Where to for Super Rugby?

[kiap]

Heinekin cup is basically a conference system, and that seems to run ok!

It does, although the Euro model is more like the World Cup: …… Pools and knockout. Teams qualify, are seeded, and then go into a draw.

While not exactly a conference system, it doesn't use a 20 team round-robin, that's for sure. And it works. Do people bemoan the World Cup format and want to play all 19 opposition teams? No.

Under a single round-robin, teams would still end up with good and bad draws. Even worse, if one soup team is dropped, half the comp will only have 6 home games instead of 7.

Downsides are real for a long distance comp. This won't fix the inherent structural problems.

 

[half]

Puts on helmet for posting an article from the smh yesterday on the rugby page.

Don't s......t the messenger guys...


The article from the rugby page of the smh link at the end.

Super Rugby metro ratings fall below A-League levels in 2018

Rugby fans appeared to move past the axing of the Western Force and switch back on to Super Rugby last year with a nine per cent uplift in average audience across Australia.

But with the move from five franchises to four the competition's pay television audience in the big cities languished just below the A-League, providing further impetus, on the eve of the new season, for Australia to push for change in the next broadcast cycle.

The five-nation provincial competition, which was once considered the jewel in the crown of Fox Sports, also continued to fall well below its winter rivals the AFL and NRL, attracting less than a third of their audiences on the pay broadcaster.

Rugby Australia figures showed Super Rugby matches played in Australia attracted an average audience of 71,000 last year, up nine per cent on 2017, a season that was dogged by speculation over which Australian team would be cut from the competition and by a record poor performance from the NSW Waratahs, the team representing Australia's largest fan base.

But further Oztam ratings obtained by the Herald showed that figure plummeted in the five metropolitan cities, attracting an average pay television audience of just 50,000, which was less than the A-League's 51,000 and a fraction of the NRL's 164,000 and AFL's 167,000. Super Rugby went from five franchises in 2017 to four in 2018 after the Force's axing.

The NRL and AFL surged past 300,000 on free to air television, while the A-League registered an average audience of 50,000 on free to air, via its one match a week broadcast on Channel 10.

The Super Rugby picture was worse when the competition's overseas games were factored in, falling to an average audience across of 23,000 across the five metropolitan cities.

The overall picture in the context of the Australian market would trouble the game's administrators as they enter a year of negotiations over the shape of Super Rugby from 2021 onwards.

It also provides some explanation for Australian administrators' cautious but strong enthusiasm for the World League concept, which would involve selling a global Test-level competition to broadcasters for a higher price than any individual union could negotiate on their own or in their southern and northern hemisphere blocs.

The next World Rugby meeting to discuss the concept is slated for March, with each of the nations using the time since their recent Dublin meeting to take an initial concept and broadcast estimate back to their unions and boards.

The numbers appear to stack up, with Australian sources confirming an English news report that the early broadcast talks returned a figure that stood to boost each country's coffers by about $18 million a year, over and above what they could negotiate for their provincial and domestic competitions.

But there remain considerable hurdles, not least of which are fears the concept could dilute the World Cup. Also worrying all unions is how large a revenue share would be taken off the top by World Rugby, who are brokering the talks.

At home, the arrival of Fox Sports' streaming service Kayo Sports will add another layer to Super Rugby discussions, with the new entrant boasting 115,000 subscribers. Kayo shows all rugby games live and provide a split-screen feature that will allow subscribers to watch, for example, an NRL and a Super Rugby game at the same time.

At home, RA announced a new agreement with entertainment group Crocmedia that, along with their existing arrangement with ABC Grandstand, will provide live radio coverage of every Super Rugby match played in Australia.

All Waratahs and Rebels home games will also be broadcast on 2SM in Sydney and SEN in Melbourne.

In Canberra veteran caller Tim Gavel announced his return to the airwaves to call all Brumbies home matches in 2019 on ABC Radio, while Quentin Hull will once again be the voice of Reds home matches and Andrew Moore will lead the commentary team for Waratahs home games.

