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Canterbury of New Zealand could emerge as one of the commercial winners of the Rugby World Cup in France if the ionx, its new energy-enhancing jersey, takes off because of the exposure it gets during the tournament.
Kept under wraps until late August, the ionx has been secretly
trialled by all of the Canterbury-sponsored teams and will be marketed around the world at around double the price of the Auckland-based company's current performance sportswear.
Sales of official merchandise and, in particular, replica kit provide the major commercial revenue from the World Cup, with commemorative jerseys selling for between $146 and $205 during the event.
British unions told the Herald that replica kit also delivers much of their income through licensing rights. "The retail side of [adidas-sponsored] England's RFU went through the roof after they won the last World Cup," says Dee McIntosh, spokeswoman for rivals Scotland, a Canterbury-supplied team.
The jerseys worn by the most successful teams attract the highest prices. For instance just before the tournament kicked off, All Black outfitter adidas' "special edition" World Cup range was retailing for $250.
Brisk sales of All Black jerseys over the last few years have been an important contributor to the $77 million the NZRU has in the bank, making it the most profitable of all the unions.
But teams have to keep winning. The England RFU calculates that its income falls by £4 million [$11.7 million] a year, mainly because of lower merchandise sales, if the national side starts losing as it has done since the last World Cup.
Canterbury is banking on its teams having a good run in the event to showcase its new product, known in full as the CCC Baselayer ionx.
Also intended for sports other than rugby, the jersey has already achieved breakthroughs into Britain's Premier League where it is used by Portsmouth and into the Spanish equivalent, La Liga, where Deportivo La Coruna has adopted it.
Golfer Michael Campbell also wears the jersey under the Kia Kaha clothing range to which he is contracted.
Canterbury, now owned by a division of the Bank of Kuwait, went to considerable lengths to keep the product secret until just before the World Cup, the most-watched sports event after the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup.
The brand was delighted when Scotland and Ireland launched their strips in July, and France has done the same during training.
The jersey, which is based on science developed in the US, claims to improve endurance through an ionised liquid finish embedded in the fibres of the jersey that stimulates blood flow and the delivery of oxygen. Joe Middleton, chief executive of Canterbury, is confident CCC Baselayer ionx won't run into trouble over its energy-boosting properties.
"It is not taken in the body, injected or drunk," he has pointed out.
Canterbury clearly hopes the product will give it an edge in its uneven battle with the All Blacks' jersey supplier, adidas.
Its jersey is worn by just six, albeit successful, teams - Australia, South Africa, Scotland, Ireland, Fiji and Japan - while adidas is an official World Cup supplier, providing kit for the referees and tournament staff.
The event is particularly important for Canterbury whose brand is strongly associated with rugby. According to the owners of the World Cup, Dublin-based International Rugby Board, it will attract a worldwide television audience of three billion and Canterbury is hoping the IRB's current, £65 million strategy to make rugby a truly global game will extend the market for its jerseys.
In the meantime the World Cup is proving an increasingly successful commercial vehicle.
The IRB sold all six of its worldwide partnership packages a year before the kickoff and its commercial success is assured.
