6N "exhibition" game in the US

[Charles]

Yeah true that, young American males are aligned in seeing that Grid Iron is the only oval shaped ball game with contact and thats understandable as it was in their country way before Rugby.

Where do you think gridiron comes from ? That's right, it came from rugby the day some guy named Walter Camp decided to invent the downs system. Cal rugby team was created in 1882, way before gridiron was created.

Cymro if you need a hand in American venture I'll be on board but ha wouldn't it be great Paddys Day in New York (or technically Jersey) in The Meadowlands (aka New Giants Stadium) for Ireland vs England to decide Grand Slam I think that'd easily sell out so now only prob is getting both teams to be good enough

No it wouldn't.

Has any of you guys just a modicum of knowledge about the state of the game in the US?
That's what I thought...

People in the US don't care about England versus Ireland in rugby. OTOH, people would pay to see Penn State versus Ohio State, or any of the big college rivalries , in any sport. And thta's exactly what people in the know in the state are doing with the collegiate sevens championship, as opposed to USARFU who has gobled up millions of IRB $$ with the Churchill Cup etc for nothing. The last Eagles game wasn't even on TV...:lol:


Gingergenius: the sport is growing enormously at grassroots level, esp in the south and in California. There IS a market.


I feel like I'm ******* in the wind with this thread...

 

[munstermuffin]

Charles if it was Ireland vs England and it meant something and was played on a Paddys Weekend - Itd sell.

-Plenty of Irish over there would go regardless of been interested simply because it was irish.
-Americans will latch on especially on Paddys weekend
-People travel to USA for paddys day and if Grand Slam was on line of course the planes would fill

 

[Charles]

Charles if it was Ireland vs England and it meant something and was played on a Paddys Weekend - Itd sell.

-Plenty of Irish over there would go regardless of been interested simply because it was irish.
-Americans will latch on especially on Paddys weekend
-People travel to USA for paddys day and if Grand Slam was on line of course the planes would fill

So you are telling me that:

the IRFU or possibly the FRU would forfeit a definite sell out Lansdowne Road or Twickers and definite cash and instead, just on a gamble, would

- pay tens of thousands of dollars to rent a huge stadium in the US, and make it rugby friendly
- pay tens of thousands of dollars (probably hundreds)to advertise the game and get it on TV (good luck with that)
- pay tens of thousands of dollars to put both squads on a plane etc

in the hope that thousands Irish and Englishman would in turn themselves shell out thousands of dollars (hello banking crisis) to go see their team in a foreign country with no atmosphere surrounding the game, probably no public transportation to the stadium, no beer drinking in the streets, hours of bother in the airports and other inconvenients

JUST to raise the profile of the game in the US and possibly make a profit?

Sorry to be blunt but I don't see it.

I'm all for shooting the **** but sometimes, you gotta be a little realistic.

 

[munstermuffin]

No ha ha I know it wouldn't happen I just saying if we had to we could but no chance of it been reality ha

 

[gingergenius]

Charles is right there. When anything out of the ordinary happens to the sporting calendar, money is behind it. It wouldn't ever happen with the IRU paying, there's no way they'd deprive Ireland of their biggest international sporting occasion (England in Dublin), that only happens every two years.

If this were to happen, then it would be the Americans paying for them to come over. Who do you think pays for Wasps vs Quins in Abu Dhabi? Sultan Sheikh bin Oil.

 

[Teh Mite]

Those are the very reasons why Wasps v Quins in Dubai will be an utter flop.

 

[smartcooky]

People in the US don't care about England versus Ireland in rugby. OTOH, people would pay to see Penn State versus Ohio State, or any of the big college rivalries , in any sport.

Exactly right Charles.

NCAA Football has a bigger following than NFL; larger crowds, more supporters.

The Rosebowl (College Football final) between TCU and Wisconsin this year drew a crowd of 94,000!!! (and a cracking match it was too). By comparison, last year's Superbowl at Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, drew just over 74,000; the stadium capacity is over 75,000, so it wasn't even a sell-out.

 

[Sam Owen]

Where do you think gridiron comes from ? That's right, it came from rugby the day some guy named Walter Camp decided to invent the downs system. Cal rugby team was created in 1882, way before gridiron was created.