ABC Grandstand also renewed its partnership with RUGBY.com.au for the 2019 season, which enables all Australian home matches to be broadcast on RUGBY.com.au Radio. This coverage is also be available on the new Rugby Xplorer app.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/super-rugby-metro-ratings-fall-below-a-league-levels-in-2018-20190214-p50xw7.html

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Puts on helmet for posting an article from the smh yesterday on the rugby page.

Don't s..t the messenger guys.


The article from the rugby page of the smh link at the end.

Super Rugby metro ratings fall below A-League levels in 2018

Rugby fans appeared to move past the axing of the Western Force and switch back on to Super Rugby last year with a nine per cent uplift in average audience across Australia.

But with the move from five franchises to four the competition's pay television audience in the big cities languished just below the A-League, providing further impetus, on the eve of the new season, for Australia to push for change in the next broadcast cycle.

The five-nation provincial competition, which was once considered the jewel in the crown of Fox Sports, also continued to fall well below its winter rivals the AFL and NRL, attracting less than a third of their audiences on the pay broadcaster.

Rugby Australia figures showed Super Rugby matches played in Australia attracted an average audience of 71,000 last year, up nine per cent on 2017, a season that was dogged by speculation over which Australian team would be cut from the competition and by a record poor performance from the NSW Waratahs, the team representing Australia's largest fan base.

But further Oztam ratings obtained by the Herald showed that figure plummeted in the five metropolitan cities, attracting an average pay television audience of just 50,000, which was less than the A-League's 51,000 and a fraction of the NRL's 164,000 and AFL's 167,000. Super Rugby went from five franchises in 2017 to four in 2018 after the Force's axing.

The NRL and AFL surged past 300,000 on free to air television, while the A-League registered an average audience of 50,000 on free to air, via its one match a week broadcast on Channel 10.

The Super Rugby picture was worse when the competition's overseas games were factored in, falling to an average audience across of 23,000 across the five metropolitan cities.

The overall picture in the context of the Australian market would trouble the game's administrators as they enter a year of negotiations over the shape of Super Rugby from 2021 onwards.

It also provides some explanation for Australian administrators' cautious but strong enthusiasm for the World League concept, which would involve selling a global Test-level competition to broadcasters for a higher price than any individual union could negotiate on their own or in their southern and northern hemisphere blocs.

The next World Rugby meeting to discuss the concept is slated for March, with each of the nations using the time since their recent Dublin meeting to take an initial concept and broadcast estimate back to their unions and boards.

The numbers appear to stack up, with Australian sources confirming an English news report that the early broadcast talks returned a figure that stood to boost each country's coffers by about $18 million a year, over and above what they could negotiate for their provincial and domestic competitions.

But there remain considerable hurdles, not least of which are fears the concept could dilute the World Cup. Also worrying all unions is how large a revenue share would be taken off the top by World Rugby, who are brokering the talks.

At home, the arrival of Fox Sports' streaming service Kayo Sports will add another layer to Super Rugby discussions, with the new entrant boasting 115,000 subscribers. Kayo shows all rugby games live and provide a split-screen feature that will allow subscribers to watch, for example, an NRL and a Super Rugby game at the same time.

At home, RA announced a new agreement with entertainment group Crocmedia that, along with their existing arrangement with ABC Grandstand, will provide live radio coverage of every Super Rugby match played in Australia.

All Waratahs and Rebels home games will also be broadcast on 2SM in Sydney and SEN in Melbourne.

In Canberra veteran caller Tim Gavel announced his return to the airwaves to call all Brumbies home matches in 2019 on ABC Radio, while Quentin Hull will once again be the voice of Reds home matches and Andrew Moore will lead the commentary team for Waratahs home games.

ABC Grandstand also renewed its partnership with RUGBY.com.au for the 2019 season, which enables all Australian home matches to be broadcast on RUGBY.com.au Radio. This coverage is also be available on the new Rugby Xplorer app.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/super-rugby-metro-ratings-fall-below-a-league-levels-in-2018-20190214-p50xw7.html

Domestic games were up 9% last season according to this same article. The overall average was once again dragged down by games being played outside friendly timezones. The metro figures aren't great but hopefully they represent the low water mark for Super Rugby as opposed to the A-League which is having a mare of a season in the ratings.

