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New "LIV Style" Global Rugby League

New "Liv Style" Global Rugby League?

  • This is silly, I forbid it

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Let's do this crazy thing

    Votes: 7 21.9%
  • This will save Australian Rugby

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • I don't like change, it scares me.

    Votes: 5 15.6%
  • The stuffy conservative poms at HQ will lawyer up and nix it

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • Melbourne Rebs ride again baby

    Votes: 9 28.1%
  • Time to dissolve the NSFW Waratahs

    Votes: 11 34.4%
  • they had a good run

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • This will never happen ffs

    Votes: 7 21.9%
  • I Love Pole

    Votes: 10 31.3%

  • Total voters
    32

Strewthcobber

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
In my mind it's kind of like the Indian Premier League.. sure it's got great players but I don't have much interest in actually watching it.

There's clearly a massive, eye-watering audience for IPL though, even if not too many in Australia are watching. Is there any interest at all in R360 anywhere?
The 18th edition of the TATA IPL 2025 turned out to be a landmark season, reaching over 1 billion viewers across TV and digital platform. JioHotstar, the league’s digital home, witnessed a staggering 23.1 billion views and 384.6 billion minutes of watch-time. On linear television, Star Sports delivered an exceptional 456 billion minutes of live broadcast watch-time.
 

Wilson

Tim Horan (67)
There's clearly a massive, eye-watering audience for IPL though, even if not too many in Australia are watching. Is there any interest at all in R360 anywhere?
There must be some sort of hope for high value sponsorship and heavy corporate involvement in this, something Rugby has always been pretty good at leveraging. The average set of rugby eyeballs do tend to be of higher value, particularly in the UK and our corner of the world. Not sure that it's anywhere near enough to make up for the shortfall though.

I imagine they also have some sort of docuseries like drive to survive planned for the teams - the involvement of Omaha Productions certainly suggest their is more to their plans than just the on field product. That's probably the piece they need to invest in to get fan buy in to manufactured teams long term. It's easier said then done though, there's a lot more failures than successes in that space, and one of the big impediments in rugby has been the big name coaches not being to keen to bring the cameras fully into the fold, something they may run up against if they want those guys involved for the cachet they bring.
 

Omar Comin'

Peter Fenwicke (45)
There's clearly a massive, eye-watering audience for IPL though, even if not too many in Australia are watching. Is there any interest at all in R360 anywhere?

I don't think we know enough yet, the range of possible outcomes seems really wide.

I would rate its chances of success higher if there's partnerships with existing giant sporting brands. E.g. the Madrid and Lisbon teams could be owned by (even named) Real Madrid and Benfica - they are already multi-sport clubs. Or the Boston team could tie into the Red Sox and Liverpool FC - apparently it's the same owners. Miami Dolphins, Dubai City etc - the City Football group is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family.

How it's presented and the influence of creators, celebrities etc could make a difference too. Wrexham being the best example.
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
I don't think we know enough yet, the range of possible outcomes seems really wide.

I would rate its chances of success higher if there's partnerships with existing giant sporting brands. E.g. the Madrid and Lisbon teams could be owned by (even named) Real Madrid and Benfica - they are already multi-sport clubs. Or the Boston team could tie into the Red Sox and Liverpool FC - apparently it's the same owners. Miami Dolphins, Dubai City etc - the City Football group is majority owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family.

How it's presented and the influence of creators, celebrities etc could make a difference too. Wrexham being the best example.

I'd wager that Miami might have Argentine ownership.
 

Giulia

Allen Oxlade (6)
I think it's likely a number of current State of Origin stars may see themselves as being paid well enough, plus the additional match payments of 3 x SOO games and likely Kangaroos tour and decide the money difference isn't as significant.
Kangaroos don't play at full-strength outside world cups mustn't pay that great
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Team locations conjure image of billionaire giving their adult child a pile of money to stay away from the real business
The reason I suggest Miami might have an Argentine owner is that the now former owner of the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby who is Argentinian is rumouredvto have set up the club in order to have a justification for being in Miami and flying his friends in including several players on the team in order to essentially party.
 

