Sponsors may decide rugby’s concussion crisis is no longer worth the headache
This article is written by Progressive Rugby
Sponsors who pump millions into Rugby Union may look elsewhere if World Rugby fail to stem the flow of negative headlines around brain injury, an industry expert has warned.
Rugby union’s reputation has come under siege following an increasingly clear link between brain injuries and the risk of early onset dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
World Rugby insist player welfare is their number one priority and have introduced a number of initiatives to try and address the issue, including contract training guidelines, independent concussion consultants and several trials using technology to accrue data.
But both the head injury assessment (HIA) and elite six-stage graduated return to play (GRTP) protocol came under intense scrutiny at this years Six Nations with game reviews finding the HIA process had failed in the case of Wales prop Tomas Francis and the England U20 doctor Nigel Rayner being suspended after failing to abide by protocols.
This is on top of a looming court case where it’s reported around 400 former players are suing World Rugby, the RFU and WRU for failing to protect them from the risks associated with concussion.
Nigel Currie, a specialist in sports marketing and sponsorship, told Progressive Rugby he believes elite rugby union remains an attractive proposition for sponsors, but that governing bodies need to produce tangible progress to ensure they don’t look to invest elsewhere.
“Concussion has clearly risen to the top as a major topic of discussion and it depends where the narrative goes from here,” Currie said.
“If there are many more players that find themselves in the same situation as Steve Thompson, then that’s going to become awkward. There’s no question that it’s potentially damaging.
“This is just an extra thing they really don’t need but it’s not going to go away and needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.”
Currie says the rugby’s governing bodies will have monitored the situation in the NFL in America carefully but says that, while the contact sports share the same issues in terms of early onset dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), their budgets are wildly different.
“NFL is an incredibly rich sport and has the finances to ride something like this out,” he said.
“Rugby union isn’t in that league, but it is expensive to run because it’s a global sport and takes so many people to be involved to make it work.
“Therefore, governing bodies in rugby need to show clear leadership. They are making the right noises but it’s about more than just words, it’s about identifying tangible solutions that demonstrates they are minimising damage to the brand.
“I’d like to see rugby unite with other sports and make a significant financial contribution to a charitable body like Alzheimer’s Society. Dementia is a problem for everyone, and I think this would be a smart move and one that sponsors could really get behind.”
While Currie believes elite rugby remains in a relatively strong position, he feels inaction is not an option if rugby wants to retain the investment it so desperately needs.
“As it stands, I think the sport is so big and has such an attractive demographic the leading brands see it as a good match for their product,” Currie said.
“We have seen it before where sponsors will ride out scandals within a sport because they are loathed to give up their position at the top table for fear of a rival coming in and prospering.
“But the more any issue ramps up, the more negative headlines that it makes, the more doubt it can place in sponsors minds.”