Super Rugby might be the most important competition to Australian rugby, but it’s not given the attention it deserves.
I love Test rugby; it’s amazing theatre, ferocious rugby and it’s the biggest time of year for rugby to spend time in the media and casual fan’s eye.
The recent Lions tour has netted the ARU a great haul of money because of the travelling rugby fans from Britain and Ireland and the strong home support snapping up every available ticket to the Tests and most of the tour matches too.
The headlines of television news and many newspaper back pages were focused on the tour, speculating, highlighting and covering 4am fast food trips.
Truly the Wallabies were in the national spotlight like they rarely have been for a long time, and in general it is the Wallabies that capture that attention for rugby in Australia.
Yet Super Rugby carries most of the rugby calendar and is the backbone of the ARU’s year-on-year revenue.
It’s almost like Super Rugby is buried away on Foxtel to churn and churn through the weeks of smaller crowds and television audiences in order to fund the business Wallabies’ few weeks in the spotlight each June and August now.
In Sydney, a story about Israel Folau is probably the only Waratahs news that cuts through the media noise in the last 12 months. On a national scale a Kurtley Beale beer, a Quade Cooper bout and a James O’Connor multivitamin are the only other things that get much of a ripple.
Why is this?
I’d argue its because not enough people see Super Rugby. Not enough of the public have the option to follow the teams and therefore don’t recognise many of them or know how their nearest team is doing.
For that reason it’s simple math when the media outlets focus on other things rather than the Super Rugby teams. The stories wouldn’t resonate.
It’s not enough for rugby to rely on Super Rugby as the revenue-making machine that underpins the regular expenditure to get us to the next Wallabies event.
The Wallabies play about 12-14 games per year and only six or seven of those will ever be in Australia.
In a crowded sports calendar where recognition, live scores and player movements dominate the casual fan’s self-curated news feeds and timelines it’s simply not enough to rely on the Wallabies to be the only time rugby sits in the national view – six times per year.
There are five Super Rugby teams and each of those play eight home games per year in the current competition format, plus finals if they do well. That’s 40 high quality games of rugby each season that barely get a glance outside the diehard rugby circles.
On top of that each team plays another two games in New Zealand, a very sensible time-zone for Australian consumption, especially on a Saturday.
Rugby is a game of passion, of contrasting style and a sense of romanticism – be daring and take risk, or safe and ensure parity is a question to be answered on almost every possession.
Every year at Test time my mates remember how much they love rugby. The week before the Lions tour they all tuned in to see which Wallabies names they remember and get excited to see the men in gold again.
After the first match they were astonished by how good Israel Folau is at rugby. Shocked. Because they just hadn’t seen him yet this year.
And that’s what I’m getting at.
For all its flaws, trying to adapt to the professional era, rugby’s biggest problem right now is probably the fact it isn’t shown on free-to-air television.
Many rugby followers are quick to remind us how thankful we should be for the sustenance Fox Sports cheques have provided, which enabled Super Rugby to get off the ground and begin to flourish to the point of expanding.
However, it’s time for a new era of rugby in Australia. An era in which every Australian has Super Rugby in their lounge rooms, not just the 30% who put up with the bloated Foxtel subscriptions.
For rugby to capitalise on the profile of its best players there needs to be a week-to-week presence in the national conversation.
I know the television contracts aren’t up for renewal for a couple of years but I would urge both trying to find a way to make this happen before 2016 (the Wallabies games were intelligently moved around) and ensure the next round of negotiations end in favour of rugby being presented to the entire Australian populace.
It became more apparent than ever again during this successful Lions tour that many people who like rugby just aren’t able to see it.
Barry
Guest
We should get to see all super rugby games for sure in stead we get American base ball over seas soccer games . They dont even show the gran final even if an Australian team has made it !
Ian
Guest
These broadcast viewer stats are just estimates based on sample users. The only way to get a proper real number is by IPTV, which isn't widely used yet.
CKG
Guest
Unfortunately, pay tv is the ARU's heroin. Instant gratification now with the injection of cold hard cash but slowly its health will decline. It'll go hungry a grow sickly, it's growth stunted. Disregarding the love of its fans and shunning those that try to help. It must one day take the path of freetoair but is scared of going cold turkey. Terrified of the shakes and shivering sweats as it faces the darkness without the glow of Rupert's cash. Ultimately it has the choice. Survive cold turkey and it will benefit from the nourishment and support from more followers and greater profile in the broader Australian family of sporting fans. It's a harsh addiction. It won't let go easily.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
I pay $85 per month for my subscription and I have everything but the movie and HD channels.
Chairman Kaga
Guest
So, it is about 4 times pricier for pay tv in Australia. The content is basically the same, but us Aussies have to pay 4 times the price. What is more morally bankrupt, price gouging or just sampling without paying?
