Rugby World Cup 2015: Up to $3m cash on line for triumphant ABs

New Zealand Rugby could cash in by as much as $3 million if the All Blacks win the World Cup final tomorrow - but a branding expert says the Wallabies will have even more to play for.

"The potential upside for the Wallabies is very high because they are coming off a much lower base," says Mark Crowe, a managing director at global brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.

"If they were to be successful then they would have a fantastic marketing opportunity as world champions."

So, too, would the All Blacks. But the All Blacks have already cashed in over the last four-year cycle, so the potential for a dramatic upswing in their financial fortunes is lower.

"In some respects there is more downside in potentially losing than upside in winning for the All Blacks," Crowe said. "It's about maintenance of brand value first and foremost and then consolidation of the brand."

Brand Finance's latest calculations, which consider a range of marketing and financial metrics, value the All Blacks brand at $294 million - nearly double the $158 million figure after they lifted the Cup in 2011. The rise was largely down to the effective leveraging of that 2011 success through major commercial deals with key sponsors adidas and AIG, Crowe said.

New Zealand Rugby declined to discuss its commercial arrangements with its sponsors. However, the

Weekend Herald

understands the AIG contract is worth US$80 million ($118 million) over five years, and the latest adidas deal brings in US$25 million each year.

Previous deals with adidas have contained a World Cup win bonus of $1 million - a figure likely to have risen for the current deal. And the AIG contract almost certainly contains a similar clause. All up, the All Blacks could be playing for as much as $3 million in cash - which would flow into NZR's coffers - tomorrow morning.

But beyond that, and perhaps more importantly, they are also playing for a title that can be monetised during commercial negotiations over the next four years.

"The leveraging of the brand is so much easier when you have that tag 'world champion' attached to it," said Crowe.

With the 2019 World Cup to be held in the prime expansion market of Japan, a second successive Cup win would be a lucrative feather in New Zealand Rugby's bargaining cap.

"For the All Blacks it is all about global expansion," said Crowe. "If they lose, one thing about the All Blacks brand is that it certainly is resilient. Losing won't be the end of the world. But it will certainly be a setback in how the All Blacks brand is positioned, particularly in those growth markets.

"A win would put in place an incredibly strong platform ... in terms of growing the brand."

For Australia, having struggled on and off the field since the glory days of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the dynamic is different.

"Australian rugby, really in the last 10 years, has gone through some challenging times," ARU general manager Rob Clarke told the Sydney Morning Herald this week.

"Hopefully, on the back of where we are now, how well the team is performing, and given the level of general interest that is back in the game, I'd like to think we'd be able to leverage that in the near future."

The opportunity to do that was there, said Crowe, who estimated the Wallabies' value was "lucky to be a quarter" of the All Blacks'. Should they win tomorrow, the Wallabies should easily triple their value.

Because of a higher risk factor - including being eliminated in pool play - many of the Wallabies' commercial deals would carry big incentives, said Crowe. However, the value of the contracts would be lower.

Whoever wins, the effect would not be fully felt for months and even years. "The real leveraging of that will come in once commercial arrangements are up for renewal."