With a gap between the Super Rugby final and the Rugby Championships, ‘The Wrap’ this week offers something a little different.

What follows is an abridged version of a proposal/idea submitted to the ARU in June. Feedback and comments are welcomed below.

Introducing… Rugby Sevens Smash

A thrilling, intense 20-day league full of noisy, non-stop rugby action, featuring the cream of Rugby Sevens athletes, men and women, from Australia and around the world.

Tapping into heightened interest following the Rio Olympic Games, modelled on cricket’s hugely successful Big Bash League, Rugby Sevens Smash is designed to capture and showcase the skills of Sevens rugby to new audiences across Australia.

Executive Summary:
As identified in its own 2016 strategic plan, the ARU operates in an Australian sports market that is crowded and ultra-competitive. For rugby to not only maintain relevance and financial viability, but to achieve growth in interest and participation, rugby administrators must be bold, innovative and pro-active.

Rugby Sevens, for men and women, is experiencing rapid growth in participation and popularity. Sydney recently very successfully hosted a leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. The Rio Olympics has triggered massive mainstream exposure and increased interest from demographics outside of traditional rugby followers.

The popular and well-established World Series currently operates within a December to May window. Domestically, Rugby Sevens exists mostly in the form of one-off local and regional tournaments, with a prototype women’s league mooted for 2017.

The Big Bash Cricket League has demonstrated that, with a clever marketing strategy and appropriate promotion, there is a large, un-tapped market for traditional sport that is adapted to meet the contemporary needs of live and TV audiences.

Aligned with this, both the ARU and New Zealand Rugby Union are pro-actively looking to better engage females in rugby, and to generate more revenue.

With Sevens, rugby has the product to fill what is a compelling expansion opportunity. Beginning in November 2017, over an intense period of 20 days, immediately following the completion of the NRC and ITM Cup, in a period where the national sporting calendar is relatively open, Rugby Sevens Smash can deliver 10 nights of thrilling sevens action.

Sixteen teams of elite rugby players (8 men’s and eight women’s teams) would compete in 9 locations across Australia and New Zealand, in a unique, annual professional league, with the support of a major naming rights sponsor and TV partner.

Rugby Sevens Smash fulfils a number of the stated objectives of the 2016 strategic plan. It offers the prospect of a much-needed revenue stream for the ARU, consolidation of rugby as a major participation and spectator sport for women, and a flow-on into wider, increased support for rugby in general.

The name:

The name Rugby Sevens Smash;

– is bold, contemporary and modern; it plays to a youthful audience
– simply and instantaneously describes the sport being played
– is alliteratively appealing
– references the positive physical appeal of rugby
– highlights the ‘hit and run’ nature of an intense, 20-day league
– suggests excitement for the viewer
– is similar in concept to what has already proven successful in cricket

The Business Proposal:
It is essential that the overarching control and administration of rugby in Australia, in all forms, is retained by the ARU. Players are contracted centrally, Super Rugby, the NRC and Sevens Rugby all fall under the auspices of the ARU, thus it is inconceivable (and undesirable) that a separate, privately owned competition could successfully launch and operate in isolation.

Either directly or via an events partner, it would be the ARU (with or without the New Zealand Rugby Union) that would own Rugby Sevens Smash, love it and nurture it, and reap the benefits from it.

With the introduction of the NRC, the ARU has already demonstrated its ability to devise, construct, launch and operate a national competition in a short time frame. The main two differences with the Rugby Sevens Smash are;
– the scale is smaller, the number of players fewer, the duration of the league is compressed into 20 days only
– in terms of public profile, the vision is far grander; the objective here is not to operate a ‘second tier’ competition as a development pathway for young players, and build this over time, but to overtly and confidently implant a new high-profile event into the national sporting calendar

Participating Teams:
For continuity, ease of brand recognition and cost minimisation, teams would be as per existing Super Rugby franchises. With Australian Super Rugby and NRC sides already comprising 13 different team names, rugby fans have no appetite for any new, manufactured, ‘corporate sounding’ team names.

This is an opportunity to reinforce and build on the existing Super Rugby franchise brands.

New women’s teams will be formed for each franchise, for the purposes of the Rugby Sevens Smash only. The league will be unique whereby professional men’s and women’s teams in a high-profile team sport, compete together in an identical format.

Scheduling and logistical constraints require that participants are limited to eight men’s and women’s teams. This will comprise all of the five Super Rugby franchises from Australia plus three of the Super Rugby franchises from New Zealand (New Zealand Rugby Union to determine)

The inclusion of New Zealand is important in that it gives the league added credibility, enhances the partnership between the ARU and New Zealand Rugby Union and ensures greater fan interest in Australia from ex-pat New Zealanders.

