Alcohol Sponsorship and New Zealand Regional Rugby Unions: Crisis Point or Business as Usual?

Alcohol sponsorship of sport in New Zealand, especially rugby, has a long history, but in recent times government-resourced reviews together with public health agencies, activists, and academics have proposed a ban of alcohol sponsorship of sport to help reduce alcohol-related harm. Responses to a proposed ban from a number of diverse sectors, including the alcohol industry and sport organizations, have ranged from ambiguous to resistant. Yet, the conditions for implementing a ban are poorly understood and there has been no change to state-regulated sponsorship policy to date. These widely publicized debates serve as a hotbed for discussions with provincial rugby union managers to consider the economic risks as well as the social connections between rugby clubs and cultural and civic life. In this paper, we address important new questions that query how the alcohol sponsorship debate plays out at a micro-level and the extent to which regional rugby unions may constitute a special case in terms of resistance to and the potential effects of regulation. The discussion expands the debate by drawing attention to the perceived positive effects of alcohol sponsorship as an enabler for addressing other social issues at a micro-level.