Tokyo Wins Bedisloe Cup Race

From a US Perspective..



Tokyo has reportedly won the race to host the All Blacks and Wallabies in a fourth Bledisloe Cup match in Japan in September. Denver had recently jumped back into the running to host the match at Denver’s Mile High Stadiumwith an aggressive offer. Australian rugby boss John O’Neill’s view was the deciding factor in heading to Japan instead of America.

“Denver won’t happen this year. The NZRU were keen, so were USA Rugby and the International Rugby Board. Funding was in place but O’Neill preferred Tokyo,” USA Rugby boss Kevin Roberts told Auckland’s Sunday News.

The fourth Bledisloe content has become synonymous with money grubbing, so it was no surprise that O’Neill negotiated a larger fee from the Japanese than Denver’s representatives were offering.

The NZRU banked about $NZ4 million ($3 million US) from last year’s Bledisloe Cup Test in Hong Kong and can expect to pull in at least $NZ5 million from their Tokyo jaunt. These sums hardly make the match a gesture intending to strengthen the game of rugby in a growing rugby nation.

Sentiments around the United States fall somewhere between relieved and disappointed with a little extra emphasis on relieved. Yes, it would have been great to host the All Blacks and Wallabies in a renowned NFL stadium. But, at the same time, the thought of filling the 80,000+ seat stadium almost seemed an impossible feat. In a time when the United States is starting to take baby steps forward in terms of hosting international events, the Bledisloe Cup match would have been the equivalent of putting a man on the moon about the same time the Wright Brothers were learning to fly.

Had the Denver Bledisloe Cup match went forward, a massive opportunity could have been siezed, but it would have also been hugely embarrassing for all parties if the stadium were half empty. Even the 40,000 fans to half fill Mile High Stadium would have been four times the number of fans on hand for the 2008 Churchill Cup Finals in Chicago.

At some point, it will happen though. New Zealand seems desperate to expand the All Blacks brand onto US soil. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the All Blacks brand took root in the United States before the Eagles did? It will be even worse if we find out that the NZRU is using their close ties to Kevin Roberts to make this a reality.

As for Denver, they must be congratulated for attempting such an aggressive feat in the name of rugby. The Denver Sports Commission is reportedly now interested in hosting the entire Churchill Cup using Dick’s Sporting Goods Park and Infinity Park as the two venues for the tournament. The idea of hosting the entire tournament in a specified area has merit and may be neccessary for the tournament to continue operating in the current stressed economy.