Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[Slim 293]

RA already had a Chief Business Officer and a Chief Commercial Officer and board members who’d been around the broadcast rights issues before. And a $850,000 pa plus bonuses CEO with experience of NRL media dealings. But they needed ‘$1m media deal makers’ as consultants. Righto.

And they RA were facing very tight financial constraints already, as a business.

Then they still hire high cost media advisors.

Who seemingly join in with RA to endorse in 2019 Super Rugby 2021 + model (umm, merely a new version of insanity).

Then Optus might arrive..but later it (CEO Optus Sports) says itself it was never really there.

Then you say ‘they all do it’ like that’s justification solely through repetitive commonality as though that’s a great rationale - really?

Then the new Chair of NRL handles the v tough COVID media deal landscape and pretty much sorts it all out rather well himself in 1-2 months. No experts in sight.

And you say ‘they all need expensive media consultants so RA needed them too’.

But you don’t justify that statement. Or explain, given all above, why? Or quote the precise facts re how ‘all other codes have done just like RA did’.

IMO, your own bias is clear. Just different to Halloran’s is all.

I'm just going to focus on this part of your post for now...........

You kind of dismiss the idea that RA should hire media rights consultants, because board members been involved in these deals before, even though they would've engaged with media rights consultants on those bids because it's common practice used by sports organisations, including the NRL who brought them in to help negotiate their last broadcast deal.

You assume they were a high cost............. do you know the general cost of engaging these consultants?

You infer they were endorsing the Super Rugby model, even though that wouldn't have been their job at all - the Super Rugby model having already been agreed to by SANZAAR.

You assume the NRL chair does everything on his own........... but he also wasn't going through an open rights tender process on a new broadcast deal with multiple bidders.

Again, you infer that I suggested they need "expensive" media rights consultants, even though neither you or I know the true cost of such a service.

It would appear only one of us is using assumptions to support an existing negative bias towards Rugby Australia.

 

[Quick Hands]

Then the new Chair of NRL handles the v tough COVID media deal landscape and pretty much sorts it all out rather well himself in 1-2 months. No experts in sight.

This quotation should almost feature on every thread.

Let's just think for a moment - does anyone on here honestly believe that the name of Peter V'Landys would every have been considered by the RA nominations committee for a spot on the RA board.

Keira Boys High - a little too state school for rugby chaps

Wollongong Uni - sniff, would the folk involved in RA even know that there was a university in Wollongong

Born in Greece - a little too ethnic for us

But yet this guy who is an accountant has managed to tune NSW Harness Racing from a basket case when he took over in 1988 to a successful organisation in a relatively low profile sport. Negotiated the sale of the TAB for the benefit of all racing codes

2004 CEO of Racing NSW, which was a moribund organisation falling further and further behind Victoria year by year. Made betting organisations pay racing for the use of its fields, sold a computerised racing game to TAB Corp for $150 million and built new stands with the money, got the NSW govt to reduce tax on bookmakers, completely restructured the Sydney racing programme with events like the Everest so that NSW racing is now a leader. Cutback on middle management in such a way that nobody even noticed that people were gone because they weren't doing very much for the organisation.

As Chairman or the NRL he's renegotiated the TV deal and stared down 9 and Foxtel, set a start date of May 28 which nobody except him believed was possible and has achieved it and has seemingly solved every problem that the naysayers have thrown at him. Boofheaded players, whinging club bosses, referees and unions - problems solved and everyone just gets on with it.

He's a doer who knows what he wants and then just gets it done - without layers of experts and sports bureaucrats to advise him.

 

[Lindommer]

V'Landys is a league supporter from the days of his youth down in the 'gong, doubt if he would've accepted a role anywhere in RA/NSWRU.

 

[Quick Hands]

V'Landys is a league supporter from the days of his youth down in the 'gong, doubt if he would've accepted a role anywhere in RA/NSWRU.

Don't think his Greek immigrant family would have owned racehorses either, but still he accepted a role running the sport of horse racing. David Gallop came from a rugby background but ran league and soccer. David Moffett was from a rugby background and ran the NRL as did the Welsh bloke they had.

All that's irrelevant, would he even get looked at by rugby is the more pertinent observation.

 

[half]

This quotation should almost feature on every thread.

Let's just think for a moment - does anyone on here honestly believe that the name of Peter V'Landys would every have been considered by the RA nominations committee for a spot on the RA board.

