Where to for Super Rugby?

[Omar Comin']

I'd like to see some data on the likely subscription uptake of such a service and the tolerance for price of those likely to do so. It would provide us with the opportunity to provide a game of the week to a FTA provider in a favourable slot free of charge as a means of driving growth and hopefully traffic to the platform.

I was thinking the same about offering 1 game per week to FTA for free or for a small amount.

I think you could price an annual pass around the $200-250 mark. The more content you get in the service the more you can charge for all access, or the more types and levels of subscription you can offer. Then there'd be advertising/broadcast sponsorship revenues, which should be reasonable given the demographics.

You'd think it would be worth exploring in any case. Given the Super Rugby ratings on fox, 50k full access subscribers would be a good initial goal, but you'd hope revenues would be significantly higher than $10-12 million when you add in advertising and smaller subscription options (you could even allow more casual fans just to buy individual games on demand).

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

According to SA publication The Rapport the SA franchises are set to link up with the Pro14 as soon as next season.

 

[KOB1987]

According to SA publication The Rapport the SA franchises are set to link up with the Pro14 as soon as next season.

Does it mention what would become of the clubs they would have to replace?

Meanwhile Wayne Smith has penned an article saying that the kiwis don’t rate us and we might have to go it alone. It’s purely speculative though.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ Article on sport24 quoting Rapport says there's only five spots available for SA teams in a mooted Pro18. Also mentions that SARU have re-committed to SANZAAR, but I guess in the post-Covid world that may not count for much.

 

[Rebels3]

Funny thing is they are going to end up in their own conference most likely. Which has been one of their fans biggest complaints

 

[Rebels3]

According to SA publication The Rapport the SA franchises are set to link up with the Pro14 as soon as next season.

Plenty of conversation as well that Jags have been told they can find overseas clubs.

Paul Tait from America’s Rugby News has tweeted

”Jaguares in Super Rugby are facing extinction.” This, and other headlines are doing the rounds in Argentina.

Players are ‘free’ and ‘encouraged’ to ‘take offers’ from foreign clubs.

No more Super Rugby again in 2020 and 2021 Super Rugby will be entirely different.

2022 return for Super Rugby.“

He’s generally on the mark with Arg news.

 

[Rebels3]

Sunwolves have officially announced they have bowed out of Super Rugby. Sounds like decisions are starting to be made and some clarity going forward will hopefully come of it

In the media release they say their participation has ended for now. So maybe that indicates potential inclusion in something going forward.

 

[dru]

^ Article on sport24 quoting Rapport says there's only five spots available for SA teams in a mooted Pro18. Also mentions that SARU have re-committed to SANZAAR, but I guess in the post-Covid world that may not count for much.

That is the Kings gone for good, or back in Currie Cup only, and SARU back with the SA politics of needing to claim they are promoting the Kings/PE heavily.

 

[Rebels3]

That is the Kings gone for good, or back in Currie Cup only, and SARU back with the SA politics of needing to claim they are promoting the Kings/PE heavily.

I can see it been the 6. As that brings it to 18 teams and break it down to 3 even conferences. The Only option 17 teams would give is a single round robin but the Welsh, Scottish and Irish teams would refuse the notion of not playing local rivals twice. It’d also reduce their current content been supplied.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s just easier for SA to just beef up the Currie Cup. They are just too far away from everyone and require too many accommodations to make it work. Obviously Europe is good timezone wise so that’s a win but travel is still a massive issue.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

^ Article on sport24 quoting Rapport says there's only five spots available for SA teams in a mooted Pro18. Also mentions that SARU have re-committed to SANZAAR, but I guess in the post-Covid world that may not count for much.

SARU committing to SANZAAR doesn't necessarily mean they have to commit to Super Rugby. More the RC. Which is where the true value in the alliance lies. As for the report. That has to be a misquote as if there were only 5 places for SA teams it would bring the number of teams to 17 not 18.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Funny thing is they are going to end up in their own conference most likely. Which has been one of their fans biggest complaints

Ha, yeah. But if so that won't be our problem anymore.

 

[Rebels3]

SARU committing to SANZAAR doesn't necessarily mean they have to commit to Super Rugby. More the RC. Which is where the true value in the alliance lies. As for the report. That has to be a misquote as if there were only 5 places for SA teams it would bring the number of teams to 17 not 18.

The proposed potential changes to the calendar would also mean getting players for the rugby champ would be easily done. Obviously int windows already means that, but no more burn out with players involved in their off season etc.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I’m going to disagree with that because Rugby is a unique offering. The NRL play their rep games on a Wednesday night in the middle of the season, that’s part of their content package. As are their tests, which probably rate lower than a standard NRL game. And their World Cup is a joke. Soccer is different again because as an international side we are uncompetitive against anyone ranked higher than about 50th. When we play a test (friendly) it’s only ever against about a tier 4 team and we still lose. If they have games at a provincial level I’ve never seen one advertised.

Rugby on the other hand is an international sport that generates genuine interest nationally when the Wallabies are performing well. Everything else is just a feeder for that. Even during this current 2 decade long period of underperformance we have made a World Cup final and been ranked number 1 in the world. Any package sold to a broadcaster has to include the Wallabies tests as part of the deal.

