year - a sign of the yawning gap in the financial firepower of the two sports. Although rugby union has more than 7 million players worldwide it is dwarfed by its bigger and brasher rival, is largely limited to its colonial roots and is yet to produce a stand-out star who transcends the sport globally. But results at the Rugby World Cup that is under way in England show emerging nations starting to challenge the traditional giants, and there is growing participation in large countries such as the United States, China and Russia. The inclusion of rugby at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, in the form of the more dynamic and shorter Rugby Sevens which involves smaller teams, is also likely to help drive growth. Ronan Dunne, chief executive of England sponsor O2, praised the efforts so far but told Reuters: "Everybody in the game of rugby recognises that for the health of the game going forward, it's critical that it broadens its appeal." The reputation of rugby players for valuing fair play, respect and teamwork means it can appeal to companies looking to boost their brand through sponsorship or endorsements. That may prove even more compelling as football's world governing body FIFA grapples with a corruption scandal. Rupert Pratt, a co-founder of sports agency Generate, said rugby would always be less accessible than football but its generally affluent following made it attractive to sponsors. The World Cup's official sponsors include Land Rover, Societe Generale, Heineken and MasterCard, and several players are signed to wear Adidas or Nike boots. "It attracts a more targeted, interesting demographic," Pratt said. "And the standards on the pitch, the way spectators treat each other, all has advantages. Rugby has a lot of values of interest to sponsors." FROM WEBB ELLIS The potential, if rugby can widen its appeal, is huge. In England, which boasts the highest number of rugby players and is regarded as the country where rugby was born - when schoolboy William Webb Ellis supposedly picked up and ran with a ball in 1823 - the gap in broadcast rights for club football and rugby is stark. Earlier this year pay-TV companies Sky and BT agreed to pay a combined 5.14 billion pounds ($7.89 billion) to show English Premier League football matches over three years. In comparison BT paid 152 million pounds to show club rugby in 2012. The contract has since been renewed but the price has not been disclosed. England's national governing body, which oversees grassroots and elite rugby, generated 152.2 million pounds in 2013/14, with 24 percent from hospitality and catering, 18 percent from broadcasting, 17 percent from ticketing and 16 percent from sponsorship. Professor Simon Chadwick, who studies sports business strategy and marketing, said broadcasters were attracted to football because of its broad appeal. "You've got a tried and tested product there that cuts across all ages, classes and genders who will subscribe to watch football, so it's a no-risk deal," he said. "In rugby it's different because the sport doesn't have the cross-cultural or cross-demographic appeal that football does. I still don't think rugby has broken out of its heartlands." TO LAS VEGAS Recent developments show that rugby union, in which teams have 15 players compared to the 11 in football, is at least moving in the right direction. According to World Rugby some 7.23 million people played the sport in 2014, compared with 2.6 million seven years earlier. In that time countries such as China, Brazil and Canada have broken in to the top 20 participating in the sport and the women's game has been growing. Some of the fastest growth has been seen in the United States, where broadcaster NBC shows matches including collegiate rugby and the Las Vegas leg of the Sevens World Series. It will show the final of the World Cup for the first time this year. Jon Miller, head of programming at NBC Sports, said companies were keen to associate with rugby union and its inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games could be a turning point. "Once it got into the Olympics it certainly enhanced its status here as a premium property," he told Reuters. "But (the players) have to break through at their events and they have to win. Winning becomes a big factor." Japan, which will host the next Rugby World Cup, has also seen a surge in interest, helped by the national team's upset win over South Africa in this year's World Cup. Some 25 million people tuned in to watch them beat Samoa in a later pool game though they failed to reach the quarter-finals. "This boost in interest could not be better timed as the Rugby World Cup will venture outside of traditional rugby heartlands for the first time in 2019," World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said of the next tournament. Marketing experts say rugby, which turned professional only 20 years ago, can learn from mistakes made by football, which sometimes stands accused of 'selling its soul' in the pursuit of ever greater commercial returns. Gordon Hood, who runs The Rugby Partnership agency, says the sport is well regulated with licensed agents, and while much of the focus is on negotiating club salaries there are growing media and sponsorship opportunities. Strains have emerged between clubs and their countries, with some players choosing to play club rugby in France, which pays higher salaries, at the expense of representing their country. But ties between clubs and their community have largely endured. Hood said 100,000 pounds would be a good annual salary in British rugby. According to the Association of Accounting Technicians nine of the top 10 earners in the sport play in France, with Carter set to top the bill when he joins Racing Metro on 1.4 million pounds after the World Cup. In comparison, Ronaldo earns around 33.8 million pounds a year at Real Madrid. One factor that could increase awareness of the sport would be a player cutting across sporting lines, in the mould of former England football player David Beckham or Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. New Zealand's Carter, who is the highest points scorer in Test match rugby and arguably the sport's greatest player in his position, Australia's Israel Folau and Ireland's Jonathan Sexton are all heroes at home and in the rugby world. But they can still go largely unnoticed in countries where rugby is not played. "We are starting to see the emergence of rugby as a global sport," said Professor Chadwick. "If you're a rugby player with two 'cauliflower' (damaged) ears and a broken nose, then that is an issue. But rugby is going to be opened up to new audiences and that will create commercial opportunities." (Additional reporting by John Geddie, Editing by Timothy Heritage)