Keira Boys High - a little too state school for rugby chaps

Wollongong Uni - sniff, would the folk involved in RA even know that there was a university in Wollongong

Born in Greece - a little too ethnic for us

But yet this guy who is an accountant has managed to tune NSW Harness Racing from a basket case when he took over in 1988 to a successful organisation in a relatively low profile sport. Negotiated the sale of the TAB for the benefit of all racing codes

2004 CEO of Racing NSW, which was a moribund organisation falling further and further behind Victoria year by year. Made betting organisations pay racing for the use of its fields, sold a computerised racing game to TAB Corp for $150 million and built new stands with the money, got the NSW govt to reduce tax on bookmakers, completely restructured the Sydney racing programme with events like the Everest so that NSW racing is now a leader. Cutback on middle management in such a way that nobody even noticed that people were gone because they weren't doing very much for the organisation.

As Chairman or the NRL he's renegotiated the TV deal and stared down 9 and Foxtel, set a start date of May 28 which nobody except him believed was possible and has achieved it and has seemingly solved every problem that the naysayers have thrown at him. Boofheaded players, whinging club bosses, referees and unions - problems solved and everyone just gets on with it.

He's a doer who knows what he wants and then just gets it done - without layers of experts and sports bureaucrats to advise him.

Quick

We did hire Peter some time ago.

Peter is a particular type of manager needed for the short term, his crash or crash through philosophy works until it fails and when it fails many deny its failed as they like the strong man who can make quick decisions .

Consider, 9 are paying less, with no contract extension, and Fox have extended but signed for less each year, meaning a reduction in future earnings .

Consider the only reason the competition is starting is because of our success over the virus spread which looked unlikely when he made the call. Essentially luck as it could just as easily gone the other way.

Consider the huge investment the NRL made in self broadcasting, now written off.

But we did employ Peter, his had a different name then he was called JON. Football had Frank Lowy .

WE have seen what happens when it goes pear shaped, Flowers & Pulver's Nobody Really Cares competitions, then JON the great one.

I agree you overall point but we don't need another top down my way or the highway person in charge.

 

[Quick Hands]

I agree you overall point but we don't need another top down my way or the highway person in charge.

We need people who get things done.

We also need real diversity running the game.

He's been at Racing NSW since 2004. Hardly a short term appointment.

In rugby we know all about pear-shaped, it's our day to day reality.

EDIT: But you've missed the point of the post. It's not about Peter V'Landys as an individual, it's about a person with real world experience from outside the upper middle class WASPish rah rah fraternity of professional board sitters.

 

[KOB1987]

 

[Quick Hands]

^^^I think that the days of sports getting rivers of gold from broadcasters have passed by. NRL has had to settle for less, so it seems unlikely to me that Australian rugby would get what we've been used to - even if Super Rugby had continued.

Regardless of the future direction of pro-rugby in Australia, it hard to see anything other than significantly less money being available for the participants.

 

[KOB1987]

^^^I think that the days of sports getting rivers of gold from broadcasters have passed by. NRL has had to settle for less, so it seems unlikely to me that Australian rugby would get what we've been used to - even if Super Rugby had continued.

Regardless of the future direction of pro-rugby in Australia, it hard to see anything other than significantly less money being available for the participants.

Yes. Which means we need to come up with another way to generate the revenue shortfall. We need a premium product every week at watchable hours and bums on seats.

 

[formerflanker]

Yes. Which means we need to come up with another way to generate the revenue shortfall. We need a premium product every week at watchable hours and bums on seats.

And have those bums in smallish stadia so they fill the ground, generate lots of atmosphere for the enjoyment of players and spectators, and provide good optics for tv viewers.
Only use the huge caverns when huge crowds can be guaranteed.

 

[RugbyReg]

And have those bums in smallish stadia so they fill the ground, generate lots of atmosphere for the enjoyment of players and spectators, and provide good optics for tv viewers.
Only use the huge caverns when huge crowds can be guaranteed.

which stadiums would they be?

 

[Sully]

which stadiums would they be?

We have a great one on the Goldie!

 

[RedsHappy]

I'm just going to focus on this part of your post for now.....

You kind of dismiss the idea that RA should hire media rights consultants, because board members been involved in these deals before, even though they would've engaged with media rights consultants on those bids because it's common practice used by sports organisations, including the NRL who brought them in to help negotiate their last broadcast deal.

You assume they were a high cost..... do you know the general cost of engaging these consultants?

You infer they were endorsing the Super Rugby model, even though that wouldn't have been their job at all - the Super Rugby model having already been agreed to by SANZAAR.

You assume the NRL chair does everything on his own..... but he also wasn't going through an open rights tender process on a new broadcast deal with multiple bidders.

Again, you infer that I suggested they need "expensive" media rights consultants, even though neither you or I know the true cost of such a service.

