Will Carling famously referred to the game in England as being run by ’57 old farts’ back in 1995 when he was national captain. However, English rugby (union) has come a long way since then. Admittedly results haven’t been entirely awe inspiring following the 2003 World Cup triumph – but in commercial terms the future looks rosy.

According to SportsPro magazine, in 2009 “games at Twickenham generated £29.2 million for the RFU, accounting for a quarter of their £118 million turnover. The union’s gate receipts have actually increased by £4.1 million since the 2006-2007 season.” Last season in the 6 nations “England could have sold out its 82,000 capacity Twickenham stadium twice over for each of its two home games”.  Additionally, “England received the largest economic boost from the tournament, with a total of US $132.82 million spent by fans on match tickets, transport, food and beverage sales, accommodation, merchandising, and at city attractions, and by sponsors on marketing”.

Hospitality and marketing have been important aspects of the increased commercialisation of rugby in the country where Webb Ellis first picked up the ball. In terms of sponsorship, England’s involvement with O2, its principal sponsor since 1995 when it was known as BT Cellnet, has been both beneficial and lucrative for rugby. England’s mixed broadcasting package, unique to the home unions, with both Sky and the BBC ensures strong annual TV revenue. The BBC covers home games in the 6 nations while Sky covers the autumn internationals and much more – from U20 internationals to the Army and Navy game. Looking to the future, England will also host the 8^th Rugby World Cup in 2015. The Rugby World Cup is the third largest sporting event after the football world cup and the Olympics. When staged in France, in 2007, it delivered “a total economic impact estimated at up to £2.1 billion” for the host nation.

Domestically the picture looks bright too. Aviva, the fifth largest insurer in the world, has recently replaced Guinness as the official title sponsor of England’s premier club rugby competition. In a 4 year deal, Aviva will pump £20 million into the renamed Aviva Premiership. In another exciting move, JP Morgan Asset Management earlier this year launched a Sevens tournament for the 12 premiership clubs. This is a bold move which aims to build on the momentum that entry into the 2016 Olympics has given the shortened version of the rugby game.

There are, however, some small dark clouds for rugby in England. The so-called ‘Bloodgate’ scandal has left a bad taste in the mouth (quite literally). The affair has tarnished the image and reputation of both Harlequins (one of the oldest clubs in the game) and the sport in general. It would certainly have been scrutinised by sponsors even though Etihad Airways has signed a one year extension to its sponsorship with the Harlequins club.

The relationship between the Premiership clubs and the national squad is not always a comfortable one. Like in football, there are arguably too many overseas stars in the domestic game. If selection of these players curtails the long-term playing development of home grown talent the results of the national side may suffer in years to come. Some players in the national side are also plying their trade overseas and this has led to friction between their respective clubs and Martin Johnson’s national squad. This was notably the case when the French club Toulon refused to release Jonny Wilkinson for a recent England squad summer camp. To keep revenues coming in, the RFU needs to carefully manage these issues to ensure that its strongest side runs out at Twickenham in order to attract sponsors, broadcasters and keep fans streaming through the turnstiles.

The upcoming season promises to be an exciting one as the rugby community looks forward to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Whether Martin Johnson and his England team will get their hands on the Webb Ellis Trophy again remains to be seen.

One thing we do know for sure – on the commercial front English rugby is in great health.

Under Armour is a Global sportswear company that has built a leading brand name in the hi-tech athletic gear. Under Armour traditional focus has been on compression (tight fitting) performance attire, but with a strategic marketing approach has also begun to offer a wide variety of products in other sports such as Football.

In a highly competitive sport, Under Armour launched in 2006 its first American football boots and gained 20% of the market that year. The company is constantly growing. For the fiscal year 2009, net revenue grew 18.1% from 2008 to $856.4 million.

I am interviewing Blair Tripodi. He is the Under Armour International Marketing Director. Blair has an extensive marketing experience and worked for the US Olympic Committee for 6 years as Director NGB Marketing, Director of Consumer Products and Brand Marketing Director. He is at Under Armour since 2006 and I am getting his views on Under Armour expansion in football and ultimately how Under Armour can challenge the largest established football brands.

1/ Blair, Under Armour is growing significantly and is nicknamed “the next Nike”. Is it an accurate nickname?

It is flattering to be referred to as being the next great sports performance company however I like to think we are doing things the Under Armour way and even though we make product in similar categories, our stance and position in the market is also very different than our competition.

