Media Insider: Inside the All Blacks’ commercial machine – the former McDonald’s executive cooking up a new fan strategy for NZ Rugby

The All Blacks kick off their 2026 season this weekend, in what has been a relatively quieter public build-up in the sense that much of the sports media’s focus has been on the Fifa World Cup and the performance of the All Whites.

But a revolution is underway at NZ Rugby (NZR), beyond the obvious headline double-act of a new All Blacks coach and captain, and how they will fare in their first outing against France in Christchurch on Saturday.

Now in the C-suite of NZR are a confirmed new chief executive in Steve Lancaster, a new chief financial officer in Chris Kinraid and a new chief commercial officer in Chris Brown.

Brown is just three months into the role, but comes to NZR with a stellar marketing and commercial CV, most notably his five years at McDonald’s in Australia and, before that, a significant advertising agency career, including as head of DDB in New York.

Brown isn’t really coming from burgers though; he’s coming from one of the world’s most sophisticated customer-data and loyalty businesses – but more about that and how he wants to build the “connected fan” shortly.

There are several major NZR commercial projects and deals already on his plate, not least a behind-the-scenes All Blacks documentary, possibly with Netflix, and negotiations already underway for the lucrative front-of-jersey All Blacks sponsorship from 2028 onwards.

French firm Altrad enters its penultimate year on Saturday night as the jersey sponsor, but there’s no doubt Brown and the NZR team see considerably more value than the current six-year deal, reportedly worth $120 million.

For starters, NZR will be bringing much more valuable and detailed data to the table about the All Blacks’ fans, compared with the less-than-optimal statistics from four years ago.

“NZR’s knowledge about the All Blacks fanbase was poor, to the extent that it is understood that, when it was looking for front-of-jersey sponsors in 2021, a significant number of potential buyers pulled out when the national body couldn’t provide even basic details about who supporters were and where they lived,” senior NZ Herald rugby journalist Gregor Paul wrote last month.

Brown confirms that Altrad is just one of the companies NZR is speaking to about the jersey sponsorship. Other “world-class brands” are in the mix.

“It’s a really exciting process,” he told Media Insider. “It’s one of the most valuable assets, I think, in the world of sport, and we’re having some really interesting and exciting conversations on the global stage around that.”

He notes there are still 18 months left on the current sponsorship deal and that Altrad continues to be an important partner for NZR, from the chair down. Chairman David Kirk visited Altrad chairman Mohed Altrad in Montpellier last year.

“We’re very focused on [Altrad and other key partners] and certainly having really good discussions with all of them. But we are also looking at the other partners that we potentially don’t have currently. It’s a very compelling proposition from a global brand perspective.”

Just how much more that real estate on the front of the black jersey might fetch is up for debate. Brown himself won’t say.

But given Brown’s background, what chance that we might see the Golden Arches somewhere in the mix?

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The McDonald’s experience

Brown started at McDonald’s Australia in 2020 as chief marketing officer and was promoted to chief customer officer two years later.

He was credited in an Australian Marketing Institute article with playing a key role in the launch of the MyMacca’s Rewards loyalty programme, and the relaunch of McCafe, which now sells about one in four coffees across Australia.

The McDonald’s mobile app has become far more than a digital ordering tool; it sits at the centre of the company’s global growth strategy.

The app combines mobile ordering, payment, delivery, personalised offers and the MyMcDonald’s Rewards loyalty programme, allowing the fast-food giant to build a direct relationship with customers rather than relying solely on in-store transactions.

Every interaction generates valuable first-party data about customer behaviour, preferences and purchase patterns, enabling McDonald’s to tailor promotions, drive repeat visits and increase spending.

The commercial significance is immense – there are more than 200 million active loyalty members globally – and it’s exactly the sort of platform and data that Brown wants to build with the All Blacks, Black Ferns and NZR.

Building direct digital relationships with fans, rather than relying solely on broadcasters and social media platforms, will be a critical plank in NZR’s commercial growth.

In one of the first and most significant steps in that process, Brown is overseeing the relaunch of the app formerly known as NZR+.

NZ Rugby has pulled together NZR+ and allblacks.com into one – a seemingly obvious move to a more cohesive digital strategy.

“There’s a huge opportunity to build our understanding of our fans; I like to call it the connected fan,” says Brown. “That’s a fan that has been willing to provide first-party information (for example, name, date of birth, location).

“I think we have to reward those fans who are willing to do that by providing them experiences, utility, content, etc that deepen their engagement with New Zealand Rugby and the teams in black.

“By doing so, we create a virtuous flywheel around how I call time spent and then ultimately money spent – that they’re willing to spend their time within our digital ecosystem, finding out about players, watching content, getting information about schedules, maybe reviewing and looking at our merchandising.

“Watching long-form content etc but then ultimately how we can then, in a respectful way, commercialise those opportunities either through ticketing, retail, merchandising, or with commercial partners.

“The more we know about our fans, the more valuable we can be to them, and then the more value we can then talk to our commercial partners about.”

The biggest question remains as to what the app will have as a unique content selling point. With NZR’s access to rich player data, one potential area could be to incorporate exclusive information, in real time, into live-scoring blogs.

And while NZR is talking to Netflix and others about a potential fly-on-the-wall documentary, there must also be opportunities to have it appear on the app, even after a window of exclusivity for an international streamer or broadcaster?

Brown indicates that a Netflix deal is by no means confirmed.

“We’re having a number of really interesting conversations with a range of platforms and production companies.

“There’s an interesting pipeline of opportunities of which that is one, but it’s one of many conversations that we’re having.

“As I get more into the role, I think we can then talk to what is and isn’t locked away.”

When it comes to fan engagement, NZR is looking to build its digital sessions by 20% this year.

Its social strategy is equally critical. As Brown says, the organisation also needs to meet the fans where they are.

The All Blacks have 10.2 million followers, and the Black Ferns have 1.4 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The All Blacks’ YouTube channel has more than 1.35 million subscribers, a number that grew 25% in 2025.

Those numbers, aligned with those who are signed up to the new All Blacks/Black Ferns app lay a base to pitch to commercial partners.

Ultimately, Brown sees five key pillars driving NZR’s commercial revenue growth.

“Building a deeper understanding of our connected fan; ensuring that we have a fan experience and we have a detailed understanding of the journeys that we want those fans to take; creating world-class magnetic content; unlocking the potential in the women’s game, which I think is huge; and then evolving our commercial architecture to unlock more commercial revenue.”

There is a triangle of pressure for Brown – traditionally, All Blacks might have been reluctant to engage commercially, although that has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. At the same time, no one wants commercial requirements to affect performance. Brown also has to consider the fans and the overall brand.

“The ability for the teams to perform at the highest levels is an absolute accelerator for our commercial strategy,” says Brown, recognising the different pressures.

“The ability to work with the players and the high-performance teams to support the commercial strategy is definitely part of my approach.

“Part of that is talking, sharing, discussing and bringing them in so they can feel some ownership as well.”

Editor-at-large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME, including managing editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.