Ruck and Roll: What Rugby Can Learn from the NBA 🏉
"There's a handful of players that people know within world rugby, but they're definitely not global icons. And they should be. They absolutely should be."
9 April 2025
Rugby prides itself on tradition.
It’s a sport built on respect, teamwork, and humility. Players don’t chase the spotlight. In fact, they’re taught to shun it.
As Michael Yormark, President of Roc Nation Sports International, an agency representing World Champion Springboks captain Siya Kolisi, put it on the Sports Pundit Podcast,
“It's all about team. It's all about the club. It's all about your country.”
That ‘European’ mindset has helped rugby hold onto its values. But as loved and watched as rugby is, it is still leaving a lot on the table. To turbocharge its growth, it needs to follow the NBA ‘blueprint’, according to Yormark.
As well as winning titles, the modern athlete wants to tell stories, build communities, and use their platform to drive change. In rugby, that kind of ambition is still seen as taboo. When players speak up, build their brand, or work with commercial partners, they’re often criticised for being ‘distracted’ or not focused on the game.
It’s cultural.
It’s also outdated.
Take Ellis Genge, now one of the sport’s most compelling voices and, like Kolisi, represented by Roc Nation.
“He was actually scared to tell the story,” said Yormark. “He wasn't sure how rugby would receive the story, or how they would respond.”
That fear is widespread. But when players are empowered to step forward, something shifts, not just for them, but for the sport as a whole.
Yormark’s own discovery of rugby is a great example of this.
Born and raised in the United States, the sport wasn’t on his radar until a moment in September 2019 at a gym in London’s James Street. That day, he noticed people gathered around TVs watching England progress through the Rugby World Cup.
A few days later, while en route to watch Kevin De Bruyne play for Manchester City, the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa dominated the airwaves. It was Siya Kolisi’s post-match speech that caught Yormark’s attention, so much so that within 48 hours, he had reached out. After a 10-minute call, the relationship was born.
Not long after, Kolisi became a Roc Nation client and Yormark began to make his mark on the sport, pledging to amplify the Springbok’s Captain’s story around the world.
And that’s exactly what they did. Kolisi is now one of the few rugby players with true global recognition (only Ilona Maher has more followers), not only because of his playing ability, but because he let people into his journey.
This is where rugby can learn from the NBA and Roc Nation.
“Players are [rugby’s] number one asset,” Yormark said. But unlike American sports, rugby often fails to treat them that way.
The NBA figured out a long time ago that sport is entertainment. Players are the product. Commentary goes beyond analysing the game, telling stories, building narratives, and inviting fans into the lives of their heroes.
“Those that really run the sport at every level need to understand that rugby, especially professional rugby, is entertainment,” said Yormark. “Rugby needs to look at itself a little bit differently.”
Accessibility is another issue. In the UK, most rugby is hidden behind pay-TV subscriptions, making it harder for new audiences to engage. Even when you get through the paywall, the storytelling often stops at surface level. And that matters. Because as Yormark put it bluntly:
“With all due respect, when I go to an England match, it's very homogeneous. There's no diversification in the stands. It's middle-aged white men.”
That’s not sustainable. If rugby wants to grow, in relevance, audience, and revenue, it needs to evolve. Players need platforms. Fans need stories. And the sport itself needs to embrace a little disruption.
“Sometimes you gotta break out of tradition,” Yormark said. “Because fans are always looking for the next big thing.”
Rugby doesn’t need to lose what makes it special. But it does need to open the door to something new.
Embracing players and letting them tell their stories is the first step on that journey.
“By storytelling around their players, developing star power, and shining a light on those players, it's great for club rugby, it's great for international rugby, it's great for the sport. Because young kids want to follow stars. Young kids want to be like stars. And we need to turn these players into heroes.”“There's a handful of players that people know within world rugby, but they're definitely not global icons. And they should be. They absolutely should be.”