Spamnoodle

Bob Loudon (25)
I agree, why would I watch it? Not my club, state or national team. Not in my country and a few {maybe} players I know of. I don't follow players, I follow clubs.
Yep, I'll give zero fucks about it, just like I give zero fucks for any T20 comps around the world.
If it becomes the norm I'll just turn my back on the sport.
 

Spamnoodle

Bob Loudon (25)
Yeah fair, I love the tribalism and passion as well don't get me wrong. There are just a fair bit of people wanting to have a reason to go on a weekend away, get steaming with the boys (or girls), see some big hits and offloads and put no more effort into their fandom. The SailGP also works for that reason.

edit: And there is a whole layer of sports washing for Saudia Arabia which I hate with a passion and will be the main reason I won't watch it. There is just a large contingency of people that do not care about that and want a good piss up somewhere that is not their city.
So it's gonna be even more elite than rugby is already perceived?
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Yep, I'll give zero fucks about it, just like I give zero fucks for any T20 comps around the world.
If it becomes the norm I'll just turn my back on the sport.

Issue is, even among Rugby fans those that tune into SRP (Super Rugby Pacific), the Prem or the URC week in and week out are the minority. There's a large swathe of people who are interested in Rugby (not as large as Cricket obviously) but only really tune into Test Rugby. That's who they are targeting. Them and casual sports fans with a general awareness of the game.
 

Major Tom

Bob Davidson (42)
Issue is, even among Rugby fans those that tune into SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) (Super Rugby Pacific), the Prem or the URC week in and week out are the minority. There's a large swathe of people who are interested in Rugby (not as large as Cricket obviously) but only really tune into Test Rugby. That's who they are targeting. Them and casual sports fans with a general awareness of the game.
Fans will no doubt be initially interested when NRL and other players roll out there. But the novelty will wear off pretty quick. They’re trying to market this as a F1 / LIV style comp but those are really individual sports where people follow athletes. That’s what drives those circuit style comps. Rugby is a team sport so unless you’re getting the ball constantly like a DuPont you’re not gonna attract people that much that way. I know they’re talking about entertainment / festival style atmosphere but I just don’t think it will work long term. I mean 7s kinda does that already and look how that’s going. IMO i don’t think it will work commercially because I’m yet to see how the product will be any better than what’s already out there. But what it may do is force WR (World Rugby) to consider how it broadens its appeal to other fans.
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Fans will no doubt be initially interested when NRL and other players roll out there. But the novelty will wear off pretty quick. They’re trying to market this as a F1 / LIV style comp but those are really individual sports where people follow athletes. That’s what drives those circuit style comps. Rugby is a team sport so unless you’re getting the ball constantly like a DuPont you’re not gonna attract people that much that way. I know they’re talking about entertainment / festival style atmosphere but I just don’t think it will work long term. I mean 7s kinda does that already and look how that’s going. IMO i don’t think it will work commercially because I’m yet to see how the product will be any better than what’s already out there. But what it may do is force WR (World Rugby) (World Rugby) to consider how it broadens its appeal to other fans.

I'll admit I'm curious to see how it works out but an not overly convinced of its long term viability. But something I do hope it does is give those in decision making positions a kick up the pants to look to grow the game both domestically and internationally. Look to engage and capture more of the casual fanbase and push the game forward.

A big reason why this has emerged as a threat has been the level of apathy and mismanagement around the growth of the game beyond its traditional bounds. It is why I was supportive of Pichot's original concept for the Nations Championship and why I think what we have landed at falls short and is trapped in short term thinking.

For me, the Nations Championship should have been structured to run over two years with in built crossover games between the divisions. And while the value in the product is driven by the 10 Unions that own it. It's that kind of thinking that has opened the door for R360.
 
