Search results

It seems that the broadcast money is going to be cut significantly regardless of the competition format. The question is whether it's worth continuing to shrink the professional game here in order to maintain the current level of playing quality (and player wages) in order to compete with New...

You're not taking into account the fact that rugby has a global player market and that an Australian domestic comp could have a significant % of foreign players. The number of professional Australian players wouldn't have to increase very much to have 8 teams. To begin with, one of the teams...

I think this is definitely true in the context of international competition, and that includes Super Rugby. So if most of our teams are doing poorly each week against NZ teams then that's a problem as we've seen. But with an actual domestic competition the quality or strength of teams would...

I think most people here either have a preference for a Trans Tasman or Asia-Pacific competition, or would be happy enough with one (whether it's still called Super Rugby or something else probably doesn't matter that much). But there are advantages of a domestic competition if enough money...

Yes I agree, hence RA and NZRU would both have to agree and would split the capital. But there'd still be 3 equity partners and that would make things more complex.

If a deal is done with KKR (or someone similar) do people think a Trans Tasman or fully domestic competition is more likely? I imagine a TT tournament is probably seen as more valuable, but I'm guessing KKR would want a significant ownership stake in the competition itself and that would mean...

I still think the most likely outcome will be that we go down to 3 teams in a TT or Asia-Pacific tournament. That could be different if Twiggy Forrest was really keen on the Force being involved but he seems pretty intent on sticking with GRR. If all the parties got on the same page maybe the...

The SEN story is not a good sign. But a rugby streaming service would be more of a niche audience with a disproportionate number of high net worth/high income households. Do you think a small number of major broadcast sponsors would be able to generate significant revenues? If the startup...

I think a better model is to have some different options, including discounts for an annual subscription. For example, the NBA League pass does the following: NBA League Pass Premium: $249.99/yr. or $39.99/mo. NBA League Pass: $199.99/yr. or $28.99/month. NBA Team Pass: $119.99/yr. or $17.99/mo...

You'd want test rugby to be on there too. As much international rugby as possible, that would be a big driver of revenue. I was thinking 50k full annual subscribers as an initial goal to make it viable. But you could also sell lower level subscriptions that should bump the numbers up a fair...

I was thinking the same about offering 1 game per week to FTA for free or for a small amount. I think you could price an annual pass around the $200-250 mark. The more content you get in the service the more you can charge for all access, or the more types and levels of subscription you can...

If Fox are really only going to offer $10-18 million per year then RA may as well look to start its own streaming service instead.

A solution could be to concentrate the Wallabies and the majority of Australian players within 3 teams and allow the other 2 Australian based teams to recruit players from anywhere. If that's the Force and Rebels then you'd still want those teams to have a strong contingent of locally developed...

This guy is either a massive troll or narcissist or both, but for the MLR administration and other owners to allow this is a joke. Makes a mockery of the entire competition.

What do you mean by this? The Waratahs have an established membership and fan base, and professional brand, yet draw their support primarily from the Eastern suburbs and north shore of Sydney. Corporate types and private school old boys make up a disproportionate percentage of their fan base. I...

I don't think it will be a big factor re what replaces Super Rugby. From a Wallabies perspective it would still be better to have as many players based in Australia as possible so that coaches have better access to them throughout the year. I think RA is still likely to make that a priority regardless of...

Agreed, but we could allow say 2 of our teams to have a significant (or even unlimited) number of foreign players with an emphasis on Pacific Islanders and Argentinians. Alternatively you could allow say 20% of all 5 squads to be foreign players, but there's a lot of people in Australian...

All your points are valid but I think there's two major factors that would ensure the rugby version wouldn't be more like an exhibition match. The first is that it would effectively double as a Wallabies trial. The second is that all of these players will have grown up watching the league state...

I think the gate could be >$2m considering corporate and premium seats, even with a crowd closer to 30k. And then you double it if you play 2 games, which I think makes sense. If it works then in time there may be FTA interest as well so the TV numbers could be a fair bit higher.

It doesn't matter if no where else does it, in the two biggest rugby markets in Australia the RL SoO is the biggest annual sporting event. If a rugby version had a quarter of the interest of the league version it would be a huge asset to the game. If it doesn't work then you'd get rid of it, but...