RFU double down and reiterate Allianz is 'right deal for the game'

Bill Sweeney has claimed that the vast majority of people the RFU interact with believe that the naming rights agreement that has seen Twickenham become Allianz Stadium was "the right deal" for rugby in England. Eyebrows were raised when the RFU confirmed on August 5 that it had agreed a 10-year deal worth in excess of £100million to allow Twickenham, which has hosted England internationals since 1909, become the Allianz Stadium.

The development meant the insurance company would now hold the naming rights to eight stadiums around the world and having last week changed the signage at Twickenham to Allianz Stadium, next Saturday’s women’s rugby clash between England and New Zealand will be the first match to take place at the newly rebranded ground.

The RFU’s decision to strike a deal came after it was decided not to pursue the opportunity to become a 50 per cent co-owner of Wembley with the English FA. An opportunity to develop a greenfield site in Birmingham was also spurned, with rugby officials instead committing to a redevelopment of Twickenham from 2027.

When the deal was announced last month, Sweeney was adamant: “I really don't believe we have sold out. It's an iconic stadium, it's the home of rugby, experiences here are incredible, people love coming here. But we believe this will help us build on the legacy of the stadium, this will take us into the future, into decades from here.”

A month later, the RFU chief has now doubled down on his original opinion. “First and foremost, it’s really encouraging for the game when you have a company like them [Allianz] investing in rugby union in England,” insisted Sweeney just days out from the September 14 clash featuring John Mitchell’s Red Roses and the Black Ferns.

“They have branding naming rights on seven other stadiums around the world. They are passionate about rugby from the top down, they are passionate about rugby union the characters we have been dealing with. They have got experience of stadium redevelopment, so that helps us in terms of our plans for Twickenham going forward starting in 2027, and they are providing a significant investment over a multi-year period which is coming into the game.

“They have been very clear from the outset that they want to see a certain amount of that activity being targeted at the community game. So they are very interested in the continued health and development of the community club network and we are working with them on some certain programmes around that.

“There is an Allianz funding programme which is a methodology giving access to specific funds for club facilities and club development. There is a danger to think it’s a silver bullet and it fixes everything. We did make certain assumptions about that money coming in when we first started off the negotiations. But it certainly helps us to fund the PGP [the professional game partnership] but also some of the other investments we have to do.

“Did we have to do it? You wouldn't want to walk away from a very significant investment with a partner that shares similar values and similar passions for the game. Some of the challenges we had previously is, why didn't we do it earlier? Why haven't we had a naming rights partner sooner? You can reel them all off.

“You all know the stadiums that have naming-rights partners. I blame the previous commercial director who didn't do one, and I know he tried really hard and missed his KPIs and bonus on a number of years.

“But it's a good deal. It’s a really good deal, good for the game. We are doing it for the right reasons – the vast majority of the people that we interact with understand that it's the right deal for the game. You will get certain resistance for traditional reasons, that is wholly understandable, and there will be a period of time where it takes some time to adjust.”

The ’previous commercial director’ Sweeney was referring to was Simon Massie-Taylor, the former RFU chief commercial and marketing officer who is now the Premiership Rugby CEO. He was sitting to the right of the RFU CEO at last Wednesday’s professional game partnership unveiling when Sweeney delivered his tongue-in-cheek 'blame' remark.

“It [the stadium naming rights idea] has been on the table for years,” said Massie-Taylor. “My previous ‘better’ boss at the RFU said, ‘Just don't make it the 'Chunky Chicken Stadium’. That was his only mandate.”