Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[liquor box]

On a bit more of a lighthearted note - popular kids program Bluey had its latest episode air today, it ends with the family all gathering around the television and watching the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in a test match.

Good to see the team getting some pop culture airtime! Especially considering the theme of the episode was to tie into the state of origin.

You have spoilt it for me, I always thought it was a true story

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Exactly as I said in earlier post, Rugby Australia (or NZR etc) can say whatever much as they want, Stan (or Sky) will tell them what the comp will be, so it's all just background noise.
Old saying "the man who pays the fiddler calls the tune."

Yep unless someone prepared to fund your plans they ain’t viable plans.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

You have spoilt it for me, I always thought it was a true story

My autistic younger brother loves bluey so maybe need him to convert me lol as watching a program where wallabies beat the kiwis yes please…

 

[Dan54]

My autistic younger brother loves bluey so maybe need him to convert me lol as watching a program where wallabies beat the kiwis yes please…

Yep, I just had my great grankids here on weekend , and they had a bluey book, hadn't heard of it beforehand, maybe like you RN, I need to learn.

 

[Pfitzy]

My autistic younger brother loves bluey so maybe need him to convert me lol as watching a program where wallabies beat the kiwis yes please…

My whole family loves Bluey. It is a great Australian story.

Guest voices from Ryan Gosling, Billy Joel, Natalie Portman and , Lin Manuel Miranda - who said it was his "most watched" show of the pandemic. Broad appeal

 

[Wilson]

My whole family loves Bluey. It is a great Australian story.

Guest voices from Ryan Gosling, Billy Joel, Natalie Portman and , Lin Manuel Miranda - who said it was his "most watched" show of the pandemic. Broad appeal

Just under 10 minutes of unapologetically Brisbane based joy to start the day, what's not to love.

 

[Pfitzy]

Thankfully the international audience doesn't know what Brisbane is

 

[Wilson]

They'll learn

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Thankfully the international audience doesn't know what Brisbane is

Spoken like a true nsw tahs supporter lol

 

[Adam84]

Interesting that RA originally asked for a long term agreement on Super Rugby Pacific but NZRU rejected that, hence the 2 year deal that exists now.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Interesting that Rugby Australia originally asked for a long term agreement on Super Rugby Pacific but NZRU rejected that, hence the 2 year deal that exists now.

Maybe because they wanted the option to cut oz teams participating back to 2. All of this seems to underpin why there is a fractious relationship between NZRU and RA and why lingering tensions.

This whole broadcast money disparity between oz and nz which part of the current arguments seems to me to underpin the flaws of this cross border competition. As to have uncertainty of outcome you need teams on a level playing field and so how can oz super rugby teams compete with nz super rugby teams if they (nz clubs) are getting more money to pay and retain players. Must be missing something here.

 

[hoggy]

Maybe because they wanted the option to cut oz teams participating back to 2. All of this seems to underpin why there is a fractious relationship between NZRU and Rugby Australia and why lingering tensions.

This whole broadcast money disparity between oz and nz which part of the current arguments seems to me to underpin the flaws of this cross border competition. As to have uncertainty of outcome you need teams on a level playing field and so how can oz super rugby teams compete with nz super rugby teams if they (nz clubs) are getting more money to pay and retain players. Must be missing something here.

Maybe that was NZRU hedging there own bets, there must have been a certain level of uncertainty about how the Drua/Pacifika were going to go, even whether the whole competition would be viable. pretty much wanted a get out clause.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Maybe that was NZRU hedging there own bets, there must have been a certain level of uncertainty about how the Drua/Pacifika were going to go, even whether the whole competition would be viable. pretty much wanted a get out clause.

Fair comment. I actually think the competition could have legs if the focus could just be on making it the best competition it could be without competing agendas. But there lies the problem as the parties behind this have other conflicting agendas. Anyhow let’s see what happens as don’t want to rehash old ground.

 

[Adam84]

Maybe that was NZRU hedging there own bets, there must have been a certain level of uncertainty about how the Drua/Pacifika were going to go, even whether the whole competition would be viable. pretty much wanted a get out clause.

Yeah probably were, but if you’re playing that card and refusing to commit long term, then your forcing the other parties to explore other options for their own security.

It would be arrogant to expect other stake holders to be happy with short term contracts and not consider other options.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Maybe that was NZRU hedging there own bets, there must have been a certain level of uncertainty about how the Drua/Pacifika were going to go, even whether the whole competition would be viable. pretty much wanted a get out clause.

Agree, which is why it is laughable people are blowing up about McLennan's comments. I would be disappointed if they weren't doing their due diligence on best options for us.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Agree, which is why it is laughable people are blowing up about McLennan's comments. I would be disappointed if they weren't doing their due diligence on best options for us.

And as new agreement for super rugby will need to be negotiated you always have more power in bargaining if you have other options that come into play if so what offered with super rugby not so palatable.

 

[qwerty51]

I'm surprised RA wanted a longer deal than 2 years too. The Stan deal is only 3 years (from 2021 onwards) so RA could've potentially had a competition agreement without a broadcaster?

 

[Adam84]

Ironically one option RA originally pushed was for Super Rugby Pacific to be a standalone entity with equity ownership split between RA and NZRU, RA even offered NZRU a greater share of equity to get it over the line. Another option that wasn’t supported.

 

[Adam84]

I'm surprised Rugby Australia wanted a longer deal than 2 years too. The Stan deal is only 3 years (from 2021 onwards) so Rugby Australia could've potentially had a competition agreement without a broadcaster?

Not unusual, many competitions have long term or perpetual agreements on participation that exceed the current broadcast agreements.

SANZAAR have all agreed to Rugby Championship until 2025 which is longer then most broadcast agreements.

 

[hoggy]

I'm surprised Rugby Australia wanted a longer deal than 2 years too. The Stan deal is only 3 years (from 2021 onwards) so Rugby Australia could've potentially had a competition agreement without a broadcaster?

I do wonder how much does Stan come in to all of this, if the original broadcast deal takes them until 2024 then maybe there has been some talk in the background about after that.
The point is last Saturdays Final was not worth a lot to Stan when it was predominantly a NZ product, and with that unlikely to change drastically. Stan maybe more open to a domestic product regardless of the "so called" quality, they would get more content relevant to Australia. They would get a final every year etc,etc.

The issue that RA have is they only have 5 teams, you would need at least 8 long term to make that work, so who funds that.

I don't think for a minute even if we go domestic, there would not be a level of crossover games/Champions league etc.

It is a no brainer long term, but how do you get there.