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Last week, The Common Sense wrote about the Springboks’ victory in Baltimore and the commercial logic behind rugby’s push into the United States (US). The case begins with the sheer size of the American sports market.

American sport generates about $160 billion a year in revenue from broadcasting rights, sponsorship, ticket sales, hospitality, merchandise, and licensing. Global rugby union generates about $2.3 billion. The American sports market is roughly 70 times the size of rugby’s entire global market.

As the graph below shows, just 1.5% of American sports revenue amounts to $2.4 billion, slightly more than rugby’s total annual revenue worldwide. If rugby could capture that share as additional income, it would more than double its global revenue. The revenue of SA Rugby, the controlling body for the sport in South Africa, is in turn only 5% of global rugby revenue.

Rugby’s traditional markets, including South Africa, New Zealand, Britain, Ireland, and France, are largely saturated. The sport already commands substantial audiences in these countries, limiting the potential for growth in broadcasting, sponsorship, and matchday revenue. America offers access to a much larger pool of spectators and commercial spending.

For the Springboks, the case for pursuing the American market is particularly strong. They are already one of international rugby’s most recognisable teams, but their commercial value has historically been constrained by the relatively small size of South Africa’s domestic economy and media market. Concerns about the country’s economic and political direction, alongside the departure of middle-class households, add urgency to the search for revenue abroad.

Baltimore demonstrated the Springboks’ ability to attract a paying audience in America. The task now is to turn that interest into a regular following outside of South African immigrants living in the US. The approaching US-hosted Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033 provide an opportunity to build this audience.