Ahhh I didnt know that. I guess Grid Iron was more attractive to the Americans than Rugby then, considering Rugby was there before Grid Iron.

 

[gingergenius]

gridiron took off in america largely because the nation was looking for its own sports, rather than those devised in Europe. Hence baseball, gridiron, basketball, lax...

The only ones i've got any interest in are basketball and lacross, because they derive from indigenous games.

 

[lucky number 7]

Ha yes sure doesn't baseball derive from rounders

 

[nickdnz]

Ahhh I didnt know that. I guess Grid Iron was more attractive to the Americans than Rugby then, considering Rugby was there before Grid Iron.

Here's a little bit of trivia, USA have won two gold medals in rugby in the Summer Olympics, both 1920 and 1924.

 

[Sam Owen]

Here's a little bit of trivia, USA have won two gold medals in rugby in the Summer Olympics, both 1920 and 1924.

DAM?!!...GOLD medals even. I heard USA had some success with Rugby waayyy back in the day but gold standard is just that, impressive.

 

[Charles]

There were only 3 teams competing though...France, US and Belgium I believe.

 

[nickdnz]

There were only 3 teams competing though...France, US and Belgium I believe.

Hehe, yeah. Had South Africa, New Zealand and Great Britain taken part, it would have likely been very different.

 

[smartcooky]

There were only 3 teams competing though...France, US and Belgium I believe.

Paris Olympics, 1924... France, USA, Romania

USA Beat France in the "final" 17-3...5 tries and 1 conversion to a try (27-3 in modern) scoring.

USA.........Gold
France.....Silver
Romania...Bronze


Antwerp Olympics, 1920.... France and USA only

USA beat France 8-0 in the Gold Medal match.

USA........Gold
France....Silver

These Olympics were in Belgium. and the USA were invoted to tour France. Only 16 players stayed in for the tour.

Sept 19th Lyon: USA beat a South East Selection 26-0.
Sept 22nd Toulouse: USA beat a Southern Selection 14-3,
Sept 25th Bordeaux: USA beat a South West Selection 6-3
Oct 10th Paris: France beat USA 14-5.


1916.... no Olympics - WW1


1912.... rugby not in Olympic program


London 1908... Only two teams participated, Great Britain and a combined NZ & Australia team (Australasia)

Australasia beat Great Britain 32-2 in the Gold Medal match


1904.... rugby not in Olympic program


Paris Olympics, 1900..... The three countries involved were represented by club teams; Great Britain (Moseley Wanderers), Germany (Eintracht Frankfurt) and France (Stade Francais)

France beat Great Britain 27-8
France beat Germany 17-7
Germany v Great Britain was not played, but the Germans were awarded the silver medal on points difference

France.......... Gold
Germany........ Silver
Great Britain... Bronze

 

[nickdnz]

Paris Olympics, 1924... France, USA, Romania

USA Beat France in the "final" 17-3...5 tries and 1 conversion to a try (27-3 in modern) scoring.

USA.........Gold
France.....Silver
Romania...Bronze


Antwerp Olympics, 1920.... France and USA only

USA beat France 8-0 in the Gold Medal match.

USA........Gold
France....Silver

These Olympics were in Belgium. and the USA were invoted to tour France. Only 16 players stayed in for the tour.

Sept 19th Lyon: USA beat a South East Selection 26-0.
Sept 22nd Toulouse: USA beat a Southern Selection 14-3,
Sept 25th Bordeaux: USA beat a South West Selection 6-3
Oct 10th Paris: France beat USA 14-5.


1916.... no Olympics - WW1


1912.... rugby not in Olympic program


London 1908... Only two teams participated, Great Britain and a combined NZ & Australia team (Australasia)

Australasia beat Great Britain 32-2 in the Gold Medal match


1904.... rugby not in Olympic program


Paris Olympics, 1900..... The three countries involved were represented by club teams; Great Britain (Moseley Wanderers), Germany (Eintracht Frankfurt) and France (Stade Francais)

France beat Great Britain 27-8
France beat Germany 17-7
Germany v Great Britain was not played, but the Germans were awarded the silver medal on points difference

France.......... Gold
Germany........ Silver
Great Britain... Bronze

Didn't know that. The representitive and club teams in the Olympics is very odd.