New Lions tour destinations are being investigated alongside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Photo / Chris Skelton
The British & Irish Lions are exploring the viability of tours to France, the Americas and Japan as they consider altering their touring schedule for the first time in 37 years.
In what would mark a seismic development for the 138-year-old Lions, new touring destinations are being investigated alongside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The three Sanzaar nations have hosted Lions tours on rotation every four years since 1989, when Australia was added as a standalone tour for the first time. Only three times in Lions history has a different nation hosted a standalone tour – Argentina in 1910, 1927 and 1936 – but one-off fixtures, against the likes of France and Fiji, have also taken place.
New Zealand are set to continue that rotation and host the 2029 men’s tour, but the Lions have launched their “Beyond29 project”, with a “request for proposal” sent to consultancies last month.
In correspondence seen by Telegraph Sport, the Lions say they want a consultancy firm to “ideate, validate and confirm the preferred operating model and approach for the period beyond 2029”.
The document outlines how the Lions want “to learn how they can expand their value and awareness further into new audiences, potentially in new territories,” adding that the current format, commercially, “might be coming close to maximising the return”.
The Lions want feedback from consultants in four areas:
The idea of altering touring schedules and destinations is only in its nascent stage but it shows an appetite from the Lions, at least, to explore alternative options.
A change of geography would be the most historic potential alteration. The Lions are seeking an “analysis of which locations around the world could potentially host future tours (men and/or women), with a view to increasing commercial return and fan engagement (whilst not damaging the core DNA), from our preferred markets (existing Sanzaar nations, France, Americas and Japan)”.
The host allocation process involves the rotation of countries. The Lions have challenged agencies “to include: your recommended optimum host nation allocation model, eg no rotation, 12-year (current) or 16-year rotation; and how to drive increased value by potentially resetting the host allocation model from the current rotation”.
The Lions also want advice on timing: ie, when to change the current model, if they decide to, and whether there should be a bidding process for potential host nations.
The schedule element focuses on how pre-tour, tour and test matches would be structured “to drive increased commercial value, fan engagement, player preparation and player experience”.
The aim of the research, according to the Lions, is to “evolve the current operating model to significantly increase revenue, margin and profit from each tour, to future-proof the business within the wider rugby union ecosystem”.
“There is an ambition to understand how the model could evolve to maximise future return, with some fundamental assumptions within the Lions Tour Framework potentially shifting,” the document states.
The Lions require the successful firm, which will be decided this month, to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDA) to allow the touring side “to share further context and information to inform full proposal responses”.
Telegraph Sport revealed last year that the Lions were in negotiations for a one-off match against France as a curtain-raiser for the tour to New Zealand in 2029, in much the same way as Andy Farrell’s side hosted Argentina in Dublin before last summer’s series. However, a full tour away from the Southern-Hemisphere triumvirate had not been formally explored until now.
During last summer’s tour to Australia, where the Lions won the test series 2-1, chief executive Ben Calveley said he did not envisage a world where the touring side would not return Downunder, revealing that the expedition generated the biggest ever profit for both his organisation and the host country.
On Wednesday, Rugby Australia reported a record A$70.6 million ($85.9 million) surplus in its 2025 financial accounts, driven largely by the tour, turning around a record deficit of A$36.8 million on the previous year.
“I would absolutely envisage returning to Australia,” Calveley said. “Just to be very clear, I know there’s been loads of speculation about whether that would be the case or not, but we’ve had a wonderful tour here, and it is 100% our ambition to return and we would want the next one to be bigger and better than this one.”
However, Calveley, who has been Lions chief executive since 2017, stopped short of guaranteeing that a return to Australia, where the Lions won three of their warm-up matches by 40 points or more, would come in 12 years: “Who knows what the calendar looks like in the future, but if you follow the current … If nothing changes in terms of calendar configurations and so forth, then that would be the expectation, yes.”
The Lions won their inaugural series against Australia in 1989 before a loss in 2001 followed back-to-back victories in 2013 and 2025. Of the 12 tours to New Zealand, the Lions have won one and drawn one; of the 14 to South Africa, the Lions have won four.
When approached by Telegraph Sport, the Lions declined to comment.