 

[hoggy]

The numbers appear to stack up, with Australian sources confirming an English news report that the early broadcast talks returned a figure that stood to boost each country's coffers by about $18 million a year, over and above what they could negotiate for their provincial and domestic competitions.

What is so frustrating about this mentality that dominates the approach by rugby hierarchy is at what cost does that $18 million come at. You get nothing for free.

 

[Derpus]

Well English TV audiences regularly get screwed over by rights deals. More-so in Soccer though. Competition between Sky and BT make it really hard to access all the games, plus you just can't watch any 3pm kick-offs period.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Surprised no commentary about discussions to broadcast gps schoolboy rugby

 

[Highlander35]

Turning "grassroots"/kids into exploitable resources.

Promoting an exclusive system, based in Sydney that's kept Union as a game for the elite rather than a game for everyone.

Producing an inferior product to what the Saffas and Kiwis figured out ages ago.

Sounds exactly the sort of solution that pleases all the stakeholders from the establishment without actually tackling any problems.

 

[Braveheart81]

GPS Rugby is watched live by lots of people, the games are already filmed and the competition is clearly well established.

GPS Rugby in Brisbane is already available via live stream.

Offering it to Fox Sports makes plenty of sense given the desire for content.

 

[RoffsChoice]

As long as there isn't some exclusivity clause in the Fox deal, it makes perfect sense. Money for the game, more rugby on TV, potentially more viewers. Win-win-win.

 

[sunnyboys]

also in the articles it alluded to the NRC being wound up. With a proposal to shorten Shute and Hospital Cup - and taking top 5 from each plus premiers from other states (didnt say how many or which) states in an Australian Club Champs - also televised by Fox.

Now if the grassroot supporters - and by this i mean club and school - are detached from Super Rugby, dragging them to the same broadcast platform as Super Rugby makes very good sense. They are more likely to get the passionate and tribal supports to sign up to fox/kayo than new casual fans... and if those supporters then start tuning into Super Rugby, well that can only be a good thing (if your aim is to increase Super Rugby and to an extent Test viewer numbers to drive increased broadcast dollars).

but i agree it could backfire if free streaming of these games ceased as well.... there is risk in that for sure.

 

[sunnyboys]

as an extra comment to this. the Courier Mail in Bris (so another News Corp company the same as Fox and Kayo) has been going super hard at the GPS crowd over the past 18 months. Jim Tucker is pumping out heaps of paywalled content all relating to GPS Rugby. and since school has started they have even been getting into the Rowing.

this looks like a clear strategy to target families with higher incomes.

this Fox strategy has all the same hallmarks.

 

[wamberal]

Good idea. The rich can subsidise the poor.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

DT reporting that Sunwolves will be culled from Super Rugby as early as next year with a decision potentially being made as soon as this weekend:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/s...ns-sunwolves-facing-the-chop-from-super-rugby

 

[hoggy]

DT reporting that Sunwolves will be culled from Super Rugby as early as next year with a decision potentially being made as soon as this weekend:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/s...ns-sunwolves-facing-the-chop-from-super-rugby

What happened to all those promises, the Asian and American conferences, weren't we supposed to be all rolling in TV loot by now.

 

[The Honey Badger]

DT reporting that Sunwolves will be culled from Super Rugby as early as next year with a decision potentially being made as soon as this weekend:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/s...ns-sunwolves-facing-the-chop-from-super-rugby

Rugby.com.au reporting Sunwolves at $6.00 to win against the Blues.

Don't mind those odds. They are a way better team than anyone wants to believe.

Shame if they are to be cut, don't think that is the way forward. Seem to be getting good support in Japan even without local players.

 

[half]

n Australian Super Rugby boss has called on SANZAAR executives to save the Sunwolves as World Rugby meetings ramp up in Dublin this week.
NSW Rugby chief Andrew Hore said Australian rugby risked dropping a big commercial opportunity if the Japanese team was sacrificed from the competition from 2021 to keep South Africa happy.

