Cpt Crow Eater
Chris McKivat (8)
Found this article from 2015...
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11450491
A few snippets....
".......There is no real, desperate incentive for the franchises to fill their stadiums, to compete in a market, to find ways of keeping great players, because the squillion dollar broadcasting contract which derives most of its value from the All Blacks keeps them afloat. If the cold winds of reality were really blowing in rugby faces, we would have a decent Auckland football stadium already. But rugby dawdles along, with 8000 bored-sounding people in its 50,000 capacity cathedral."
Rugby is about to get its comeuppance in Auckland, where the Warriors are finally poised to surge under new chief executive Jim Doyle. He does have to answer to people - owners Eric Watson and Owen Glenn. But as a unit, the Warriors can act decisively, and are responsible for their own bottom line.
In contrast, the NZR is afraid to let go, because it doesn't trust anyone else in looking after the elite players. It thought winning the World Cup was a panacea, a state funded one at that.
For a health check, look at all the empty seats in Wellington for what should have been a glamour clash between the Hurricanes and Chiefs on Saturday night.
Throw in confounding rules, endless delays in matches, and a rising population of people with fascinating entertainment choices and ways of communicating, and you have a national game in danger. The NZR does face tough issues and the answers are far from simple. But it must try. Rugby needs to attract dynamic and diverse people with the power and incentive to act. The All Blacks won't prop the game up forever.
Even the Kiwis saw trouble coming and they're winning everything!
When the national team wins, everything's ok. When they start playing badly, this whole top down ponzi scheme of a business model falls over.
When David Beckham and his cohorts teamed up to put a football team in Miami, they had an agreement to build a $200 million stadium specific for the team.
Imagine that kind of investment in a sydney club......
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11450491
A few snippets....
".......There is no real, desperate incentive for the franchises to fill their stadiums, to compete in a market, to find ways of keeping great players, because the squillion dollar broadcasting contract which derives most of its value from the All Blacks keeps them afloat. If the cold winds of reality were really blowing in rugby faces, we would have a decent Auckland football stadium already. But rugby dawdles along, with 8000 bored-sounding people in its 50,000 capacity cathedral."
Rugby is about to get its comeuppance in Auckland, where the Warriors are finally poised to surge under new chief executive Jim Doyle. He does have to answer to people - owners Eric Watson and Owen Glenn. But as a unit, the Warriors can act decisively, and are responsible for their own bottom line.
In contrast, the NZR is afraid to let go, because it doesn't trust anyone else in looking after the elite players. It thought winning the World Cup was a panacea, a state funded one at that.
For a health check, look at all the empty seats in Wellington for what should have been a glamour clash between the Hurricanes and Chiefs on Saturday night.
Throw in confounding rules, endless delays in matches, and a rising population of people with fascinating entertainment choices and ways of communicating, and you have a national game in danger. The NZR does face tough issues and the answers are far from simple. But it must try. Rugby needs to attract dynamic and diverse people with the power and incentive to act. The All Blacks won't prop the game up forever.
Even the Kiwis saw trouble coming and they're winning everything!
When the national team wins, everything's ok. When they start playing badly, this whole top down ponzi scheme of a business model falls over.
When David Beckham and his cohorts teamed up to put a football team in Miami, they had an agreement to build a $200 million stadium specific for the team.
Imagine that kind of investment in a sydney club......
