The Irish bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup is "making an unconventional argument: Hosting the tournament in Ireland can help the sport get a foothold in the lucrative U.S. market," according to Ben Fischer of the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Seeking to "distinguish itself from rivals South Africa and France, which offers the biggest host market of the three, Ireland is selling the Irish Diaspora" -- the 35 million Irish-Americans who "often have close ties to the Emerald Isle" and another 35 million people worldwide who claim Irish heritage. Irish Rugby Football Union CEO Philip Browne said, "The importance of the North American market for rugby is truly significant. If rugby truly wants to become a global sport, it needs to get rugby operating at a different level in the U.S." The Irish national team has participated in "two of the best-attended rugby matches ever played in the U.S.," including when 64,000 people watched Ireland beat New Zealand at Soldier Field in '16. If Ireland wins the Rugby World Cup vote in November, Browne said that the host committee "would begin planning programming in the U.S. with USA Rugby." It has been discussed with USA Rugby and the governing body in Canada, where an additional 5 million members of the diaspora live. Browne thinks Ireland is "well suited to build a global sponsorship program because of its connections in corporate America" and Dublin's role as the de facto European HQ for American tech companies Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others. The 2019 Rugby World Cup is set for Japan, and England hosted in '15, "leading most observers to believe South Africa is the likely choice by voters because of an informal convention of rotating continents." But South Africa's "severe economic problems bring that expectation into doubt" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/28 issue).
