I agree, why would I watch it? Not my club, state or national team. Not in my country and a few {maybe} players I know of. I don't follow players, I follow clubs.
New "LIV Style" Global Rugby League
- Thread starter Dismal Pillock
- Start date
Upthemaroon!
Ward Prentice (10)
The appetite for it is mostly based on the group of people that do go to a sellout Optus Stadium this weekend, but are not part of the 8000 or so fans at HBF park watching the Force during SRP (Super Rugby Pacific). I don't know if those people will watch R360, but there is a rather large latent pool of casual rugby viewers that isn't yet mobilized/targeted/activated/whateverbuzzwordyouwanttocallit by club rugby.
Because the Wallabies vs All Blacks is a premium event steeped in history.
Madrid vs Miami, even if it does include a chunk of very good players is not that. I fail to see how this would be the thing that captures the attention of casual fans.
Upthemaroon!
Ward Prentice (10)
Oh don't get me wrong, me neither. Just wanted to highlight there is a large pool of 'potential' fans that a couple of spreadsheet blazers want to mobilize. Don't think this set up will work, but there is a massive opportunity there.
Tomthumb
Jim Lenehan (48)
People are going to Optus becasue it's The All Blacks vs the Wallabies; NZ vs Australia. It's tribal, it's passionate
There is no hook for casual viewers to watch random teams from random places play a game with zero stakes
Wilson
Tim Horan (67)
It is so very clearly marketed to the English fan, particularly avoiding the depths of winter with match blocks - if I was still living in London, I'd be booking a rugby trip to Madrid or Lisbon for a game weekend in a heartbeat. Not sure that's particularly sustainable after the novelty wears off though.
Wilson
Tim Horan (67)
That regulation (or really just guideline at this point) favours R360 and is something they'd be happy to see - a 16ish game season aligns perfectly with the 14 or so test matches most tier 1 teams are topping out at. Much easier for a player to get that balance then in top 14 with their 26 game season.
Tomthumb
Jim Lenehan (48)
Maybe, I think the novelty would wear off pretty fast though
And are these teams going to practice at all or just show up a couple of days before the event? Could be some pretty dire rugby in that case
Upthemaroon!
Ward Prentice (10)
Yeah fair, I love the tribalism and passion as well don't get me wrong. There are just a fair bit of people wanting to have a reason to go on a weekend away, get steaming with the boys (or girls), see some big hits and offloads and put no more effort into their fandom. The SailGP also works for that reason.
edit: And there is a whole layer of sports washing for Saudia Arabia which I hate with a passion and will be the main reason I won't watch it. There is just a large contingency of people that do not care about that and want a good piss up somewhere that is not their city.
The Ghost of Raelene
John Eales (66)
Tokyo Godzillas v the Boston Stranglers should light it up.
Has the feeling of 7s after Rio which seemed to be on a high but has since peaked and seems on the way back down.
Has the feeling of 7s after Rio which seemed to be on a high but has since peaked and seems on the way back down.
Dctarget
David Wilson (68)
Depending on the funding rumours (the players are signing with the UAE rugby union), we might be missing the point.
The NEOM Line was never more than a fantastical project to generate conversation/attract top class professionals whilst never turning a profit (read: lose billions and billions).
Even closer to home Japan's Top League clearly don't give a shit about fan attendance and footprint, yet they're sustainably paying absolute overs for our middling players.
The NEOM Line was never more than a fantastical project to generate conversation/attract top class professionals whilst never turning a profit (read: lose billions and billions).
Even closer to home Japan's Top League clearly don't give a shit about fan attendance and footprint, yet they're sustainably paying absolute overs for our middling players.
Omar Comin'
Peter Fenwicke (45)
I share a lot of the scepticism you and others have, and on balance expect it to fail. But it's not impossible for new competitions and new clubs or franchises to build a following and be successful.
Why not be open minded about it and wait to see what it's actually like first? A lot of the big soccer clubs and NBA teams etc have a lot more fans outside their home city than within it - this competition is trying to engineer that sort of global supporter base from day 1. How do we know that's not possible?
What if it's a huge success and becomes the F1/NBA/EPL of rugby and results in the sport being much bigger at every level? If some people with very deep pockets want to give that a crack, even though the odds are small, then I'm interested to see the attempt. At the very least we'll get a few gun NRL players switching over for a couple of years and some may stick around and strengthen the Wallabies.
