The Springboks’ Baltimore showdown with the All Blacks isn’t just a rugby match — it’s a multimillion-dollar payday. With both unions facing a lean financial year when next year’s World Cup rolls around, the dollars made the decision to take the fourth Test to America an easy one.
The Baltimore Test is projected to generate between $4 million and $6 million more for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry partners, SA Rugby and New Zealand Rugby, than the match would have earned had it been staged in South Africa.
That is a significant windfall for SA Rugby, particularly with next year’s World Cup set to create a major hole in the Springboks’ usual home-match income.
The first three Tests of the series, played in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Soweto, are understood to have generated between R60 million and R80 million each for the 50-50 partners to split.
But 2027 is a very different financial proposition.
With the World Cup being played in Australia, the Springboks have only three home Tests scheduled before they head Down Under to defend their title. That means just three opportunities to generate the substantial match-day revenues that come from ticket sales, hospitality, sponsorship and broadcast rights.
There is another financial incentive. World Rugby is understood to be paying SA Rugby and New Zealand Rugby an undisclosed bonus for taking one of the biggest fixtures in international rugby to the United States.
The incentive forms part of World Rugby’s strategy to bring major rugby nations to the US in the build-up to the 2031 Rugby World Cup, which will be staged there.
For SA Rugby, however, the Baltimore experiment is about more than a once-off payday.
Chief executive Rian Oberholzer said SA Rugby had deliberately looked beyond South Africa for opportunities to grow its commercial footprint.
“This game was always about finding an option where we could make as much financial gain as we could,” Oberholzer said.
“At SA Rugby, it is essential that we keep working on our financial stability. To do that, we have to take our brand wider than South Africa.
“We know the support we have in London, but the USA is an important market for us to grow into as we build towards 2031.”
That makes Baltimore something of a financial laboratory for the Springboks.
South Africa already enjoys a huge following in London, where thousands of expatriate supporters turn international rugby matches into virtual home games.
The USA, though, represents a much bigger untapped market.
The fourth Test against the All Blacks gives SA Rugby the chance to test the commercial potential of that market while also banking a substantial additional return.
IOL Sport
