Specifically, to help build the All Blacks into a powerful sporting brand beyond traditional rugby borders, with an even stronger fan base and more lucrative commercial partnerships to follow.<\/p>\n
Kirk is all about winning. Many of us of a certain vintage will not forget him thumping the Eden Park turf in joy after scoring a try against France in the 1987 World Cup final. An hour or so later, he was the first-ever rugby captain to hold aloft the Webb Ellis trophy.<\/p>\n
All Black captain David Kirk goes over for a try during the Rugby World Cup Final in 1987. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
If anyone knows the value of the All Blacks brand, it\u2019s the man who has not only worn the silver fern but continues to play a major leadership role in the business world.<\/a><\/p>\n Just before the All Blacks kicked off their match against Ireland in Chicago last weekend, Kirk entered New Zealand Rugby\u2019s corporate hosting area, swooping on a bowl of label pins with the All Blacks and silver fern trademark. <\/p>\n \u201cI need to give these out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A metaphor for that bigger mission at hand.<\/p>\n Is the All Blacks\u2019 brand spread too thinly? <\/p>\n Despite the All Blacks\u2019 lack of consistency in recent years \u2013 their last World Cup final victory is also now more than 10 years in the rear-view mirror \u2013 the brand and the principles associated with it remain a source of intrigue. <\/p>\n New Zealand Rugby (NZR) hosted several journalists \u2013 including from the NZ Herald, NBR, The Athletic (owned by The New York Times) and Forbes \u2013 for its pre-test match preparations in Chicago, offering access to current and former All Blacks, management, sponsors, and other staff.<\/p>\n The Athletic\u2019s Adam Crafton wrote: \u201cThe All Blacks, the team with the highest win percentage in the history of men\u2019s rugby union, believe they are different. It is the story they tell themselves and the story they tell the world. In their self-mythology, the jersey almost takes on superpowers of its own; a shirt imbued with the potency of all those who have gone before.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett told Crafton: \u201cWe only get one jersey per test match. Most other teams get a player one and then a spare one, which they can swap with an opponent. It is not as authentic, in my opinion. If I get one jersey, it means a lot more. If you are going to swap, it better be a good trade.\u201d<\/p>\n But that kind of sentiment clashes with a long-running NZR strategy to scatter the All Blacks brand among other teams.<\/p>\n In 2012, the New Zealand Sevens team became the All Blacks Sevens, and we also now have an All Blacks XV and the M\u0101ori All Blacks.<\/p>\n On the surface, that might make some marketing sense; the reality is more dangerous. <\/p>\n A Spanish newspaper infamously headlined a sports report that Spain had \u201cstunned\u201d the All Blacks, after New Zealand lost a sevens match.<\/p>\n Right now, the All Blacks men\u2019s sevens team is ranked seventh in the world.<\/p>\n That is not winning.<\/p>\n Commentators such as senior sports journalist Trevor McKewen have been highly critical.<\/p>\n \u201cIn its collective wisdom, New Zealand Rugby … believes calling the sevens specialists the All Blacks adds to the lustre of the black jersey and creates additional commercial opportunities and increased awareness of our dominant rugby heritage,\u201d McKewen wrote for the Herald last year.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d argue it does the opposite. If anything, it undermines the All Blacks brand as casual sports fans around the globe cast a superficial eye over international media coverage and see headlines of rugby minnows increasingly lowering our colours.\u201d<\/p>\n I ask Kirk \u2013 who became NZR chair in February this year \u2013 about the sevens team directly and whether the All Blacks\u2019 brand should be removed, in order to preserve its mana for the top-tier team.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to say that we shouldn\u2019t have that. Work hasn\u2019t been done on determining whether that makes sense, but things like that are always on the radar.\u201c<\/p>\n He acknowledged the concerns. \u201cI understand that criticism. I don\u2019t know if I agree with it or not \u2013 it\u2019s just more work that we\u2019ve got to do to understand. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always reviewing these things. It\u2019s just part of the business and part of what we do. There\u2019s nothing in place at the moment to say that we\u2019re reviewing it with a view to removing it. We just haven\u2019t done anything on that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always reviewing things, and that will be part of whatever reviews we\u2019re doing across the brands.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirk\u2019s business connections<\/p>\n Kirk played a pivotal role in securing one of the All Blacks\u2019 most recent sponsors,<\/a> Chicago-based global insurance firm Gallagher. <\/p>\n His connections in the business world \u2013 the former Fairfax CEO used to play tennis against media rival Lachlan Murdoch in Sydney, for example \u2013 are renowned. <\/p>\n Talking specifically about using contacts to help secure more partnerships, he says: \u201cReally, all of these connections and all of the opportunity stems from the brand \u2013 the history of the All Blacks. <\/p>\n \u201cWe talk about New Zealand rugby, and it\u2019s very important that the Black Ferns and our sevens teams are understood and included in that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are only a few brands that you can push forward. You can\u2019t really push forward every brand.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big brand, the 130-year-old brand, the brand that\u2019s known all around the world, is definitely the All Blacks. