I was probably one of the first people in France to buy the 2001 Dieux du Stade calendar. Hum, it did not seem that far back before actually writing it. 
At the time, the Stade Français rugby team was not very well known in France. Most Parisians had actually no idea that their city had a rugby team. See, traditionally, the fief of rugby in France is in the southwest and center, between Toulouse, Bordeaux, the Basque area, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier.
Rugby before the Dieux du Stade: a provincial thing
Sure, France had a national rugby team, and a good one. Not as scary as the All Blacks, but on par with England. Rugby was much less popular than football (soccer). But rugby had also a better reputation: rugby players were seen as brutes behaving as gentlemen and earning much less money than footballers.
And they had a very, very strong reputation for hard partying after the games, often with the opposing team they had just fought against 1 hour earlier. Their partying involved a lot of singing (dirty songs and regional hymns), drinking, eating, and a lot of of times, getting naked.
Video of making of one the Dieux du Stade calendars
Naked rugby players, a common sight
Yes, taking one’s clothes off is 100% part of the rugby culture. Why?
Well, first, boys will be boys, even when they are 50, grey-haired, with a family and a respectable profession. Second, if they are man enough to go on a rugby field, it is then nothing to parade around in the nude, is it?
Initiation rites sometimes involved nudity among less-or-more drunk peers.
And it is fun to show your bum (to moon) unsuspecting crowds from your bus seats while coming back from a winning game.
Cover of the first Dieux du Stade calendar
Enters the Dieux du Stade creator
But the President of the Stade Français rugby team, Max Guazzini, was decided in late 1990’s – early 2000’s to turn things around.
He had a vision. Rugby would be popular, maybe as popular as football. And Parisians would know, love, and be proud of their rugby team.
As a savvy marketer and a genuinely generous guy, Guazzini decided to do things that had never been done before, such as:
- give away free tickets to all female supporters
- sell tickets for €5, in order to fill in the tribunes
- offer tickets to school kids
Getting the female vote
To Guazzini, getting women to love rugby was key. Rugby is very physical. Players can bleed and break bones more often than footballers. Not very attractive to your average Frenchwoman. But rugby players also had the reputation of masculine, kind with women, and funny. We are getting there …
Moreover, having female fans meant that there would be more household willing to watch rugby games. More TV audience easily translates into more sponsors for the Paris team and in rugby in general. True, money would finally make its way in this amateur sports, but the money was badly needed. And it was the year 2000, not 1900.
Rugby players do the full monty
In 1997, the British movie The Full Monty was a hit all around the world. Blue-collar workers turned to strip-tease to save their family and their honor. Could our masculine, fun-loving, attention-starving rugby players do the same? You bet!
The first calendar was made in 2000, dated for the following year, 2001. I heard of it, as I was an on-and-off fan of the Stade Français. I grew up watching rugby on TV with my father (no local team in our hometown). I later moved and became a proud Parisian. Obviously, I supported my new home city’s team, le Stade Français.
The first calendar was nice. Simple. Black and white. Just the guys. Naked, but often smiling, with rugby gear here and there (shoes, trophies, etc.). Every year after this, I bought the calendar. The styles changed. Some were even deemed controversial.
First DVD leads the Dieux to international fame
In 2004, the first DVD came out and this is where people from other countries discovered the Dieux du Stade ("Gods of the Stadium" was the translation used).
TV channels around the world showed clips of their DVDs. In some countries, like in the US where I lived for a while, it seemed surreal. What, these were real rugby players? From a real team? And some of them played in the national team? It was interesting to measure the difference between Western Europe and the US when it comes to partial nudity, especially male nudity. American footballers players would not do it, I heard.
Thibault Lacroix in 2005 calendar (making of, video)
DIEVX DV STADE 2008
The 2008 edition of the Dieux du Stade calendar is coming out in a few days. As usual, the DVD will be out in a few months and will probably be available in the US in 5 to 6 months. But the real calendar, the one you can put in your kitchen (like me) or in your bedroom, well it is only available in France. I will tell you another time how I had to cross borders with a stash of DIEVX DV STADE calendars in my suitcase to give to American friends.
In the meantime, enjoy this year’s cover, featuring rugby player Goeffroy Messina.
Authors bio is coming up shortly.
