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NRL, A-League should expand in New Zealand

Roar Guru
22nd September, 2010
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Roar Guru
22nd September, 2010
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4069 Reads
The Kiwi team line up after losing the New Zealand Kiwis v Australian Kangaroos Centenary test. AAP Image/Hagen Hopkins/PHOTOSPORT

A report in the New Zealand media has said that rugby is New Zealand’s favourite sport, with league in second and football in third.

“While more New Zealanders are interested in the ITM Cup than in the NRL or A-League, a new poll released by UMR Research shows big regional variations. The poll asked New Zealanders to chose whether they were most interested in the ITM Cup Rugby, the NRL Rugby League or in the A-League:

– Amongst New Zealanders as a whole, 41 per cent chose the ITM Cup, while 22 per cent chose the NRL and 16 per cent chose the A-League.

– In Auckland, however, the NRL leads the ITM Cup by 33 per cent to 26 per cent, with the A-League on 17 per cent.

– In Wellington, 31 per cent prefer the A-League and the Wellington Phoenix, while 40 per cent chose the ITM Cup and only 10 per cent prefer the NRL.

– The ITM Cup is the choice of the majority of people in Lower North Island provincial areas (54 per cent), in Canterbury (54 per cent) and in other parts of the South Island (53 per cent).

The poll also shows that 63 per cent of New Zealanders prefer Super Rugby over the ITM Cup.”

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This report, in my opinion, makes Christchurch a must for either a NRL or A-League side. Football is restricted because of the Oceania versus Asia division, but rugby league does not have the same constraints.

Rugby union, with the World Cup coming to New Zealand, will get a surge; football, as memories of its World Cup fade, will lose market share. But in the long run, rugby union in New Zealand is in what marketers call the mature phase of a product cycle, meaning rugby’s market share can only decrease as it is near impossible to grow it further.

Thus as new competitors enter the New Zealand sports market, they will take market share from rugby.

The AFL has little to no chance, netball … cannot see it as a long-term player if other players get serious. The Wellington Phoenix have sold out Christchurch the last couple of times they played there, meaning, I guess, that the good folk of Christchurch are open to another team.

If football can get another New Zealand team and are successful in Christchurch it starts to open up the hold rugby has on the country. The same goes for league; a smart play in Christchurch could start to erode the existing preference for Union.

Not that Union will be anything other than the national sport, but other sports will get a better look in.

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