Last ditch: Australian Super Rugby bosses want the Sunwolves to stay. CREDIT:AP
Hore said SANZAAR's investment in the Sunwolves was finally paying off, with the team notching their first away win this season and their fourth overall in the competition.
"Jamie [Joseph, director of rugby] has done a great job this year with the Sunwolves, they’re going toe-to-toe home and away, aren’t they," he said.

"Like everything, you just have to give things time. We’re excited by the Japanese and we enjoy going up there but there’s a lot of things they need to consider obviously."
SANZAAR partners Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina met in London on Sunday to discuss their position on an overhaul of Super Rugby for the next broadcast deal. The Heraldunderstands that meeting also involved a major broadcaster.

We’re a global game, we’re not kicking around in a tiddlywink competition like the NRL, which is only played in this part of the world.
NSW Rugby CEO Andrew Hore​

But with Nations Championship (formerly known as World League) talks set to dominate World Rugby meetings in Dublin later this week, it is likely SANZAAR will reserve a final decision until Thursday at the earliest.
It appears increasingly unlikely that the two-tier, 12-team annual competition will get off the ground, with promotion and relegation an ongoing sticking point for the Six Nations unions.

In that case, it will come down to the four SANZAAR nations reaching unanimous agreement on Japan's ongoing involvement.
South Africa is understood to favour moving forward without the Sunwolves to lighten the travel load on South African teams, while Australia and New Zealand are said to be in favour of keeping them. Argentina's position is unknown.

The Sunwolves regularly pull a crowd of 15,000 at their home ground Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo. CREDIT:EPA
The Herald understands the Australian teams - all of whom have commercial deals with Japanese companies - have made their feelings known to Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle, but whether she and Kiwi counterpart Steve Tew can convince South Africa to soften its position is another matter.
Hore said he did not so much fear the prospect of partners Daikin or NEC pulling out, but that further growth in that area would be hobbled.

"We’re a global game, we’re not kicking around in a tiddlywink competition like the NRL, which is only played in this part of the world," he said.

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"Ultimately that means there’s opportunity for global revenue. And that means that we can feed the game using that commercial revenue."
The issue is likely to come down to the dollars on offer from broadcasters. South Africa has a strong bargaining position given its broadcaster SuperSport makes the largest contribution to the broadcast pot.
Adding to the complexity is that the strong competitive tension in the UK market that led to a monster uplift in the last broadcast deal has all but evaporated.

And in Australia, loyal partner Foxtel appears to have emptied the piggy bank on cricket, NRL and AFL over the past two years. The Australian Financial Review reported late last week that Foxtel's revenue in the three months to December 31 was down 11 per cent to $US562 million ($800m), while its EBITDA was 46 per cent lower at $US84 million, suggesting Rugby Australia's prospects of uplift on their last deal are not strong.
Notwithstanding a weaker broadcast market, Super Rugby itself seems to be emerging from the doldrums, again posting strong ratings in its final week of clear air before the NRL starts.
The Waratahs vs Reds game drew a combined audience of 131,000 - believed to be the biggest result in at least two seasons - and 93,000 watched the Rebels vs Brumbies match on Friday. On the back of a nine per cent uplift across regional and metro audiences between 2017 and 2018 and a simplified competition, there is reason to believe rugby fans still have an appetite for competitive matches.
Hore maintained that the Super Rugby teams deserved a seat at the table at SANZAAR.
"Our issue has always been having a governance model that allows the competition to thrive no matter where you have a team," he said.

"Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they wanted close fixtures. You can play it on the moon and if it’s a good fixture people will watch it. So how do we create a competition, like when we had Super 12, that has that balance?"​

 

[half]

It is time SANZAAR seriously considered cutting a New Zealand team from Super Rugby.
There has been speculation SANZAAR wants Super Rugby to revert to a 14-team competition to get rid of the complicated conference system and allow every team to play each other in the round robin.
The Japanese Sunwolves have been mentioned as potential sacrificial lambs but there are other options: the Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels could merge; South Africa could move another team to Europe; the Argentinian Jaguares could play in an American continental competition.
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But no one ever talks about cutting a Kiwi team, presumably because New Zealand is the greatest rugby nation on earth.
But this great rugby nation has a population of just four million and that’s the triumph and tragedy of New Zealand.
For all the expansion and contraction of Super Rugby since the competition started in 1996 the five original New Zealand franchises: the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes have remained in place.
The Kiwis have dominated Super Rugby, winning 16 of the first 23 titles. On current form, the Crusaders look set to achieve their second three-peat.
New Zealand has been able to support not just five teams but for the most part, five highly competitive teams.
But New Zealand is beginning to suffer the same kind of player drain to Europe and Japan that has had such an adverse effect on Australian and South African rugby.
In the past, All Blacks have waited until the end of their Test careers to accept lucrative overseas offers but now they are leaving in their prime.
If the player drain continues, and there is no sign of it abating, will New Zealand still be able to support five Super Rugby teams?
Or will they need to cut a team?
Even if NZ could support five teams, does it make any commercial sense to concentrate so many franchises in such a small market?
The New Zealand rugby economy is maxed out. There’s no room to grow.
I would not cut a New Zealand team per se but I would look at merging two sides: the Kiwi Super Rugby franchises are all mergers of provincial teams anyway.
Which team to cut?
The Blues have been at the bottom of New Zealand rugby for several years and the Chiefs are struggling this season.
The Blues are based in Auckland, which has a population of 1.6 million, but Hamilton, where the Chiefs play, has just 169,000 residents.
And Hamilton is just an hour’s drive from Auckland, almost a satellite suburb.
The New Zealand franchise with the smallest population base is the Highlanders, who encompass Dunedin (130,000) but having the Blues and the Highlanders in Super Rugby means the length and breadth of New Zealand is represented.
None of the Kiwi population centres compares to Japan (127 million) or even Tokyo (nine million).
It would be ridiculous to cut the Sunwolves just after the World Cup is held in Japan, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to popularise the game in a major Asian country.
The Sunwolves have shown a new competitiveness this season.
They should have beaten the Waratahs, but then thrashed the Chiefs and suffered a creditable loss to the Blues.
If the Sunwolves could forge a closer relationship with Japan’s Top League teams, they would become stronger on the field and become a more lucrative enterprise.
I accept the Brumbies face similar commercial limitations to the smaller New Zealand population centres but cutting them would leave Australia with only three teams in a country of 24 million.
I would relocate the Brumbies before axing them.
You could argue the Jaguares are a geographic nightmare and offer little commercial value to Super Rugby but if you are to grow the game in the Americas, they need to be in an elite professional competition somewhere.
I’m not sure how many South African teams you could send to Europe before the whole nation decided to leave SANZAAR to participate in northern hemisphere rugby, taking their valuable broadcasting revenue with them.
SANZAAR must be strategic about expansion and/or contraction of Super Rugby.
Where is the best opportunity to grow the game in the southern hemisphere?
Like any strategic investment, it comes down to the numbers and SANZAAR may discover that five simply does not go into four million.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...m/news-story/682431c9664db42cccf120ebde6839e4

 

[zer0]

I agree the Sunwolves shouldn't be cut. But if you want to see fewer non-NZ wins, then go for it. The Chiefs or Highlanders. Take your pick.

Could be an absolutely colossal case of the non NZ part of SAANZAR shooting themselves in the foot if Super Rugby goes back to a meritocratic post-season with a semifinal and final, though.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

I would love it if the Blues got dumped. Free up my weekends for some of those pursuits I've read about people doing like smiling and laughing.

If the Sunwolves could forge a closer relationship with Japan’s Top League teams, they would become stronger shittier on the field and become a more lucrative enterprise because they'd go back to choosing actual Japanese players. From Japan.

 

[wamberal]

There are no perfect solutions, of course. And nobody knows how any change would actually impact on the popularity of the competition.


It is all about guesswork. Sometimes the guesses are wrong, sometimes there are seismic changes that appear from nowhere.


If only we all as wise in real time as we are in hindsight. Or our dreams.