Timing/participating players:
In simple form, the calendar year can be broken down as follows;

Late February – early August – Super Rugby
June – Inbound internationals
Mid August – early October – Rugby Championships
Mid August – late October – NRC/ITM Cup
November – Outbound internationals
December – May – IRB Sevens World Series

The calendar, as it stands, requires different cohorts of players to be participating in various competitions, at various levels, throughout the year. It is assumed that no material changes will be made to this schedule.

A pre-requisite for Rugby Sevens Smash is to have the best available players participate – noting that 1/3 of elite rugby players (front and middle rowers plus some others) would not realistically be considered for Sevens in any circumstances.

It is apparent from the existing schedule, and taking into account player welfare requirements, that there is no available window that would provide an opportunity for elite Wallabies (and All Blacks) players, who are current selections, to participate.

A November window for Rugby Sevens Smash provides the best opportunity to ensure participation of the best available players, including;
– elite Sevens players who are preparing for the IRB World Series
– players from the NRC and ITM Cup
– Wallabies (and All Blacks) players who miss selection for the outbound tour
– a selection of overseas players and (potentially) out of contract rugby league players

Note that player availability is a concern for the men’s competition only, as there are not the same competing demands on women players.

It is accepted that, to provide participating players with a suitable rest period, there would be some disruption to the early stages of preparation for Super Rugby. Mitigating against this are the following factors;
– taking into account the unsuitability of the game for tight forwards, and the availability of specialist Seven’s players, squads for each franchise (14-15 players) might include around only 7-8 Super Rugby players each
– participating players in Rugby Sevens Smash will be clear of playing commitments more than two weeks ahead of players selected for the outbound tours
– there are a total of seven 14-minute round-robin matches, plus potential for two finals matches, spread over two weeks. Before allowing for squad rotation, the total amount of rugby to be played by any individual player is minimal (maximum playing time, 126 minutes)
– due to the compressed playing schedule, and travel requirements, there will be low training demand placed on players

Each franchise would be allowed to include one player from outside Australia and New Zealand as a ‘guest’ or ‘marquee’ player.

Competition structure:
The Rugby Sevens Smash would kick-off in Melbourne, on Melbourne Cup eve, after completion of the NRC and ITM Cup (it may be necessary to shift these competitions forward by one week). Thereafter, at two-day intervals, each participating city, plus Adelaide, will host one event, leading up to the final, which will be held on a Saturday evening.

Across ten playing days (evenings), each participating side will play seven round-robin matches, have two byes, with the final evening featuring two semi-finals and a grand-final.

Aside from the final round-robin round, when all teams will play (eight matches), and the final itself, every evening would comprise three men’s games and three women’s games, a total of six 14-minute matches (for the sake of clarity and travel logistics, men’s and women’s will follow an identical draw).

Individual franchises would be encouraged to arrange preliminary games featuring local schoolchildren, although live TV coverage would begin with the main competition and follow a consistent format throughout the whole tournament.

A total of four men’s and four women’s teams will qualify for play on finals evening (semi-finals and final). Finals evening will be hosted by the city/franchise that is the highest ranked Australian men’s side from the round-robin matches

2017 matches would be scheduled as follows (assuming inclusion of, say, the Blues, Hurricanes and Highlanders);

1. Monday 31st October, Melbourne
2. Wednesday 2nd November, Perth
3. Friday 4th November, Sydney
4. Sunday 6th November, Wellington
5. Tuesday 8th November, Dunedin
6. Thursday 10th November, Auckland
7. Saturday 12th November, Brisbane
8. Monday 14th November, Canberra
9. Wednesday 16th November, Adelaide

10. Saturday 19th November, Venue TBA, in Australia

Semi-finals
SF1: 1st place v fourth place women’s
SF2: second place v third place women’s
SF3: 1st place v fourth place men’s
SF4: second place v third place men’s

Finals
F1: Winner SF1 v SF2
F2: Winner SF3 V SF4

– venues will be, where commercially and logistically feasible, the major rugby grounds in each host city.
– a team of suitably qualified match officials will officiate throughout the whole competition.
– the competition will be played under the same laws and conditions that apply to the IRB Sevens World Series.
– host franchises will be responsible for match day operations at each venue.

Potential Obstacles:
The November window does not allow participation from elite Wallabies and All Blacks on outbound tours.