EDIT: also meant to mention that the tests take up so much of the season time-wise, and as they are the most important component of the game here, EVERYTHING needs to be built around this. Same with the ABs.

A lot will be dependent on whether the reports of a restructuring of the seasons occurs. If it's split with the RC moving to Feb-March and a dedicated 8-9 weeks test window in Sept-Oct then there's definitely room to move in regards to a broader schedule in terms of a TT competition.

I agree that international Rugby is a different beast but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look to find a structure at the domestic level that is robust and capable of building interest and sustainability. As I tend to believe that it would bolster the levels of interest in the Wallabies thanks to Rugby actually having legitimate competition at the Test level to further engage fans.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I was thinking the same about offering 1 game per week to FTA for free or for a small amount.

I think you could price an annual pass around the $200-250 mark. The more content you get in the service the more you can charge for all access, or the more types and levels of subscription you can offer. Then there'd be advertising/broadcast sponsorship revenues, which should be reasonable given the demographics.

You'd think it would be worth exploring in any case. Given the Super Rugby ratings on fox, 50k full access subscribers would be a good initial goal, but you'd hope revenues would be significantly higher than $10-12 million when you add in advertising and smaller subscription options (you could even allow more casual fans just to buy individual games on demand).

I'd imagine you'd need more than 50k to make it worthwhile. Likely a minimum of 100k subscribers. And it would need a fairly substantial raft of content to justify $200-250 a year in my opinion. I'd like to now exactly how many Rugby fans there are in Australia and what % of them would be open to such a service.

For mine. It would have to involve a range of content including TT, GRR, NRC, Club competitions be it city or national or a mixture of both. And I'd hope they look to innovate in the broadcast in terms of the use of technology to enhance the experience.

They already have the Rugby Xplorer app in place. It can be expanded or retooled to help get the platform up faster.

 

[dru]

I'd imagine you'd need more than 50k to make it worthwhile. Likely a minimum of 100k subscribers. And it would need a fairly substantial raft of content to justify $200-250 a year in my opinion. I'd like to now exactly how many Rugby fans there are in Australia and what % of them would be open to such a service.

For mine. It would have to involve a range of content including TT, GRR, NRC, Club competitions be it city or national or a mixture of both. And I'd hope they look to innovate in the broadcast in terms of the use of technology to enhance the experience.

They already have the Rugby Xplorer app in place. It can be expanded or retooled to help get the platform up faster.

This. Though I don’t see how having Foxtel involved improves the proposal.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

This. Though I don’t see how having Foxtel involved improves the proposal.

Is Foxtel involved in the Rugby Xplorer app?

 

[dru]

Is Foxtel involved in the Rugby Xplorer app?

No idea - I take it you're advocating self-broadcasting? If so I'm on board.

 

[Omar Comin']

I'd imagine you'd need more than 50k to make it worthwhile. Likely a minimum of 100k subscribers. And it would need a fairly substantial raft of content to justify $200-250 a year in my opinion. I'd like to now exactly how many Rugby fans there are in Australia and what % of them would be open to such a service.

For mine. It would have to involve a range of content including TT, GRR, NRC, Club competitions be it city or national or a mixture of both. And I'd hope they look to innovate in the broadcast in terms of the use of technology to enhance the experience.

They already have the Rugby Xplorer app in place. It can be expanded or retooled to help get the platform up faster.

You'd want test rugby to be on there too. As much international rugby as possible, that would be a big driver of revenue.

I was thinking 50k full annual subscribers as an initial goal to make it viable. But you could also sell lower level subscriptions that should bump the numbers up a fair bit, e.g. month to month, or subscriptions to watch only the games of the team you support, or just one tournament, or test rugby only, even potentially down to single matches.

 

[sunnyboys]

Pretty sure Rugby Xplorer and Rugby MatchDay apps are both RA properties.

Mainly used to manage players at all levels (I sign Mr 8 up through them)

And also as the channel for their in house journos.

I’ve found I’ve used it more and more for news lately.

Would love to see it expanded for paid viewing content - but that’s a big step.

 

[stoff]

I'd imagine you'd need more than 50k to make it worthwhile. Likely a minimum of 100k subscribers. And it would need a fairly substantial raft of content to justify $200-250 a year in my opinion. I'd like to now exactly how many Rugby fans there are in Australia and what % of them would be open to such a service.

For mine. It would have to involve a range of content including TT, GRR, NRC, Club competitions be it city or national or a mixture of both. And I'd hope they look to innovate in the broadcast in terms of the use of technology to enhance the experience.

They already have the Rugby Xplorer app in place. It can be expanded or retooled to help get the platform up faster.

People arent going to pay that amount in one hit. The model is pay by the month for other sports like NBL Orr pretty much any streaming. You can charge maybe $20/mth max (Kayo is $25), but probably really be about $15. Wallabies tests are on FTA so you lose a chunk of subscribers there. If you get $90 per household per year you would be doing very well. I think this is really a sub $5m proposition.