2/ Matt Powel (Sportsonesource analyst) said: “Under Armour captured the minds of the high school kids playing American Football. It’s kids selling to other kids it’s a social networking almost…” Is it a similar strategy Under Armour has towards football? Will the new Cristiano Ronaldo wear Under Armour products?

I would love it for the next Ronaldo to pick up a pair of UA boots or clothing and give it a go because we make great product.  Matt’s comments are correct that in any sport Under Armour is popular or present in; we have a very organic presence.  We don’t pay many athletes to wear the brand, most of the times you see the product on someone is because they or their team bought it from us.  That is truly where I think we are a cut above because people choose to wear Under Armour even if they have to buy it

3/ What are the main differences between Under Armour and adidas, Nike, Puma?

There are lots of differences and lots of similarities but the one thing which truly sets us apart is the fact that everything we make is designed too make the athlete better.  Even our hoody’s and sweats are made from performance, moisture wicking fabrics. We’ve also developed products like the coreshort, recharge and Armour Bite – not as huge revenue drivers but as a tool to clearly position ourselves as the athletes one stop brand for all performance needs

4/ What are the main difficulties to penetrate football in Europe?

I think the difficulties are pretty clear.  A lot of brands want to win at football and quite frankly a lot of good brands with a lot of history behind them.  We fully respect the pecking order as it sits today and are taking our approach one athlete at a time.  We believe there is room and then some for Under Armour and that the consumer wants another – different – brand to compete with the current players.  And it has been seen by the players who have chosen to wear Under Armour already (Marcel SchaefferPaul Robinson, Bobby Zamora and others) that the product is fit enough for some of the worlds best players.

5/ Under Armour is the official outfitter of the Welsh Rugby Union. Is Rugby a platform to penetrate football in Europe?

Rugby feels good to our company as a sport to be in our sights to win at.  The sport itself is what inspired American Football in the US and so the fit from a cultural perspective is terrific.  Our program with the WRU also makes a lot of sense because we like to partner with passionate people and organizations and you could argue that no other country in the northern hemisphere is as passionate to Rugby as the Welsh are.

6/ Kevin Plank (Chairman and CEO of Under Armour) started the company with the success we know now. What can you tell us about him?

Kevin is a remarkable individual.  He is driven and motivated like all great CEO’s but I also know he believes we have yet too make our signature product as a company.  He is pushing everyday for our company to innovate in everything we do from how we build product, to how it gets delivered to the story we tell and that is exciting to work for a company that doesn’t sit still and expects change.  Very refreshing and personally gratifying.

7/ Who could we expect to see wearing Under Armour football shoes during the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

Well for sure you will see Marcel Schaefer on the German team.  We have some exciting special boots in the works for him which would turn some heads for sure.  Additionally of course we are holding out hope that Paul Robinson or Bobby Zamora will have some luck and be selected for the England squad.   We also have hope that Bochum’s Joel Epalle from Cameroon will receive selection.  These players are all contracted UA athletes however I am sure you will see several other players wearing boots quite frankly because they are very comfortable and perform well.

8/ In South Africa this summer, 12 Federations are sponsored by adidas, 9 will wear Nike products, and 7 National Teams will endorse Puma outfits. How long do you think it will take to Under Armour to have national teams at a major football event?

A national team program is something we have thought long and hard about.  As I previously mentioned though, it isn’t just about getting on field with a team, it is getting on field with a team that fits the brand.  So I think as a result our company will show a good deal of patience in picking the program that fits well with us.

9/ More and more football brands and clubs are using social medias to reach out to their fanbase. What is Under Armour approach?

Social media is playing a much larger role in some of our key markets.  From a UK perspective we have started using tools like Facebook and blogger networks such as soccerbible and footy boots as tools to tell our messages to the consumer.  We also launched our football boots on-line through our website – www.underarmour.com/UA11.  This was a groundbreaking program that I think acknowledged the movement of the consumer to the internet as a one stop shop for all their brand information

O2 have generated a fun game that can help your readers fight any potential boredom they may be experiencing at work, with a great opportunity to win Nintendo Wiis, Blu-ray DVD players and LCD TVs to the those who top the leader board. There’s even the chance for four lucky winners picked at random from all O2 customers who’ve entered the competition to snatch VIP tickets to the Emirates Airline London Rugby Sevens at Twickenham for themselves and three friends.