A legal dispute has emerged between New Zealand Rugby (NZ Rugby) and the National Rugby League (NRL) over the use of the "Chiefs" name, as the NRL prepares to expand its presence in the Pacific region. The conflict centers on trademark rights related to the "Chiefs" brand, which NZ Rugby says it has owned since 1998 through its Waikato-based Super Rugby team.
The NRL, the premier Australian rugby league competition, currently includes the New Zealand Warriors and recently launched a 19th team based in Papua New Guinea, which has adopted the nickname "the Chiefs." Rugby league is the national sport in Papua New Guinea, and the NRL’s expansion strategy includes considering a second New Zealand-based franchise as its 20th team.
Steve Lancaster, chief executive of NZ Rugby, expressed concern that the NRL’s new team would infringe on the established brand identity of the Chiefs rugby union team developed over the past three decades. “For 30 years the Chiefs and their players have built an incredibly strong identity that is widely recognised,” Lancaster said, emphasizing the organisation's responsibility to protect this brand.
Simon Graafhuis, chief executive of the Waikato-based Chiefs, acknowledged that sports teams from different codes can share names in separate markets, but he highlighted the challenge posed by both rugby union and rugby league competing for the same fan base in New Zealand. “Teams in different sports and markets can exist alongside one another with the same name. But the issue here is the similarity of our sports competing in the same market, for the same fans,” he explained.
On the other side, the NRL rejects the trademark claims and plans to contest them in court. Peter V’landys, the NRL’s executive chairman, described NZ Rugby’s stance as “mind-blowing hypocrisy,” citing historical precedents such as the Auckland Blues rugby league team adopting the “Blues” name used by the New South Wales (NSW) Blues rugby union team in 1996 without consultation, even though the NSW Blues had held the name for over 50 years. V’landys suggested that the dispute reflects a broader sense of threat felt by rugby union as rugby league gains popularity and records high attendance figures in New Zealand.
This dispute unfolds amid a backdrop of significant commercial growth for the NRL, including a recently signed £2.76 billion, seven-year television rights deal. The expansion into new markets like Papua New Guinea and potentially an additional New Zealand franchise marks a strategic effort by the NRL to broaden its footprint in the Pacific and challenge the traditional dominance of rugby union in the region.
Both organisations are preparing for legal proceedings to resolve the trademark dispute ahead of the planned NRL expansion in 2028, with the future coexistence of the "Chiefs" name across rugby codes in the Pacific hanging in the balance.