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Dan54

David Wilson (68)
There's clearly a massive, eye-watering audience for IPL though, even if not too many in Australia are watching. Is there any interest at all in R360 anywhere?
But is the IPL really watched outside of the Sub-Continent though? I personally don't know anyone who watches it here in NZ. Just India has a population of 1.5 billion people. I not sure 360 rugby is going to get even a slight portion of interest as that. Not sure if it's right, but most a lot of it's popularity is in the Indian etc betting market.

It could be more popular than we suspect, but I really think it will need to find a new audience than the established rugby one, especially it it not a platform that already has rugby. I understand what people say about fans will follow players, but there are a pretty big number of kiwis and Aussies in Japan and NH rugby. How many of us watch it to see these players? Once someone leaves my team, in general I find it of very little interest how he goes. Rugby to most of us is a team sport, not a group of individuals sport. Not like Golf. tennis etc
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
But is the IPL really watched outside of the Sub-Continent though? I personally don't know anyone who watches it here in NZ. Just India has a population of 1.5 billion people. I not sure 360 rugby is going to get even a slight portion of interest as that. Not sure if it's right, but most a lot of it's popularity is in the Indian etc betting market.

It could be more popular than we suspect, but I really think it will need to find a new audience than the established rugby one, especially it it not a platform that already has rugby. I understand what people say about fans will follow players, but there are a pretty big number of kiwis and Aussies in Japan and NH rugby. How many of us watch it to see these players? Once someone leaves my team, in general I find it of very little interest how he goes. Rugby to most of us is a team sport, not a group of individuals sport. Not like Golf. tennis etc

That makes sense if you look at this from a purely sports pov. Which is something we do in Rugby. That's great but fails to understand what professional sports actually is. And that is an entertainment product. How they are looking at it is very much an entertainment product based around a sport much like the NFL. But in this case Rugby. This is fairly obvious when you read articles that note that Rugby apparently has two to three times the fanbase of American Football but earns something like 20 times less revenue.

Look at the NFL. Not the sport but the organisation. It's not a sports administrating body. It's an event entertainment company. Same as FIA and F1. The NFL will be hosting a game in Melbourne from next season onwards. At the MCG. They will fill it. As they did last week in Dublin. The opening week in Rio. As they will in London, Munich etc. Now fans of the NFL will go to these games. But I can guarantee there will be plenty of event goers with only an understanding of what it is that will also flock to the event. Same with F1. I know several people who have attended the Aus F1 who have absolutely no interest in it beyond the weekend.

Closer to home we have the NRL with SoO. I know people who don't watch any NRL regular season but will gladly pick a side and tune into that game. A number from outside of NSW or Qld and with no connection to players.
 

Giulia

Allen Oxlade (6)
That makes sense if you look at this from a purely sports pov. Which is something we do in Rugby. That's great but fails to understand what professional sports actually is. And that is an entertainment product. How they are looking at it is very much an entertainment product based around a sport much like the NFL. But in this case Rugby. This is fairly obvious when you read articles that note that Rugby apparently has two to three times the fanbase of American Football but earns something like 20 times less revenue.

Look at the NFL. Not the sport but the organisation. It's not a sports administrating body. It's an event entertainment company. Same as FIA and F1. The NFL will be hosting a game in Melbourne from next season onwards. At the MCG. They will fill it. As they did last week in Dublin. The opening week in Rio. As they will in London, Munich etc. Now fans of the NFL will go to these games. But I can guarantee there will be plenty of event goers with only an understanding of what it is that will also flock to the event. Same with F1. I know several people who have attended the Aus F1 who have absolutely no interest in it beyond the weekend.

Closer to home we have the NRL with SoO. I know people who don't watch any NRL regular season but will gladly pick a side and tune into that game. A number from outside of NSW or Qld and with no connection to players.
NFL and Formula 1 aren't new they've been around since Joseph Stalin was alive
 
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