Max Brown embodies the exciting potential of rugby union and also highlights the challenge of attracting young fans.
The 22-year-old all-action winger plays for Walsall RFC, who are in the sixth tier of the English club pyramid. He took up the sport in his mid-teens and quit football because “I realized I could hit people and crush them and it was legal.”
Brown briefly tested himself a league higher with Stourbridge, signing a contract promising £100 per game plus travel costs. However, this commitment became unsustainable and he returned to Walsall “to be with my friends”. Creating video content about life in the folk dance, which was his day job, was very time consuming. Plus, a social media army of around 562,000 followers and subscribers earns him “well over £100,000” a year from advertising and other means.
“Some of the brand sponsorships I did were high four-figure deals,” Brown explains with a grin. “This is completely a mental state. “I was working part-time at a gym where I was earning £800 a month.”
According to the latest Premiership salary cap report focusing on the 2021-22 season, the average salary for senior first-team players was £130,000. Brown chatted with professionals who were amazed at what an influencer could achieve. He admits that he is sometimes surprised, too.
“This is literally my whole life,” says Brown, who has had a YouTube channel since she was 12. “People will think ‘all you do is make and release movies.’ But it is planning, organizing and planning the content. I use videographers and do the editing myself and I don’t stop at 5pm. “I will think about it from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep, and I have been thinking that way for years.”
At the time of this writing, Brown boasts just under 189,000 YouTube subscribers. On Instagram, she appears to have 133,000 followers, peaking at 240,000, with her account on TikTok, a platform suitable for short, consumable clips. When you take a look at these, you’ll appreciate a cheeky character with a nose for shareable content. Many videos feature individual highlights captured by a personal videographer.
“I know during a game if something is going to be good or not,” laughs Brown. “I’m thinking ‘there’s a clip’ in the game! Steps, big hits, or something quite controversial have always worked well. Whether it’s people enjoying it or people calling me b— and saying I play in the farmers league; Either way, it’s a good thing.”
Brown’s channels feature comedy skits and club socials, as well as fitness tips and rehab information. Other videos explain jargon in a relatable and entertaining way. For example, why do teammates tell the kicker to “be sure” when aiming for a touch?
One of Brown’s viral efforts came from the coup in Droitwich a year ago. He had already scored a try when he received a long pass.
“I stopped about four of their players from scoring and the referee called it back,” Brown says. “He gave me a yellow card for ‘charging with my forearm’ and I was shocked by that. The shooter was high and I was upright, but I got the yellow… quite annoyed by that to be honest.
“I knew on the pitch that this would make a controversial clip on TikTok and Instagram, so I posted it and asked people’s opinions. I also slowed it down to show it was a clean bump. It got a huge response. Nearly five million views on both channels and a lot of comments.” there is.”
If any of this seems self-indulgent and at odds with the team-first, egoless nature of the sport, Brown also produces 20-minute match recaps, or ‘vlogs,’ for YouTube. Headlines written in capital letters such as ’79-POINT DOMESTIC DERBY IS WARMING UP’ attract attention. Speaking from experience, his output certainly encourages rank-and-file retirees to wonder where their boots are. And these days, that feels incredibly valuable.
Rugby union is grappling with how to entice ‘Gen Z’. A recent and thought-provoking report from Ernst & Young suggested that the sport had fallen well below the top 10 in terms of participation in this demographic.
Brown speaks with a strong Birmingham accent and is passionate about spreading the gospel further in public schools. He accepts that many of his friends would fail to name a current international player and believes top players can change that by “portraying more personalities on social media”. At a time when boxing and mixed martial arts are on the rise, Brown also admits rugby may have become a sport apologetic for its mainstream appeal.
“I really enjoyed the physical aspect and how different that made it to other sports,” he recalls of his early days. “That’s how it felt when I was playing; Adrenaline rush and satisfaction from the game. This is important because that is what rugby is and why people watch it. Exciting, dangerous. “I still wonder sometimes why more people don’t watch it.”
Brown’s main demographic on YouTube and Instagram is 18 to 25 years old. He is well-known in Malta and Gibraltar and is asked for autographs by youngsters when he attends games in England or events such as the opening training session at Twickenham in February.
Louis Rees-Zammit was a new Instagram follower who got Brown thinking about his situation; Dylan Hartley also reached out to him. Partnering with Harlequins and the Looseheadz charity this summer, Brown hopes to stage a ‘creators’ game’ at Twickenham Stoop between two influencer-packed teams, mirroring the hugely popular Sidemen initiative in football.
If the game becomes a starting point for the sport for the younger generation and beyond, Brown could become one of the defining figures in the sport of rugby.