It would appear only one of us is using assumptions to support an existing negative bias towards Rugby Australia.

Where is all the evidence - as you attested - that 'all the sports codes use media consultants' to handle broadcasting rights negotiations.

My point was clear: RA possessed a bundle of highly paid executives with glam titles in 'commercial areas'. And they were in loss-making mode. Why would they truly need 'media consultants' on top to perform one of their most core jobs, why were their own executives seemingly not capable of this task?

In RA's case, it was widely reported that the noted external RA media consultants were 2 named persons being paid a total of ~ $500k pa for nearly 2 years. NB: this figure and its related facts were never disputed by RA and these individuals were terminated by the new RA Chair within days of his arrival....I wonder why when 'media income' is deemed so vital to RA from 2021 and no media deal for that period is yet settled. I suspect it was because the new Chair thought the expenditure unjustified and in no way needed.

Re the crazy SANZAAR suicide-letter model RA endorsed in 2019 - I asked, what media consultant worth their salt would have agreed to that folly if the medium-term prosperity of the code was any kind of objective? Further it was clearly reported that RC as CEO employed these outside consultants in 2018 not long after she first took this job, well before the SANZAAR-endorsing model was chosen in 2019, and this date of their appointment was never disputed by RA.

Whatever: my major point was that Halloran's articles have almost always proven right at the time, or vindicated by later confirmed outcomes.

Whatever you and other long-standing defenders of RA and the general rugby status quo in Australia may think, I possess no 'negative bias' towards RA. Once that body clearly demonstrates competent, cost-effective, thoughtful and strategically adept leadership, I will be delighted. The facts and measurable outcomes however indisputably and overwhelmingly point to the conclusion that for at least the last 10-15 years RA is not an organisation that displays or delivers these reasonably required, and quite reasonably expected, attributes.

 

[RedsHappy]

Yes. Which means we need to come up with another way to generate the revenue shortfall. We need a premium product every week at watchable hours and bums on seats.

..........and we need to create and build our own digital media streaming model sold direct to the rugby-liking/loving public.

 

[formerflanker]

which stadiums would they be?

I see Wikipedia lists 12 stadiums in Australia that cater for crowds between 20 and 35 thousand. Non-traditional rugby venues for sure but creative thinking is called for.

 

[Derpus]

I quite like Parra stadium.

If im gunna spend 400 years on public transports to get to a stadium (looking at you Homebush) it might as well be a chill river cruise.

 

[Pass it to Dunning!]

I quite like Parra stadium.

If im gunna spend 400 years on public transports to get to a stadium (looking at you Homebush) it might as well be a chill river cruise.

Parramatta's a great stadium. It's a shame Waratahs fans won't go west of South Dowling Street.

 

[RugbyReg]

I see Wikipedia lists 12 stadiums in Australia that cater for crowds between 20 and 35 thousand. Non-traditional rugby venues for sure but creative thinking is called for.

What were the Brisbane ones?

I can't think of any - perhaps Dolphin Oval.

Then there's CBUS Stadium on the Gold Coast. Sunshine Coast Stadium. BP Print (I think) in Mackay, Barlow Park in Cairns and the new and old Townsille Stadiums (NQ Stadium and Dairy Farmers).

None are ideal. In fact most are far from ideal.

 

[Quick Hands]

Yes. Which means we need to come up with another way to generate the revenue shortfall. We need a premium product every week at watchable hours and bums on seats.

Bums on seats only comes with significant fan engagement. Rugby has now tried twice to create franchises from scratch and whatever good intentions were involved the simple fact is that neither the ARC or the NRC have been able to engage the fan base. Trying the same approach would reap the same reward - failure.

Having a premium product at watchable hours requires a minimum of 8 teams to satisfy broadcasters needs - Friday 7.30pm, Saturday 7.30pm and Sunday afternoon.

We only need to look around in other sports and see what the successful model in the Australian context looks like, and yet it seems the model that RA and its supporters refuse to consider.

 

[Quick Hands]

What were the Brisbane ones?

I can't think of any - perhaps Dolphin Oval.

Then there's CBUS Stadium on the Gold Coast. Sunshine Coast Stadium. BP Print (I think) in Mackay, Barlow Park in Cairns and the new and old Townsille Stadiums (NQ Stadium and Dairy Farmers).

None are ideal. In fact most are far from ideal.

What does Ballymore look like these days? I watched an All Black test there back in 1988 and it was fairly spartan then, but I assume it's been modernised? Didn't Mark McBain famously rebuild the change rooms when he was Qld coach?