Sunday’s Super Bowl again set benchmarks for advertising revenue, with 30-second spots generating over $8m.

UK broadcasting broke new ground last weekend too, with split-screen in-play adverts featuring in the Six Nations for the first time. These spots likely cost 100 times less, and alienated fans.

Like many sports, rugby sees its financial challenges as a function of under-commercialisation, and looks at US sports with envy. In-game advertising is seen as a necessary evil to generate revenue to make the sport more sustainable.

This is to look at the problem backwards though. In the NFL, enormous sums received from brands is the cause of an outstanding, tightly-engineered product that captivates fans. In rugby, the desperate need for intrusive adverts is the symptom of a failing product – one with no cohesive calendar, competitive imbalance, and no compelling narratives or storytelling. Fans are semi-engaged, the sport is missable. No advertiser wants that.