Don’t be blinkered, the Lions are all about cash
How much money do you think was generated from the Lions tour of New Zealand? Your guess is as good as mine as the Lions simply don’t want to discuss it. One thing’s certain, it’s a significant amount.
The New Zealand Union are reckoned to have made a profit of around 30m NZD – that’s about £17m – so you can see at a glance why the Lions are so popular down there. The Lions are a subsidiary of the four Home Unions, and it’s a serious money-making vehicle for them – the brand is ruthlessly protected, as is evidenced whenever anyone tries to use the name.
The contradiction in this is that much of the Lions mystique is built around an imaginary Corinthian spirit: the brightest and best of Britain and Ireland’s rugby players heading south to take on the forces of darkness, and hopefully, against all odds, prevailing. In the old days when the Lions sailed south, a tour could encompass a six-week sail there and six weeks back, plus more than three months’ of rugby. It’s hard to argue that such a trip was anything other than a glorious adventure, but this year’s tour saw the Lions there in a day, playing three days later, a crammed schedule that will be shorter in the future, and then back home for their delayed summer holidays.
No matter how much rugby’s ‘blazers’ and old stagers try to preserve the myth of the Lions, modern tours are very different beasts from even a few years ago, and the Lions might just be becoming an endangered species. Listening to the Lions management you get the feeling that more than 20 years on, they really are still holding out against professionalism. Warren Gatland has said that he believes players would tour with the Lions even if they weren’t paid, but it would be interesting to see what happened if the Lions ever tried that approach! I also don’t think that Gatland and his fellow coaches did it on a pro bono basis!
Recently, Tony Rowe, Exeter’s owner, and one of rugby’s good guys, made the point that the amount that the English clubs get from allowing their players to tour is farcical, and there was the not-so-veiled threat that if the Lions didn’t smarten up their act, English players might not be released. In response, John Spencer, the 2017 tour manager, made one of the daftest statements ever made by any sports administrator, when he said that the Lions might tour without English players if a full two-week preparation period couldn’t be agreed. I can’t think of a quicker way to kill off the Lions altogether. Just imagine if England won the Grand Slam, with France coming second, and the Lions then headed off with a squad comprised of also-rans?
Spencer also was miffed that when World Rugby recently discussed the proposed global calendar, the Lions weren’t invited to take part – why on earth would anyone have asked them to participate? The Lions are inextricably linked to the four Home Unions, all of which were represented, so surely they would look after their interests? Additionally, Spencer complained, after the event, about the tour schedule, and expressed concerns about player welfare issues – if he was that concerned, why on earth did he agree to manage the tour, as the schedule was known well in advance?
Like everyone else I would like to see the Lions continue, but someone needs to spell out exactly what their position in the game is, because there’s an air of self-importance about some of their utterings. The professional game in the north is comprised of clubs, provinces and regions playing in competitive leagues, and above that there is a welldefined set of Test matches. In addition we have nice-to-haves like the Barbarians and the Lions – it’s their job to fit in with the way the world works.
Tony Rowe also said that “We’re in a professional game and it’s about money. No matter which way you cut it, it’s about money.” There’s the answer to all of the Lions concerns in two short sentences, and it’s also probably why they’re so cagey about discussing their finances.
I suspect that all the Lions now need to do is to get out their cheque book and agree the right level of compensation with the English clubs.
English club owners have invested their hardearned in the Premiership, and sustained losses along the way for the good of the game – they’re not going away, and if the Lions want to survive it’s time they came to terms with that.