ARU welcomes new vision for Super Rugby

[UNCLE BOOG]

for the record, and not that Im speaking verbatim, but when I asked Foley (aside from not knowing the details, and me doing my best to remember it all) his thoughts on the proposed conference system, he had the reply and mentality I had expected: "I think they will make the arrangements as they see best, Mark (Sinderberry) will be involved with negotiations, and we will just front up and play, Id like to know what you (the fans) think actually."

[UNCLE BOOG]

Holy crap. The travel will be out of control. If we are gonna go with an Argentine team we may as well put a US team in there as well. How about a different European "inivitational" side from England or France each year?

why stop there, we could have four conferences, playing a knock out set of games, for a finals series, maybe for a cup? a global cup? nah, can come up with a better name than that!

[The Man]

Utter rubbish , unless the Japanese side can get 100 mill a year for the other teams

[jargan83]

Australian television broadcasters have cast doubts about the new Super Rugby format, which could spell financial disaster for the Australian Rugby Union, as it seeks to stem losses of about $5 million to $10 million annually.

The South Africa, New Zealand and Australia rugby body announced last week a new 18-team provincial tournament, up from the current 15. The revised four-conference Super Rugby model will encompass a new team from Argentina, a yet to be determined side and a sixth South African franchise.

Several television broadcasters told The Australian Financial Review they were concerned that the new model included fewer local derbys, which rate higher than matches between Australian teams and foreign teams.

Some TV executives also felt the tournament structure was overly complex, which could hurt audiences, but were reluctant to comment publicly, given negotiations with the ARU over broadcast rights will start in coming months.

ARU chief executive Bill Pulver has previously said the sport should be capable of at least matching Football Federation Australia's $40 million annual deal with SBS and Fox Sports, which is shown on pay television *service Foxtel. This would be a massive uplift from the ARU's current $25 million deal with Fox Sports, which expires next year (Fox on-sells Wallabies test matches to free-to-air broadcaster Ten Network Holdings for about $5 million annually).

However, the A League, with nine Australian football teams, provides far more weekly Australian content to Fox than the revamped Super Rugby competition will, with each of the five *Australian teams to play only six games against sides from their own country every season.

It is understood Mr Pulver told rugby officials last week the sport was capable of getting at least a 50 per cent to 60 per cent boost in its current rights.

Mr Pulver told the Financial Review he was confident the sport would attract a large boost in broadcast revenue. "Live sport is increasingly becoming a very important and core asset for broadcasters and we think there will be some good competition for our rights," he said. Mr Pulver said the broadcast revenue from all of the countries participating in Super Rugby would be pooled and further negotiations would take place as to how much is then apportioned to each country.

After that process, he said, the Australian Rugby Union would end up with more funds than the current deal. "There will be two separate negotiations, first with the broadcasters there and then with [the other nations]," he said.Bidders undecided Hamish McLennan, executive chairman of Ten, said last month he would be interested in at least some Super Rugby rights but wanted to see the tournament's new format. He is yet to decide whether Ten will bid for the rights. "We are just getting our head around the structure and evaluating what it all means," Mr McLennan said after the new structure was announced.

It is understood the No. 1 free-to-air network, Seven West Media, will at least look at the Super Rugby rights, while second-placed Nine Entertainment Co is unlikely to bid. Super Rugby has never been broadcast on free-to-air television and was created in 1996 in part to sell to Foxtel, which gained an exclusive product to attract subscribers.

There is a belief that Super Rugby only makes sense on pay-television because ratings are too low to attract significant free-to-air advertising revenue. Rugby union's core audience in Australia is mid to high income earners who are happy to pay for Foxtel to watch sport.

The Big Bash League cricket competition averaged 638,000 metropolitan viewers on Ten in 2013 to 2014, compared with 154,000 the previous season when it was aired exclusively on Fox Sports.

Most matches featuring two Australian Super Rugby teams attract average audiences of about 80,000 on Fox Sports. If Super Rugby achieved similar audience growth on free-to-air television to what the Big Bash achieved when it moved to Ten, the provincial tournament would generate audiences of about 300,000 for its best-rating games.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...#ixzz30oz9JSpS

[shasta]

The A League has done extremely well from FTA exposure this year. Not to mention the gigantic free kick the NRL granted them for their GF weekend. Fox will likely attract some new subscribers from the excetcise as well.
Rugby desperately needs the same. Respected journo Richard Hinds is claiming that the ARU is currently on track to be bankrupt by the middle of next year.

[The InnFORCEr]

Oh no Shasta, how will the Reds, Tahs and Rebels survive

[Herbasimplex]

As well as being a bit hopeless at maths and unable to add up revenues their geography seems to be a bit off, having a south american and asian team proposed for africa, WTF? The only way an african conference would work if all the teams were in the same time frame. It is the constant gripe of the format as it now stands and the reason the south africans keep mumbling all the time about wanting to join a european comp. that will in no way solve anything.

50 to 60% boost in their rights..mmm...good luck.