– not all of these players are suitable for Sevens
– some who are suitable would elect not to play anyway
– given that the target audience includes fans and potential fans who do not currently have an intimate – – – – knowledge of rugby, how many Wallabies have genuine ‘star’ brand recognition anyway?
– the BBL has succeeded without a number of elite, high-profile Australian cricketers participating
– can be offset by the development and promotion of players from within the competition, including ‘marquee’ – – players from Fiji, USA, South Africa and elsewhere

The New Zealand Rugby Union declines to be involved.

– the competition could be reshaped to replicate and align to the eight NRC teams instead of Super Rugby franchises. This is a key advantage to the ARU owning and controlling the competition
– the make-up of squads, and definition of ‘marquee’ player could be altered to provide for an ‘overseas’ player AND a (separate) New Zealand player

Free to Air television coverage is not obtained

– Pay TV coverage would likely be obtained at a minimum. Given that this is new/additional content, in a month where elite domestic sport is relatively quiet, the league should be attractive and saleable to Pay TV for a substantial figure
– a third-party deal could still be sought to try to maximise exposure on free-to-air television

The timing negatively impacts on the preparation of the Australian (and New Zealand) Sevens sides for the IRB Rugby Sevens World Series.

– there will still be some time (2-3 weeks) between the completion of the league and the first leg of the World Series
– advantages provided to the players and the sport of Rugby Sevens by way of income, profile and the very existence of another league in which to play, should outweigh any inconvenience with regard to cross-over

The timing negatively impacts on the preparation of Super Rugby franchises for the following season.

– already addressed in previous section

There is push-back from the player’s union with respect to player welfare/burnout issues
– for participating players, the extra time for this league is far less than for players involved with the outbound internationals
– training time will be kept to a minimum
– game time will be minimal (maximum of 124 minutes spread across 20 days)
– squad rotation will be encouraged
– overall benefits for players (financial and exposure) will reasonably offset welfare concerns
– welfare concerns are really only a potential issue for the players involved with NRC/ITM Cup AND Super Rugby. Some players will only be involved in one of those competitions. Many players will be involved in neither, including all overseas players and all of the women’s players

There is a punishing travel schedule which poses logistical and player welfare issues.

– while the schedule is tight, and delays are always possible with air travel, there remains sufficient spare time to ensure that teams arrive in each location the day before play at the next
– after playing three consecutive legs, sides receive a bye, thus providing a 4-day break before their next leg
– the longest flight leg is four hours

Not all stadiums will be available due to clashes with Cricket and A-League Soccer.

– there are potential A-League/venue clashes only in Wellington, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. There are venue alternatives and enough flexibility in the draw to re-jig to avoid clashes if required

The new league does not include Fiji
– inclusion of one side from Fiji would provide a national/franchise imbalance
– inclusion of multiple sides from Fiji would result in too many teams, leading to added complexity and logistical problems, and potential imbalance between the men’s and women’s leagues
– the alternative for Fijian players to be guest players provides the benefit of adding skill and excitement to the league without introducing structural problems

Traditional rugby supporters will not embrace a new professional, Sevens league

– in many cases this is likely, but does it matter? The marketing plan will clearly identify target demographic groups, of which traditional rugby followers is only one
– Rugby Sevens Smash is designed to capture a NEW audience for rugby
– Outcomes from the BBL show that for every traditional cricket follower who does not engage with this league, there are multiples of new fans attending live and following on TV
– IRB World Series legs in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong are strongly associated with alcohol consumption. BBL has shown how it is possible to deliver a product which successfully meets the expectations of all sub-sets of fans, including families, and allow everyone to have fun and feel safe

Marketing plan and Financial analysis:

The development and costing of a comprehensive marketing plan is obviously integral to the successful establishment and implementation of Rugby Sevens Smash.

While the product is genuinely attractive and compelling in its own right, judicious and determined promotion of the league is essential to get whole families along for the ride.

It is assumed that an ARU account of establishment costs, sponsorships and a forecast operating budget will determine the financially feasibility of the league.

Summary:

The ARU has announced a new domestic sevens competition for 2017/18.

While this is a positive step forward, the ARU stands to gain maximum benefit by adopting a bold approach, pitching a league at the highest level and packaging this in a way which captures wide public attention and maximises commercial interest from sponsors and TV.

Rugby Sevens Smash meets this criteria, in addition to addressing many of the objectives outlined in the 2016 Strategic Plan.

Author’s note: The ARU has acknowledged receipt of the proposal, and encourages public discussion and debate on the topic.