J
Guest
Yes because only South African teams are ever show haha
Elisha Pearce
Guest
You can do it with the current broadband anyway AD. I do with foxtel right now out of my xbox. Thats essential internet TV, just a little box at my end. Most TVs right now can browse the web and if you're TV has HDMI you can plug a computer straight into it if you want.
Elisha Pearce
Guest
I've subscribed to both NBA TV and NFL online in the past. They cost more than I could afford on top of my other subscriptions in this country and I couldn't sustain it. However, watching online is still possible if you're willing to keep up to date with the new web address for your chosen broadcaster as he moves between countries to avoid the authorities. :P
Elisha Pearce
Guest
To answer what they DO download: short answer - in 2013 Game of Thrones. But mostly really strong niche shows that don't get a run here. LIke you pointed out, Japanese stuff, Korean cartoons all that. And some of the 'best' shows that don't get a look in at FTA here: Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Treme, OZ, Battlestar Gallatica, Lost. All that kind of thing. I just watched House of Cards (the internet only Netflix release) on a weekend away off my harddrive.
Sandy
Guest
I pay about R700 per month for DSTV, which is about A$80. No fta sports here. There are cheaper packages but they are total rubbish compared to mostly rubbish.
Elisha Pearce
Guest
People download sport but mostly not the sport in their market. Live sport, news and event television (whether thats a one off type thing or a special run of an Underbelly or the like) are what rate on television still. But not as strong as even 10 years ago. People still want to watch sport live here when they watch so don't download it as much, however the habit of downloading and watching it on pcs or laptops or off a harddrive means more young people spend less time aquainted with their tv schedules.
Atawhai Drive
Guest
I probably would, but it would be preferable if the games could be watched on a TV. Maybe IPTV will be the answer. Via the NBN, if that can be dragged out of the sewer of politics and we get fibre to the home.
MrT
Guest
I understood they're on the cusp of announcing that it's all go for the coming season...
dmac
Guest
This is where you start. Just one live game, on a Friday or (more likely) Saturday night. Get people used to knowing they can flick on channel 10 at 8pm on a Saturday and catch one or two of the top Aussie teams in action, every week. The die hards will still pay for their Foxtel because they want to see more than one game a week, and they want to be able to see their own team, who won't be on 10 every week. The rest of the public get a little bit of exposure to the game, and the profile slowly rises.
Milz
Guest
Why should I have to pay to watch a game I've played and watched most of my life. Particularly if those two clowns Kearns and Martin are commentating.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
That's not good for Basketball in Australia. Didn't they only start back up two seasons ago after a similar lay off. Shame.
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
I know of the free streaming set ups but those who provide them tend to subscribe already and they are often unreliable and very resrtictive in content in terms of timing etc. By offering relatively cheap, live or on demand content from around the world you could effectively develop a structure that would be able to compete with any competition in the world. If SANZAR were cluely enough, and I'd hope someone like Pulver who comes from a online media background would be at least aware of it. Then they could systematically attach all current content from each nation, create new content specifically for it, as well as chase broadcasts from all around the world. Imagine being able on one channel watch the Top League, European Rugby including the major and minor championships, games from Argentina etc. Literally hundreds if not thousands of games plus additional content for only $30 per month. All live or on demand for your viewing convenience. Stream it through your TV and you'd never leave you couch.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
It's three years old so yes it should be ok I guess! It's funny we/I use Internet, IPads and all the new technology every day for work and hmmmm, for the roar, but still struggle to connect Internet and TV together in my mind, duh! great days ahead then! Tbh, when it comes to costs, am not into fancy cars etc, so I know I don't mind paying for fox to get my sports fix. But if we get more providers and Internet tv am all for it!
Working Class Rugger
Roar Guru
Most of the major American Collegiate conference use this model to broadcast content, the NBA has been for a while and the NFL has been rapidly ramping up its offerings. That says something doesn't. Major sporting leagues are recognizing the growth opportunities being presented via IPTV. It would be remiss of SANZAR not to look at it in a serious manner. What is offers outside of domestic subscription is the potential to have viewers from all over the globe. So say if you have 3 million odd Rugby fans in the three SANZAR countries willing to subscribe to the SANZAR channel for $30 per month. Then you're laughing without the need to even look toward other regions, which you will of course.
Chairman Kaga
Guest
Technically "IPTV" rugby already exists and has for quite a while right on your computer with an internet connection. Like the video and music businesses, companies like the AFL, NRL and SANZAR are always 5 to 10 years behind what the market actually wants.. It is the only way I have been able to watch a lot of rugby for years. It is a bit of a legal grey area. Illegal to "rebroadcast" but quite legal to view. But how do you stop the broadcasters when they are legally in a territory without such laws?