It's quite nice when something you write gets confirmed by one of the organisations you're writing about. Last month, this article of ours discussed what the point of a World Cup was, the crux being that cricket was the only sport to deny internationalism, attempting instead to keep the sport entirely in the realm of those who already play it.
One of the examples of a sport opening itself up was rugby union. Lo and behold, the head of World Rugby confirms this by saying that "As the sport grows and we conquer new markets the discussion is about looking towards expansion, rather than contraction."
And then some more harrowing logic:
"A larger World Cup would offer the chance to sell the sport into new
markets, as well as increasing the potential revenues from the
tournament in terms of TV deals, sponsorship, hospitality and ticket
sales."
Yes, it seems the head honchos at World Rugby understand the idea that more markets = more money in the long term.
Few sports can claim so similar a background to cricket as rugby can, so to see their philosophies on expansion be worlds apart underscores just how short-sighted cricket's administrators are.
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