‘We’re going to take him to America’ – Marcus Smith’s agency lay out big plans for England fly-half
Marcus Smith at England training session.
Marcus Smith heads into the Six Nations with plans being hatched to turn him into a globally recognised star.
The England fly-half is lined up to follow in the footsteps of Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s two-time winning World Cup captain, by heading to America to find fame and fortune.
“The vision is simple,” says Michael Yormark, president of the Roc Nation Sports International agency Smith is signed to. “This is a dynamic rugby player who’s got great personality and great flair.
Edge of the seat player
“He’s a young man that, even if you’re not a hardcore rugby fan, you’re on the edge of your seat watching him play, knowing that at any moment something spectacular could happen.
“We think he can transcend the sport of rugby. He wants to transcend the sport of rugby. We’re leveraging Marcus’ commercial partners to help in that process.”
Smith, 25, is focused solely on Dublin and England‘s tournament opener against champions Ireland.
But later in a year for him also likely to include a tour to Australia with the British and Irish Lions, Yormark plans to fly Smith Stateside, where they have some big plans.
“We’re going to create more content, do more PR, take him to America and do unique activations that will hopefully broaden his following and start to make him more relevant outside of the rugby world,” he tells Planet Rugby.
“We’re going to put him in certain places with some of our American athletes and artists so that he can reach a different audience and become relevant beyond rugby.”
It is the same strategy Roc Nation adopted with Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s two-time World Cup-winning captain, and Real Madrid and Brazil football star Vinicius Jnr.
“We’re trying to elevate the visibility, exposure and relevancy of these rugby players outside of the sport, so that they become more popular,” Yormark continues. “Ultimately, we believe that will shine a brighter light on the sport itself.
“It’s a process. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it starts with a commitment to work with these personalities and these players to develop and amplify their profile.
“Look at Vinicius Junior. I know he’s not a rugby player but look at what his team has done. He went to America around Christmas, sat front row for the Orlando Magic NBA game. Then he went to New York and sat front row for the Knicks. Oh, and the Christmas Day game in Boston.
“You went on social media and the NBA was amplifying all of that, showing him doing jersey exchanges with NBA superstars and, all of a sudden, he’s becoming recognised within a whole different fan base.
“And now it’s no longer Vini the footballer. It’s Vini, this iconic, culturally relevant personality that’s from Brazil, but now is developing a fan base and a following in the US market and globally.”
Vinicius Jnr has 52.7 million followers on Instagram, rugby’s most popular is Bristol’s US women’s star Ilona Maher with 4.9m, ahead of Kolisi (1.4m).
“When we signed Siya, the first thing we did was bring him to New York City,” Yormark adds.
“He sat front row at a Brooklyn Nets game, he was welcomed on the centre-hung scoreboard. He did a jersey exchange with some of the Nets’ top players, including Kevin Durant.
How it starts
“I’ll never forget when he was announced during a timeout in the first quarter, they put him up on the scoreboard. This was right after the 2019 World Cup.
“They announced him as the first black captain in the history of South Africa, said he had just come back from Japan with the World Cup. Everyone in the 21,000 sell-out crowd stood up and applauded him.
“At that moment he became a household name. Everyone that walked out of that stadium that day knew who Siya Kolisi was, knew a little bit about his story, and probably Googled him to find out a whole lot more.
“That is how it starts. And so we’re going to take Marcus Smith there.”
