SA Rugby haven’t just rolled in the dough since the game turned professional in 1996. Equally, they’ve had to roll with the punches to secure their slice of the sports sponsorship pie.
Back then the game was largely consumed by those in the upper LSMs and the rugby public’s buying power saw sponsors gravitate to the sport. In 2000 Vodacom became the official sponsor of the then Tri-Nations and Super 12, Siemens became handset provider, the Springboks casually wore Woolworths, while Wellington Brandy bottle tops were turned counterclockwise in the name, among others, of brand loyalty. The same year Nike announced it would extend their sponsorship of the Springbok team to 2004, while Volkswagen pulled in too.
The sponsorship pie was worth just more than R74m, with Castle Lager and Nike the headline sponsors of the Springboks. By 2001 there was the need to separate the administration of the game from its commercial realities with the creation of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd. By 2008 the entities were again lumped together as the organisation converted to a Section 21 company to comply with the dictates of Sars, who had changed the tax status of sporting bodies.
With Sasol and Canterbury the most visible sponsors on the Bok jersey the SA Rugby’s sponsorship income had grown to R146m. The income generated almost doubled in eight years, but that bull run was gradually challenged. In 2015 Absa, who had sponsored the Springboks, dramatically pulled the plug, plunging the sport into deeper crisis. It led to a court battle, but by 2017, and with the Springboks limping along, SA Rugby was staring into the abyss. They reported a R23.3m loss, largely as a result of a sponsorship exodus that they tallied to be worth about R130m.
Sponsorship in the past was pretty one-sided in the sense that it was slap on a logo, put it on TV and there’s your awareness. The rules of the game have changed. We need more meaningful impact.
— Thomas Lawrence, Castle Lager marketing manager
With the Tri-Nations and Super Rugby beamed to 191 countries there was the growing sentiment that they should be partnering international brands. That, however, is easier said than done, as was sourcing a headline sponsor for the Currie Cup.
“There was a time when sponsors queued to sponsor rugby,” late former SA Rugby CEO Johan Prinsloo noted sagely around that time. MTN and Asics were the prominent names on the Bok jersey when SA Rugby embarked on a turnaround strategy that was largely aimed at changing the fortunes of the national team.
The Boks got out of their slump and sponsors noted progress. Income is up, but so is expenditure. SA Rugby have budgeted R406m from their sponsors for 2023. They know they have to tread with caution. Sponsors come and go. SAA, Comair, Southern Sun, Gilbert, Budget and even Steinhoff have, and some continue to form part of the sponsorship stable, but as with most things the grass at some point appears greener elsewhere.
“Sponsors are no longer interested in just having a perimeter advertising board. You can’t depend on traditional revenue streams,” a rugby boss told this publication last year.
SA Rugby has one golden thread in their sponsorship stable, but even Castle Lager’s rules of engagement haven’t exactly stood the test of time. “We want to invest in communities,” marketing manager Thomas Lawrence told club officials at the launch of their sponsorship of the Pirates Grand Challenge, the Golden Lions’ premier club rugby competition last week.
“Sponsorship in the past was pretty one-sided in the sense that it was slap on a logo, put it on TV and there’s your awareness. The rules of the game have changed. We need more meaningful impact.”
That they are sponsoring club rugby is commendable. It is a shot in the arm for a much neglected section of the sport. And it’s not as if they’ve abandoned the high end to plough into the grassroots of the sport.
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