Leinster ready to sell the harp
Power expects the Leinster brand “to take off”, adding that their success will have a positive impact on the capital, the province and the country through these tough economic times.
Munster’s European success in 2006 accelerated growth on and off the field: Thomond Park was redeveloped while giant sportswear manufacturer, adidas, and many other sponsors and partners have pumped millions into the province.
Leinster’s ascension to European kingpins is set to boost the provincial coffers, while the demand for 2009-10 season ticket sales is expected to break all records in the coming weeks.
Power also dismissed as “nonsense” the perception that Leinster Rugby is a “Dublin” team, citing the growth of the game in provincial centres. And he expects playing numbers to explode throughout the province following Saturday’s 19-16 win over Leicester Tigers.
“Not only is the Irish brand going from strength to strength with the Grand Slam success after 61 years, now the Leinster brand is going to take off,” said Power.
“We’re obviously delighted in the IRFU for what Leinster have achieved. It’s a credit to all of the management and all of the players. But especially to all of the underage coaches, clubs and schools that produced them: at the end of the day we’re a game of volunteers for the most part and, without all those volunteers at grassroots, we wouldn’t be enjoying this success that we are, up at the professional end of the game.”
Power also dismissed perceptions that the game exists solely inside the Dublin borders. “I think that’s nonsense, absolute nonsense,” he said.
“Take this Leinster team: only a handful of them are actually from Dublin. In places like Wexford, Carlow, Navan, Ashbourne, to name but a few, rugby is absolutely thriving. It’s going to develop even further now.
“The Leinster team, for example, is the best marketing tool the Leinster Branch can have. Little kids who run around the back garden just want to be Brian O’Driscoll, Rocky Elsom, Cian Healy or Jonathan Sexton.
“We would hope it’d be a great stepping stone, not only in terms of bringing people into the game and keeping people in the game, but for kids finishing up in school that they’ll make the transition into clubs. Kids don’t want to emulate structures; they want to emulate and aspire to be stars and heroes.”
After Munster went global by getting adidas on board as well as playing fixtures in the USA, they’ve done an exceptional job in ‘selling the stag’. What about ‘selling the harp’ – can one envisage something similar happening at Leinster? “We don’t see why not,” added Mr Power. “Up to the redevelopment of Thomond Park, Leinster were the best supported team in the Magners League; now that Munster are gone to 26,500 people, they’ve leapfrogged them.
“What it will do for advance season ticket sales – which are hugely important to keep the show on the road for Leinster – would be very, very positive. What it will do for Leinster providing itself as a marketing platform to attract corporate sponsorship, corporate involvement is hugely important.
“Already they’re very strong on the corporate side, very strong on the sponsorship scene in Ireland. Dublin being the capital city, this is where most of corporate Ireland is based. Rugby, this past year, is positioning itself well as an ideal marketing platform for all. Leinster won their Heineken Cup on defence and team-work and commitment. All of those are values corporates like to espouse and associate themselves with.”
Power also said that despite the recession, Irish rugby is playing its part in helping local economies.
“The positive impact a Leinster team playing 14 or 15 times a year in full houses at the RDS is hugely important. A recent economic impact study we did on the Ireland- England game saw the value to the economy at €61 million for the weekend, which is absolutely huge. When you add up what Leinster do for the capital city and the province and what Munster do for their province in terms of business, hotels, travel etc, the impact rugby has made and the contribution we make is hugely important in the economy, particularly in such recessionary times.”
Irish rugby may be riding the crest of a wave at the moment but there is mounting speculation that the IRFU will be reducing squad sizes for the coming season, which may affect success on the field.
“We’re continuously auditing performance and how things are going. Everything is set against a backdrop of challenging economic times, but by the same token, 17,500 people turning up for Munster’s final Magners League match, which was effectively a dead rubber to receive the trophy, that was hugely gratifying.
“Rugby is not immune, like any other sector of society, to economic terms – we all exist in the same environment. We would hope we’re providing an outlet for people to support and to get behind a team. We would feel that while you can’t take anything for granted in the future we’ll have to continuously cut our cloth to suit our measure.”
But he’s optimistic that off the field, Irish rugby – both nationally and within the four provinces – can continue to maintain and attract sponsors and partners.
“Doors open up with success, and people want to see you and people want to talk to you and people want to hear about what you’re offering. At national level we have 24 partners across a wide range of categories and industries. We work very closely with them to make sure they get bang for buck. You pick up newspapers and you see supplements and posters and see companies pushing the game and keeping it on the front pages.
“On Sunday, the Leinster win was on every front page of every newspaper across 24 titles in the shops: that’s hugely important. Rugby has exploded over the last while in terms of the demographic, in terms of the support base it has. No longer is it your typical 25-41 year-old ABC1 male – the amount of kids and women interested is huge. It’s got broad appeal now.”
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