‘Hollywood of rugby’ has sights on All Blacks
Leading All Blacks will be targeted in an ambitious plan to launch a new professional rugby championship in the United States.
A group of American investors want to make it ‘‘the Hollywood of rugby’’ with eight teams playing in a four-month concentrated competition and likened it to what the Indian Premier League has done to cricket.
The National Rugby Football League, which reportedly has ties to the NFL, is targeting a 2022 start, and teams could have a salary cap as high as $14m.
‘‘Our ambition is to be the biggest league in the world,’’ Michael Clements, the NRFL commissioner, told The Telegraph in the UK.
When he was asked if top players such as All Blacks superstar Beauden Barrett or England lock Maro Itoje were on his radar, Clements replied: ‘‘Our goal is to put the best product on the pitch so we will need some of the best athletes, whether or not they are the names you mentioned I can’t say.’’
Hilton Houghton, who represents South Africa captain Siya Kolisi and other Springboks has been contacted by the NRFL and gave indication of their intentions.
‘‘They want to make it the Hollywood of rugby,’’ Houghton said. ‘‘They are determined to create something special. This won’t be a dumping ground for international players. It will be more like the IPL players where you bring a Ben Stokes or AB De Villiers as your sprinkling of stardust on top of largely domestic squads.’’
Added Clements: ‘‘This is not a retirement place. This is a not a place for guys who have not played at the highest level for a couple of years to come and make some money.’’
The competition would reflect cricket’s IPL money machine in making it less arduous for the players.
Clements explained: ‘‘Players will be paid on par with the big leagues out there but making a comparison with the English Premiership they will play half the games.
‘‘Playing half the amount of game time then allows the recovery and recuperation and helps the welfare of the player. When you are done playing the game, you can have a productive life and you are not beat up.’’
Clements said he had recruited executives from Major League Baseball, Nascar and the National Football Leauge.
Some of the rules could be tweaked to ‘‘Americanise it’’ as the championship looks to rival Major League Rugby which was launched in the United States in 2017 but has failed to make a major impact. Clements believes rugby deserves better. ‘‘When you look at the top valued sports properties in Forbes list, rugby is not there. Once it steps up from behind the curtain and is presented in the highest class fashion then we are going to raise the bar,’’ he said.
‘‘We know America. We know what the American fan base likes.
‘‘It is football without the pads. It is the original hurry-up offence, everybody gets to carry the ball. It is perfect for America.’’