Another tour, another dollar for Munster in US
He also told the Irish Examiner in Chicago that there are already a number of “interested parties” bidding to secure the naming rights for the new Thomond Park.
But it remains to be seen whether any American investment will come out of the visit to the Windy City despite the presence of prominent business men and representatives of multimillion dollar Irish-owned construction firms at a range of functions over the past six days.
“At present there isn’t any long-term plan for anyone to invest financially or to take over any part of it (Munster Rugby),” said Mr Fitzgerald.
“The structure that is there within Irish rugby, we’re quite happy with. But, obviously, there’s an onus on ourselves as an entity in Ireland to generate as much funds and support as we can.
“That can be reflected in jersey sales, royalties sales, season ticket sales and generally in that area itself we hope that it will evolve over a number if years itself. It certainly is not going to be an overnight success, but we’re aware of the fact that there is a very good support base here.
“USA Rugby are very keen on helping us and I suppose our association with Toyota and adidas is very important as well given the strength of those brands world wide.”
It’s felt Munster could have sold itself better in the States. The absence of an official Munster merchandise stand inside Toyota Park on Sunday drew the ire of many Irish expatriates, who were keen to get their hands on new-look jerseys and extended adidas range.
“There were a number of limitations of what you could do within the stadium itself,” explained the Munster CEO.
“There wasn’t any stand, but what we did was promote the Munster Rugby’s Supporters Club, USA Section. We did it at the Irish Consul reception last Thursday night and it was on-going at the different events. There was an on-going development and promotion of the brand without anything specific at the game itself.”
The promotion of the inaugural Setanta Sports Cup at Toyota Park was a coup for Munster given that Toyota are their multi-million euro sponsors.
“When the US went to look for venue, it was really was a coincidence it was Toyota Park — it looks good and it looks good for our sponsor. But it was one of the few stadiums that were available in the city.”
Mr Fitzgerald also said that there are a number of companies bidding to secure the naming rights of the new Thomond Park. Selling the Thomond Park name is already a contentious issue but the development committee are driving ahead with the process.
“We believe there are a number of interested parties, but nothing has been agreed and done as yet.”
“We’re working on this through Slattery Communications who are going out to the market and that was the plan — to start that at the end of July, start of August.
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