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd we do have to manage that carefully because we do want to make sure we\u2019re continuing to build the Black Ferns brands and making sure our sevens brands are speaking for themselves, which they do. <\/p>\n \u201cBut the All Blacks do have to be the lead brand, the major brand, the pinnacle brand that we\u2019re promoting around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Front-of-jersey sponsor<\/p>\n In Montpellier this week, Kirk met billionaire Mohed Altrad, whose eponymous company occupies the most critical real estate in New Zealand sport, as the main sponsor on the front of the All Black jersey.<\/p>\n Altrad is right now in a whole heap of legal strife, appealing a bribery and corruption conviction. As Gregor Paul has reported for the Herald, the case is moving slowly through the courts,<\/a> meaning it is unlikely to be resolved before Altrad\u2019s $50m-a-year All Blacks sponsorship expires in 2027.<\/p>\n The All Blacks may well have a new jersey sponsor after that \u2013 the court case is one consideration, another is Kirk\u2019s belief that the sponsorship will be valued even more highly by the end of 2027. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have contractual obligations with Altrad and we\u2019re very happy to comply with them,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen the renewal process begins, we\u2019ll be complying with whatever contractual obligations we\u2019ve got, which includes giving them an opportunity to put their best foot forward. We can decide whether we want to accept that or not, or we can go to market.\u201d<\/p>\n Kirk believes there was far more value to be gained from the front-of-jersey sponsorship. \u201cI couldn\u2019t put a number on it, but the market will tell us. Our job is not to try and forecast numbers. Our job is to put the brand in the best position possible for those numbers to be revealed.\u201d<\/p>\n NZR recorded record revenue of $285 million in its 2024 financial year. With a new five-year broadcasting deal with Sky now secured (believed to be around $85m a year), it sees sponsorship and partnership opportunities as fertile ground to secure even more revenue. In 2024, sponsorship and licensing income was $125.8m.<\/p>\n Kirk says the jersey had been well valued in the last two sponsorship cycles, based on the strength of the All Black brand values (and sponsors wanting to be attached to those) and the brand\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n He says while the fundamental values of the All Blacks brand had not changed, more people were now exposed to it, and knew about it, thanks to a growing fanbase fuelled by social media and other interactions.<\/p>\n \u201cOur job here is obviously to win on the field, prepare well, and also to be in the community,\u201d he told the Herald in Chicago.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the All Blacks are doing a wide range of things in the community, and so are management and members of the board who are here.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s the team, mostly, that\u2019s the important actor. The team will be doing things and the New Zealand rugby staff will be helping us engage with Chicago and helping Chicago feel that this is a party for them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd helping Chicago understand that the All Blacks are a global sports team, a global brand … \u201d<\/p>\n What becomes of NZR+?<\/p>\n Aside from social media, NZR also has its own streaming platform, NZR+, which has had a somewhat stuttered debut over the past two years.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we originally went into NZR+, it was to build a global fan base by subscription, and potentially to give us an alternative in the media \u2013 we could distribute our own media to people. People would sign up to it,\u201d Kirk explains.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the fan base wasn\u2019t built quickly enough for that to happen. It just took time, so that hasn\u2019t played out. Of course, we\u2019ve got another media deal which we\u2019re happy with, with Sky in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n Nevertheless, NZR+ remains an important platform for the organisation to build audiences globally, with the potential to offer more live All Blacks games in \u201cdark markets\u201d \u2013 countries where there are no broadcasters with official rights.<\/p>\n Kirk cites Kenya as an example of a fast-growing rugby nation where fans might be able to watch live games on NZR+ in future.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing that we\u2019re going to do with NZR+ is continue to build our engaged fans, which comes back to the earlier conversation about sponsorship.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more engaged fans we can show and the more we\u2019ve got people engaging with us, and the more we can then put sponsors\u2019 brands in front of those fans, the more likely sponsors are to engage with us at the levels that we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n Search for a new CEO<\/p>\n NZR chief executive Mark Robinson has just four weeks left in the role, and Steve Lancaster has been appointed interim CEO while NZR hunts for a new leader.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Barrett brothers in their treasured All Blacks jerseys (from left): Jordie, Beauden and Scott Barrett. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Leroy Carter, now an All Black, in action for the All Blacks Sevens in Perth. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Rugby World Cup-winning captain David Kirk’s career has spanned the sporting fields and boardrooms. Photo \/ Getty Image<\/p>\n
The All Blacks perform the haka at Chicago’s Soldier Field last weekend. Photo \/ action press<\/p>\n
A clip from NZR+ shows Richie Mo’unga after defeat in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final. Photo \/ NZR+<\/p>\n
Outgoing NZR chief executive Mark Robinson. Photo \/ Getty<\/p>\n