Hi, we’re the National Rugby Football League (NRFL), the group building the leading entertainment & media company in rugby globally.
The Scrum is our monthly newsletter in which we recap the latest happenings with the league, share insights into the sports investment market, and highlight some of the biggest news in the world of rugby, both on and off the pitch.
League Progress & Happenings
Family Office Club Private Investor Summit
Our team attended the Private Investor Summit in Torrance, CA in March, as members of the Family Office Club. Our mission was very well received by the Family Office Club’s prestigious network of entrepreneurs and investors.
Sports Business Journal CAA World Congress of Sports
In April, we had the exciting opportunity to attend the Sports Business Journal CAA World Congress of Sports in Los Angeles. The conference is renowned as the largest and most prestigious sports business conference in North America, drawing a record 1,000+ attendees this year. The event brought together league officers, team owners and presidents, corporate sponsors and advertisers, media executives, and agency heads to discuss the business of sports from the perspective of the industry's top executives. We were enthusiastically greeted by familiar faces while simultaneously forging new relationships with some of the biggest and best leaders in the industry.
Pictured: NRFL Managing Director Steve Ryan (left) at the SBJ CAA World Congress of Sports.
Bo Bikes Bama
NRFL Board Member Bo Jackson hosted his annual Bo Bikes Bama fundraiser this month. We had an amazing weekend supporting and celebrating his incredible philanthropic efforts.
In 2012, one year after a series of devastating tornadoes ripped through his home state of Alabama, Bo embarked on a five-day journey across the state to visit many of the towns ravaged by the storms. Bo Bikes Bama became an annual event in April 2013 when Bo returned to Alabama for a one-day ride in Cordova, Alabama, one of the hardest-hit cities of the 2011 outbreak. Since then, it has become a cherished tradition for Alabamians and others across the country.
By raising funds for the Alabama Governor's Emergency Relief Fund, Bo and his team are making a significant impact on the lives of those affected by natural disasters, and their efforts are helping to build safer and more resilient communities throughout the state.
We are grateful to have a leader like Bo on our team and to have had the opportunity to ride in this year's event which saw 750 riders in person and another 190 riders supporting from across the country, with 42 states represented.
Pictured: NRFL Founder and CEO Michael Clements (left), NRFL Board Member Bo Jackon (middle), and NRFL Managing Director Steve Ryan (left) at the Bo Bikes Bama event in Auburn, Alabama.
Market Trends
Generational, cultural, and legal shifts are making sports investing more attractive, and private equity firms are looking at niche areas of sports, which can produce dividend-like cash flows. (Read More)
Private-equity investors looking to stand out as they enter the crowded—and potentially lucrative—playing field of sports are buying into earlier-stage properties, including some of the sports in this country that haven’t been as fully commercialized as they have been abroad. (Read More)
Global Rugby News
Women’s rugby is booming thanks in part to dedicated air time, player contracts, and increased professionalization. (Read More)
The Rugby World Cup of 2023 could potentially see the implementation of various law modifications that have undergone trial periods during the 2023 Super Rugby season. Time restrictions on goal kicks, set pieces and rucks, and a streamlined TMO process are among a raft of fan-centric law innovations set to make the World Cup faster and more fluid than ever before. (Read More)
The next installment in the Rugby video game series, Rugby 24, has been officially announced by French publisher Nacon. Rugby 24 is due to hit shelves on September 7th, just a day before the start of the Rugby World Cup in France. (Read More)
A new rugby sculpture celebrating the sport's birth in its namesake town has been unveiled. The Try - a wire art piece depicting a scoring player - was commissioned by the Rugby Borough Council to mark the bicentenary of the sport. (Read More)
Want to learn more about the NRFL? Check out our website or reach out to info@thenrfl.com.