{"id":297157,"date":"2023-10-25T17:24:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T17:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297157"},"modified":"2023-10-25T17:24:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T17:24:58","slug":"nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>The Disrupter! The MLS has Lionel Messi, Taylor Swift has added star power to the NFL. Now NIK SIMON meets the money man who wants to give Rugby Union a global makeover<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Michael Yormack moved into rugby after watching the 2019 Rugby World Cup<\/b><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>He feels the current World Cup has failed to shine a bigger light on the sport<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>America is one of his big targets as he looks to take rugby to another level<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Michael Yormark is bouncing between meetings in Place Vendome, the luxurious quarter of Paris where American breakfast costs \u00a347 and the average high street store is Gucci, Rolex or Cartier.<\/p>\n<p>His business partners, or \u2018family\u2019 as he prefers to call them, include everyone from DJ Khaled to Kevin de Bruyne to Vinicius Jr. But here in the French capital he has been catching up with his rugby clients. The likes of Siya Kolisi, Marcus Smith and Ardie Savea.<\/p>\n<p>Yormark first moved into rugby after watching Kolisi lift the World Cup in Japan in 2019. The president of Roc Nation Sports International, owned by Jay Z, it was the American\u2019s first taste of the sport.<\/p>\n<p>After four years of rubbing shoulders with the game\u2019s tired establishment he is now in a position to deliver a few home truths. \u2018There needs to be a reset,\u2019 he says, his words crackling with energy. \u2018There\u2019s gotta be a reset!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Rugby doesn\u2019t yet look at itself as entertainment. It looks at itself as a pure sport. I would have had global artists performing at the opening ceremony. I would have been very disruptive and non-traditional. I would have made the opening ceremony electric and forced media from around the world to cover it based on who was performing. Jay Z would have been amazing. You see what Rihanna did for the Super Bowl\u2026 she brought eyeballs to the Super Bowl that perhaps weren\u2019t even interested in football.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993259-12671839-image-a-1_1698251791056.jpg\" height=\"412\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Michael Yormack wants to give rugby union a global makeover and feels that there was a missed opportunity at the World Cup to shine a bigger light on the sport<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993261-12671839-image-a-4_1698251888432.jpg\" height=\"794\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Yormack has a number of rugby clients including Siya Kolisi (left, pictured with Romelu Lukaku, right)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993675-12671839-image-a-5_1698252124193.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Yormack&#8217;s thoughts have already turned to the 2027 World Cup in Australia, as well as in 2031 where he hopes the sport will move to a new level of personality in the United States<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We had conversations about it, multiple conversations. The World Cup committee just couldn\u2019t grasp something of that magnitude which is indicative of the thinking within the sport. You\u2019ve got to think big. This World Cup will go down as a very successful one, but to me you\u2019re in Paris, one of the great cities in the world, one of the great rugby communities in the world, this could have been one of the biggest World Cups in the history of the sport. There was an opportunity to shine a bigger light on the sport. From that perspective it was a missed opportunity.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>His reaction to Mika \u2013 the soloist who topped the charts in 2007 with \u2018Grace Kelly \u2013 performing in Saturday\u2019s final is non-plussed. It is too late to change that now but his thoughts have already turned to the next competition in Australia in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In New Zealand and South Africa you\u2019ve got the table set to make it a huge global event. You don\u2019t need to be a rugby fan to know who the All Blacks are because they\u2019ve built that global following. You\u2019ve got to leverage off having them in the World Cup final.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve met with some of the leadership in Australia already. Yes you want to leave a legacy and you want to impact community and you want it to be authentic to Australia but you also want to elevate the sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018How do we tell a story about the final that really resonates globally? I was at the Ryder Cup. I sat down with Jay Donoghue, the commissioner of the PGA, and we were talking about the Ryder Cup in America in 2025. I say to Jay, \u201cWho is the most influential person in golf today?\u201d and he says DJ Khaled. Think about that. DJ Khaled didn\u2019t even play golf 18 months ago! Now he\u2019s the most influential person? He\u2019s bringing a new audience to the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Why? He\u2019s constantly talking about it, he\u2019s built the narrative, he\u2019s telling a story, he\u2019s opening up the sport to a new audience. He wasn\u2019t invited in. The establishment didn\u2019t want him at first. The establishment said, \u201cOh my god, what is this?\u201d He forced himself in. Now people that didn\u2019t want to be fans are saying, \u201cHoly s***, golf, wow, let\u2019s go golfing, straight down the middle!