Editorial: All Blacks Chicago test shows value of sponsor

Opinion

But there’s more to All Blacks playing US than just promoting giant insurer that’s put $80 million into NZ rugby

Nobody expects a second-string All Black team to be extended by the United States when they meet in Chicago this weekend. The reigning World Cup champions are, after all, facing a team ranked a lowly 18th. Nobody should, therefore, be in any doubt about why this test is being played. It is all about branding, and the wishes of AIG, the American insurance group whose name features on the front of the All Black jersey.

To some, this is a demeaning exercise and representative of the egregious face of professional sport. But that denies the essence of a venture where there is everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.

No one is suggesting the presence of the All Blacks will cause Americans to fall in love with rugby overnight. This is not about awakening a sleeping giant. Rugby will surely remain very much a minority interest. It is following in the footsteps of the many other sports that have seen huge potential in that market but failed to make a significant impact. Just two years ago, for example, the Black Caps played two barely remembered Twenty20 internationals against the West Indies in Florida. In a similar vein, American sporting franchises have struggled to spread their games around the world. But that did not stop the National Football League this week reaffirming its interest in placing a team in London.

Rugby's lot in the US has meant the All Blacks have been able to stroll about anonymously in Chicago. But that does not mean there is no interest in the game at Soldier Field. Early predictions were that 40,000 tickets sales would be a realistic target. Yet the 61,500-capacity venue, the home of the Chicago Bears, has sold out.

Three times more people will watch this game than the previous highest attendance at a rugby match in America, when Ireland played the US in Houston last year. Many more Americans may get a feel for the game through the live NBC broadcast. For them, the NFL will offer an obvious point of comparison.

This type of coverage underlines New Zealand Rugby's talk of an opportunity to promote the All Blacks that only a global company like AIG could provide. But there is also a welcome novelty to this test from the All Blacks' perspective. It appeals far more than the type of end-of-season matches they have played, say, against Australia in Hong Kong. These had rather too much the stamp of exhibition matches. They smacked of the games played around the world by Aussie Rules clubs in that code's somewhat desperate attempt to make a mark. Surprisingly, however, they attracted little of the criticism that has been levelled at the Chicago match.

The All Blacks have not played a test in the US since 1913. On that occasion, they won 51-3. The margin will be much the same this weekend.

But there is a historic element to the encounter that is not lost on many of the All Blacks. As much was confirmed by the All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster, who said, "Everyone senses that there's something a bit special". That distinction may have come about at the behest of an insurance company which has sunk $80 million into New Zealand rugby. But it would be wrong to think it begins and ends there.