Towards record sales? The lucrative business of products derived from the Rugby World Cup

Ten days after the opening of the largest official store of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, in the heart of Place de la Concorde in Paris, the supporters already seem to be there. And the jerseys, stuffed animals and other accessories sold during the event are snapping up.

One week before the start of the competition, "sales are significantly above our projections", welcomes Christophe Rousseau, director of retail operations France for Legends, the operator of the Parisian megastore. “Products stamped France, whether textiles, caps, berets, are very advanced. Balloons also remain a safe bet, ”says the manager. For the first time, the jerseys of all twenty participating nations are available for sale. On the shelves, the tunics of Tonga or Namibia are thus found alongside those of the XV of France or the All-Blacks.

A good start for the Parisian flagship, which suggests a sharp increase in merchandising revenues for this Mondial organized in France. “We are going to exceed by 30 and 40% the figures recorded in 2019 during the previous World Cup in Japan. This 2023 edition will thus be the strongest in history from the point of view of derivative products”, predicts Mickaël Andreo, vice-president of IMG Licensing, which manages the merchandising rights of the competition on behalf of the international federation World Rugby. She can rub her hands. As the owner of the rights, it is this organization that will receive part of the royalties from the sale of derivative products, and not the France 2023 organizing committee. In its application file, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) had sent World Rugby an offer to buy back merchandising rights (7.5 million euros), to which the international body ultimately did not respond.

Apart from the Parisian megastore of 1000 m2, the jerseys, berets, balls and other scarves are also already available in France in several other official stores, including another mega-store of 500 m2 in Marseille or points of sale dedicated to Lille, Lyon or Nice. But also in the fan zones and on the forecourt of the host stadiums, as well as online in the official World Cup store. The products have also started to invade sports brands (Intersport, Go Sport, Decathlon, etc.), supermarkets (Carrefour, E.Leclerc, U stores, Casino, etc.), the Relays of the Lagardère Retail group or even certain brands. clothing (Celio, Jules, Kiabi, etc.). It takes almost 100 euros for a jersey, 30 euros for a ball or a cap, 25 euros for a beret.

If expectations are so high for this World Cup, it is because the previous one had been "a great success" in terms of sales of derivative products, recalls Mickaël Andreo. At the time, World Rugby had captured "44 million pounds (51 million euros, editor's note) in merchandising revenue, or 12% of the organization's overall revenue over the year", underlines Magali Tézenas du Montcel, Managing Director of Sporsora, an interprofessional organization that brings together players in the sports economy.

In the space of four years, the rugby economy has also developed, opening up to other countries. And as a host country, France has some advantages up its sleeve that Japan did not have. “The market there is more mature in terms of rugby. In addition, the fact that the XV of France is in a position to go far in the competition has allowed retailers to take more risks by stocking more products”, explains Mickaël Andreo. Christophe Rousseau completes the picture: “There can be a click from the quarter-finals. People will want to push the XV of France and follow the matches with the colors of the team. The host nation is always a catalyst.” In 2019, Japan's qualification for the quarter-finals, the level at which the Japanese had stopped, was already a feat.

Despite everything, on both a French and global scale, rugby lags behind football or the Olympics. “Rugby is about 70 countries around the world. And in these 70, they are not addicted to rugby like the 200 or so countries that watch the Football World Cup, observes sports economist Vincent Chaudel, founder of the Sports Business Observatory. And then the products derived from a football World Cup are sold even in countries that do not participate, which is less the case in rugby. Even in the host country, France in this case in 2023, the enthusiasm is far from being the same. For example, the American company Legends, which will also be present at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, will operate there “three times more points of sale than during the Rugby World Cup”, confides Christophe Rousseau.

The merchandising offer itself is less developed. In a recent study, the specialized firm Licensing for Growth observed that only nine participating nations (out of twenty), i.e. less than one in two, had an official store dedicated to the Rugby World Cup in their country. "For the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, it was 60%," notes Bruno Schwobthaler, founder and president of the firm. If the average number of products offered in the shops (211) “is in the range of a Football World Cup”, they turn out to be much less varied, notes the merchandising expert. The textile weighing 80% of the products, with a very masculine offer, and also no toys for children. And above all, no official mascot, unlike football or the Olympics, where this derivative product is nevertheless a must, like the famous “Phryges” of Paris 2024.