Lions to tour Argentina/Japan

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Would anyone like the Lions to tour Argentina/Japan?

Watching Gatty and Edwards tonight at the game I think they would prefer the Lions Playing Argentina than the ABs.

I would be in favour of bringing in an Argentina tour for the Lions in the next schedule. And for them to take in other unions such as those in PIs, North America, Asia as part of those tours.

The money generating capacity of the Lions for the host country is going to change anyway.

In the context of revenue-sharing from tests, the Lions is going to be part of that mix. As I understand it, both Wales and Ireland have been making noises about increasing revenue share from the tour given the impact it has had on squads and performances in the following seasons. No doubt, PRL won't be behind the door if and when that happens.

So if that happens, that would balance out some of the proposals for more revenue sharing from June/November tests - if they continue to be part of a new global season.

marty2086 wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:The Lions have toured Argentina historically. They toured in 1910, 1927 and 1936. There is no reason why they should not tour now, in fact, given New Zealand's stance about fairness, and sharing the wealth and the what not, I would think that New Zealand would be fully behind the Lions touring another country, just to make it fair.

The reason is that Argentina may not have the economy and infrastructure to host the tour, the tour has to generate revenue for the Lions, host nation and four home unions who 3 years ago received £6m each

I agree Marty the Lions are all about money but it's not so much the infrastructure that would be missing as the ability to generate revenue - a massive amount of which is extracted from Lions supporters living for weeks in a foreign country. Those fans would not be prepared to go to Japan or Argentina as they want to see the local teams in a rugby heartland and need the midweek games to punctuate the spree and protect the liver.

That's what is so ironically great about the Lions - the SANZAR dominance is financially supported by the NH fans.