There's no way they broke even. And there's no way they got 40k to the games. The lower bowl of Allegiant seats 28k. Shot from above show plenty of empty seats. They could have taken. All those sitting in the two upper tiers and sat them in the lower tier and still not have filled it. I've seen Raiders games with 50k in that Stadium. Totally different look.
I was thinking super rugby 7s would be a good alternative to NRC for development - at conclusion of club rugby finals - if there’s a cost associated issue with NRC squads travelling interstate then it would be halved only sending 7+ reserves (double that if you sending colts, triple that if you sending the super a 5 week carnival where every super rugby franchise hosts the super rugby 7s.
I know going 7s route over NRC model means our front rowers miss out but maybe alternative is we let our super rugby front rows go over and get developed in the NPC in NZ.
I think with our next tv deal. It’s important we are offering Fox/stan/Netflix content that is filled most of the calander year. I think I’m going to cancel my Stan subscription once qpr season ends because I’ll have other avenues to watch the European tour.
I like this thinking. I think Sevens can pretty reliably be something that tops up the coffers (Christ knows we need it!) if you did a limited 4 or 5 week season over Christmas party season and Jan/Feb in Syd, Mel, Bris, Per and ran it like a corporate friendly Spring Carnival thing on a Friday arvo/night.
If you did a decent targeted ad push from Aug/Sep onward I reckon you'd fill a bunch of marquees around the likes of Woollahra Oval with financially liquid REIT and Consulting types for Christmas Parties. It would be ripe for corporate and alcohol partnerships. And you could have a dedicated family-friendly hill separated from the boozers so it's not solely catered to corporate Moet guzzlers.
I reckon it would be decent TV fodder on Nine FTA if you had the KOKO lads running it like a 3 hour long light-hearted rugby-themed magazine show with a bunch of 7 minute long rugby halves running through it.
It would be a good opportunity to midwife a broader NRC XV comp by introducing 10 geographically based teams that could then go on to become NRC XV teams. The teams could be selected via combines with invited colts and NSW/QLD Cup Leaguies keen to earn some extra coin over the summer and potentially catch the eye of Aussie 7s selectors.
Getting more rugby on the table is crucial for TV deals but also for selling the appeal of the speed, characters and fun that Union is capable of producing in a timeslot that the other codes are vacant in. And a limited season with a real emphasis on game-day experience could be a nice money-earner through ticket and F&B sales along with broadcast.