David McWilliams: Ireland should host rugby world cup

[Eamonnca1]

From joe.ie:

Ireland should put plans in place to host the Rugby World Cup in 12 years' time as the prospect is "absolutely feasible", according to economist David McWilliams.

McWilliams was speaking on Newstalk's Off The Ball show on Tuesday evening.

And he feels that with some forward-thinking strategies from the Government - as well as a bit of help from the GAA - Ireland could be the sole host of the Rugby World Cup in 2023.

As well as the Aviva Stadium, Thomond Park in Limerick and a revamped Ravenhill in Belfast, McWilliams reckons Croke Park, McHale Park in Castlebar and a Cork stadium - possibly a new Pairc Ui Chaoimh - could also form the basis of an IRFU bid for rugby's biggest tournament.

He said, "It's absolutely feasible. We have to do big and bold things to change the psychology of a nation, and a Rugby World Cup clearly for a country of our size would do that.

"Within the psychology of a country it's very important to be seen to be moving forward, to be doing things that you could have only dreamed of a couple of years ago.

"If you look at the numbers from the New Zealand World Cup, they actually made money from the tournament, and that's a phenomenal thing, because in the past - going back to the Montreal Olympics - these things have been seen as white elephants."

He's absolutely right.  We have facilities that are either capable of hosting such events or upgradable to the point where they could.  Celtic Tiger era road and rail upgrades mean that there's now a reasonably decent transport infrastructure in place.  I'm not much of a rugby fan (a very casual watcher of the odd international game) but I still think this would be good for Irish sport and raising the country's profile on the world stage. We should be aspiring to hosting large scale international events and showcasing the country as a place that's good to visit and good to do business in.

However the biggest obstacle to such a plan would be the "it will never happen" attitude, the age-old Irish mentality of conflating difficulty with impossibility and giving up without even bothering to look at the first hurdle. It's the inability to see how things could be in the future, always looking at the state we're in now and imagining that it's always going to be that way. I'm bracing myself for a tide of "wise up, it will never happen" in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2  - 1 ...

[ziggysego]

I'm normally against opening Croke Park & other GAA grounds to other sports, but this is the front thinking that we need to bring investments and jobs to Ireland in these difficult times. I know it's 12 years away, but the work starts now and it will create a positive buzz around the county, that will allow for other "outside the box" thinking to get Ireland moving again.

[Main Street]

From joe.ie:

"If you look at the numbers from the New Zealand World Cup, they actually made money from the tournament, and that's a phenomenal thing, because in the past - going back to the Montreal Olympics - these things have been seen as white elephants."

Did NZ rugby make a profit?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/27/rugby-world-cup-revenue

[screenexile]

From joe.ie:

"If you look at the numbers from the New Zealand World Cup, they actually made money from the tournament, and that's a phenomenal thing, because in the past - going back to the Montreal Olympics - these things have been seen as white elephants."

Did NZ rugby make a profit?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/sep/27/rugby-world-cup-revenue

Fair point that NZ Rugby didn't make a profit but I would imagine those issues around tours and sponsorship would be ironed out. Along with that I would imagine the overall impact on the Economy in NZ as a whole would have been huge and that NZ Rugby would more than likely be the only organisation in NZ to make a loss!

[Capt Pat]

A joint bid with Scotland might be more realistic. Even though we dragged that joint bid for the euro soccer championships into the ground.

[Main Street]

If the IRFU were to lose a packet - that would not be a deal breaker   the country would gain a packet by scorching the visitors.
I like McWilliams attitude to the idea, it might be runner.

[Eamonnca1]

If it broke even or made a slight loss it would still be worth doing.

[Evil Genius]

NZ is the only* country in the world where Rugby Union is the 'National Sport'. They are absolutely obsessed by the game, in a way which has few parallels anywhere else, any sport. Therefore if the NZRU couldn't at least break even, then there is NO chance of the IRFU doing so, in a country where Rugby is the 3rd sport.

Therefore the two Governments would have to underwrite any tournament, to the tune of many millions. It is just possible that the UK might do so for their 20-25%(?) of the tournament. However I think it v.unlikely that the ROI could seriously do so for their share.

And that is just the cost of staging the tournament itself. The number of stadia which would need to be built would alone scupper any such deal (imo). For NZ 2011, they used 12 stadia, all renovated/refurbished/new-built, with the following capacities:
15k
18k x 3
22k
26k
30k x3
34k
40k
60k

At present, I'd guess Ireland only has 3 suitable stadia (Croke, AVIVA and Thomond), plus the RDS, Ravenhill and maybe 3 or 4 (?) GAA grounds which could be done up easily/cheaply to World Cup standards. Therefore at least 4 new stadia (effectively) would need to be built pretty much from scratch, plus many millions spent on the others, to be sufficient.

And even if there was a case for saying the tournament itself warrants this (highly debateable, imo), what use would Ireland have for 12 stadia of that size and standard dotted around the island after the rugger buggers had all departed?

England has already been awarded the 2015 tournament. Argentina, Italy, Japan and USA have all got realistic future aspirations towards hosting what would be their first ever home RWC. Let them each have a go, I say, and by 2031 the Irish economy might just be recovered sufficiently for Ireland to have its turn. 



* - Barring a few tiny Pacific Islands, that is.

[lawnseed]

does david mcwilliams expect our assoc. to make our grounds available for 'nothing?' as an economist he should know better. but then again.. he was 'advising' brian cowen when he plunged the country into debt for a generation. the idea is good but for me mcwilliams has lost a huge chunk of credibility he needs to do his sums. the best idea in this genre i've heard so far is simply to hand out free plane tickets to anyone who'll come to the country and spend a few quid no need for stadia or anything in particular. eg. if we buy 1million tickets off ryanair at £30 each approx its likely that they'll spend 300 or so on arrival

[Eamonnca1]

does david mcwilliams expect our assoc. to make our grounds available for 'nothing?'

Is that what he said?

but then again.. he was 'advising' brian cowen when he plunged the country into debt for a generation.

Lenihan. He was advising Lenihan. Did Lenihan listen? Was it McWilliam's idea to guarantee the losses of the banks? I don't think so.

[Maguire01]

for me mcwilliams has lost a huge chunk of credibility

I'm sure he'll be devestated.

[lawnseed]

the point being that while he was advising all and sundry how to run their affairs on tv, he was also advising fianna fail. not many fianancial advisers would want that on their CV. also if new zealand rugby made a loss when they own the stadia how could irish rugby do any better by renting croker or casement it simply doesnt add up

[bennydorano]

Great idea. Clones would be ideal

[lawnseed]

Great idea. Clones would be ideal

there'd be some scrum around the paragon

[Eamonnca1]

And even if there was a case for saying the tournament itself warrants this (highly debateable, imo), what use would Ireland have for 12 stadia of that size and standard dotted around the island after the rugger buggers had all departed?

If they're GAA facilities with capacity around the 20k mark then they'll get plenty of use.