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If rugby\u2019s opening ceremony was as big as it could have been then people would have been talking about it. Look at what Taylor Swift has done at Kansas City. My daughter\u2019s watching football games now. Why? Because Taylor Swift made it cool. The impact she\u2019s had on bringing people to watch the NFL on Sundays is incredible. That\u2019s what rugby needs. It doesn\u2019t take a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I was sitting at the France New Zealand match and two days later someone sent me a picture of Kylian Mbappe sitting a few rows below me. You had the star power at that match but no one knew it. When there\u2019s an NFL game being broadcast in America, everyone in the house knows there\u2019s a celebrity there. Everyone in the media knows they\u2019re there. The cameras point out that Jay Z\u2019s in the house, LeBron\u2019s in the house. It\u2019s what makes it culturally relevant. All of a sudden it\u2019s the place to be!\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993457-12671839-image-a-2_1698251867308.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Yormack pointed out Lionel Messi&#8217;s move to Inter Miami, saying it has put the MLS &#8216;on the map&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993475-12671839-image-a-3_1698251883264.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He adds that Taylor Swift has helped make the NFL &#8216;cool&#8217; to a new audience and feels a similar impact can be made on rugby<\/p>\n<p>Yormark\u2019s CV is loaded with experience from the American market. He was worked in baseball and ice hockey and America is one of his big targets. He grew up in New Jersey and fires out ideas about how he would love to see his rugby clients one day playing back in the USA.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018How do we make rugby relevant in the biggest countries in the world? The World Cup will be in America in 2031 so between now and then how do we make it truly relevant? We need to leverage that moment to take this sport to another level.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018America\u2019s all about star power. It\u2019s a very cluttered sports market \u2013 college sports, NFL, Major League Baseball, the MLS, the National Hockey League, the NBA. How do you carve out your niche? That has to start now and there has to be a very aggressive strategy to do that.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Look at what Lionel Messi\u2019s done to the MLS. He\u2019s put it on the map. Have you seen how many celebrities are going to his matches? They all want to get a piece of the action. MLS became so relevant upon his arrival. Why? Because star power is embraced in America like now other country around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve had conversations with our guys about it. When I first met Siya I spoke to him about it. I had a conversation with Maro about it. You\u2019ve got to look at it from a business standpoint but if the opportunities right of course they\u2019d be interested. You\u2019re talking about the biggest market in the world. If guys can go over there, be stars, be embraced by the community, have a good cultural experience and make a good income then why not? It goes back to another issue of eligibility requirements. England are saying, \u201cWell you can\u2019t play outside of our country if you want to play for the national team\u201d. That\u2019s self-serving. What about growing the sport?\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/17\/76993265-12671839-image-m-9_1698252334513.jpg\" height=\"441\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Yormack said rugby union &#8216;needs a reset&#8217; and sell itself &#8217;24-7&#8242; to make it more popular<\/p>\n<p>One thing is certain: Yormark will not go quietly. He will turn heads with his designer clothing and brash approach but rugby needs its disrupters. \u2018There are a lot of people in rugby that don\u2019t think anything needs to change,\u2019 he says. \u2018They\u2019re traditional, they\u2019ve grown up in the sport, they like the way it is. To me there needs to be a reset. People need to understand that every time they do an interview \u2013 pre-match, post match \u2013 that they\u2019re selling the sport. You want this sport to become more popular, relevant, commercially viable. How do you do that? You\u2019ve got make sure you\u2019re telling the right story all the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You know what concerns me? You walk around London last week and you don\u2019t even really know that England were in the semi-finals of the World Cup. This sport needs to sell itself 24-7. People like the coaches and the ambassadors need to remember that this is a 24-7 initiative. Yes there\u2019s some media coverage but there\u2019s no buzz. You need to get players out in front, you need to work with the media, every stake holder needs to sell the story. The narrative needs to change. It may be painful, it may be uncomfortable but that\u2019s OK.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12671839\/The-Disrupter-MLS-Lionel-Messi-Taylor-Swift-added-star-power-NFL-NIK-SIMON-meets-money-man-wants-Rugby-Union-global-makeover.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Disrupter! The MLS has Lionel Messi, Taylor Swift has added star power to the NFL. Now NIK SIMON meets <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Disrupter! The MLS has Lionel Messi, Taylor Swift has added star power to the NFL. Now NIK SIMON meets &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Nik-Simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-Rugby-Union-global-makeover.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/\",\"name\":\"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rugby Union\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons","og_description":"The Disrupter! The MLS has Lionel Messi, Taylor Swift has added star power to the NFL. Now NIK SIMON meets &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Nik-Simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-Rugby-Union-global-makeover.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/","name":"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-25T17:24:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/nik-simon-meets-the-man-who-wants-to-give-rugby-union-global-makeover\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rugby Union","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Nik Simon meets the man who wants to give Rugby Union global makeover"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}