United Rugby Championship CEO Martin Anayi never met Jay-Z, whose entertainment company Roc Nation is helping promote the rebranded Pro14 starting Friday, but the hip-hop legend gave away one of his songs for free Is.
“The story that Jay-Z saw Siya Kolisi lift the World Cup for South Africa sparked his company’s interest in rugby,” Anayi says. Is On the eve of the resumption of the 16-team competition, the top four South African teams joined for the first time.
“What I do know is that Jay-Z has personally signed permission for URC to use his track ‘Public Service Announcement’ on our opening artwork and our intro music in the park. He sees rugby reaching new audiences.” wants to see and he gave us this track for free, when it would normally cost more.”
The song’s signature lyrics: “Let me introduce myself again…” are fitting as Sharks, Bulls, Stormers and Lions travel to Munster, Leinster, Benetton Treviso and Zebra, respectively, this weekend. And while parish skeptics may find it difficult to embrace a league of teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and South Africa in two hemispheres, but mostly in similar time zones. Says Anayi, “The diversity of our league is what we support. To all. “
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Another reason for the URC is “less is more”, as the future winners of the play-off finals next June will have played 21 games, five less than it took to win the Premiership this season in England. In addition, the South African team only visits each of their European opponents every two years, which according to Anai makes the matches “special, as they are a bit rare”. When the Cheetahs and Kings were in the last round of the competition, they went to Bloemfontein with 250 fans of Münster, and saw the potential of the old-school tours that players and fans alike appreciate.
There is free coverage on the BBC and S4C in Wales and Northern Ireland, and an effort to engage young fans with next-generation graphics, a new ‘predicted points’ statistic (variation of predicted football goals), and a push for the new ‘predicted points’ statistic. A new computer game to trap fans who have never played the game.
Music from the Rock Nation label numbers will be performed in stadiums, but Anayi promises that it will not come at the cost of familiar hymns: “Stand Up for the Ulstermen” in Belfast, “Yama or Hyde” in Llanley, and so on. Following. “We will not be in a hurry to tell the 16 clubs what to do,” said Anayi, whose office is in London, in consultation with the CVC, 28% of the league’s shareholders. (The rest five belong to the national federations.)
With home and away derby matches protected by country-specific pools within the general match list and including South Africa, a two-way way to qualify for the Cup Europe next season, Anai describes RCU’s place in notoriously crowded rugby. did. Almanac.
“RCU is the third shareholder of the Heineken Champions Cup, along with the French Premiership and the LNR”, he explains. “Then add a Club World Cup every four years to the top and we have our pyramid. CVC’s involvement allowed everyone to think more collaboratively. All three championships love each other.”
“RCU is not the same size as the English Premiership and there is a big difference with the LNR, which has three professional levels and a big TV contract with Canal Plus, a good example of a partnership. 20 or 25 years old . . . We have almost tripled our turnover in six years and our challenge is to do the same thing again”.
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