Covid-19 has dealt South African sports fans a cruel deck of cards, never mind a hand, with the much-anticipated British and Irish Lions rugby tour now almost certainly not happening in this country this year.
But there is still something to look forward to with the Rugby World Cup Sevens coming to Cape Town next year.
Megapro, who are the giants of commercial rights and sponsorship sales in South African sport, were appointed as the exclusive sponsorship sales agency by World Rugby earlier this month and they are busy ensuring they lay on a feast of entertainment.
The overriding hope, of course, is that the pandemic has eased to such an extent by September next year that sport would have returned to normal with spectators cramming into the wonderful Cape Town Stadium.
It is reassuring to know that it is a former Sevens Springbok, Steven Hunt, who is spearheading this drive as the sales manager of Megapro.
“It’s a waiting game still for the Lions tour, which is sad because it only comes around every 12 years and we could miss out on the enormous benefits it brings to the country,” Hunt said this week.
“But the light at the end of the tunnel is the Sevens World Cup next year and there is great excitement around that. Everyone wants to see sport return to normality and the hype of a big event.
“At the moment, putting on big sporting events is weighed down with challenges, but a World Cup unites the country and to lose that feel-good factor is the major loss we are currently having. But it’s good to see the professional set-ups moving again, it shows why keeping sport going is so important.
“The Sevens World Cup could have a very similar impact to the Lions tour.”
The man tasked to oversee much of the commercial and marketing aspects of the Sevens World Cup in South Africa next year is former BlitzBoks star Steven Hunt. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
High performance sport is like a fire that needs oxygen in order to burn, it needs spectators in order to oxidise and catch alight.
“Professional sport needs spectators, both for the commercial aspects and for the players themselves. It never happened to me in my career that we ever played with no crowds, but it affects the whole life cycle of the game. And Sevens is all about the fans and the fan engagements, the festivities and fun. The whole event lives on that energy,” Hunt said.
“Obviously the positive about this lockdown is that the supporters can’t wait to come back to live events and hopefully they come back stronger. We’re 100% expecting the crowds for rugby to come back bigger, better and stronger. There is still massive value in playing the tournament in an empty stadium though because we will still be putting it in front of the world.”
South African rugby was on an absolute high when Covid struck, having just won the XVs World Cup in sensational fashion in Japan, but now they are in a fight for survival.
How long this “State of Emergency” for SA Rugby lasts is anyone’s guess because government is ill-equipped to provide many answers or an efficient vaccination programme.
“It’s terrible that the great momentum of the 2019 World Cup has been lost. SA Rugby pushes for answers about when fans can return but there are still none,” said Hunt. “Fortunately we have the Cape Town Sevens this year as the last event on the circuit and we can gauge a lot from that.”
South African rugby may miss out on the British and Irish Lions tour, but hosting the Rugby World Cup Sevens with international spectators will be like getting a kitten for Christmas.
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