The National Rugby Championship has started with a big bang on the field but with a bit of a whimper off it.
The rugby has been fast paced and entertaining, the law variations have had a positive impact without changing the fundamental nature of the game and new talent is breaking through.
On the other hand, the competition is largely invisible to many, excepting the most diehard fans, crowds have been small and none of the TV games have rated in the top 20 for the day on Foxtel.
It must be acknowledged that this first season has been put together in a very short time frame. There is limited money for a national advertising campaign or a PR blitz. With these limitations in play the NRC is doing okay.
But the competition has a long runway of growth ahead of it. Despite the financial limitations I believe there are a number of initiatives that could boost the NRC from next season.
1. Live streaming
Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way. It is imperative that all non-televised games in the NRC are streamed live online at a decent quality and with commentary. This should not be up to the clubs to organise separately. One YouTube channel and the NRC website should be the home for all streamed matches.
Having all the matches in one place will increase awareness, viewing numbers will grow and tribal support will develop. The competition will not grow without tragic rugby fans becoming tragic NRC fans and advocating to others. And tribal support will not develop while 75 per cent of games can’t be seen.
The Australian Ice Hockey league manages to live stream matches. American College rugby teams manage to live stream matches. A professional competition run by an organisation with a turnover of $100 million in 2013 can certainly figure out a way to live stream matches. Especially as part of the cost can be mitigated through sponsorship.
2. Challenge Shield
The biggest prize in domestic rugby in New Zealand is the Ranfurly Shield. Crowds and interest in shield games are significantly higher than regular ITM Cup games. For those unfamiliar think of the shield as like a title belt in boxing – one that the holder defends every time they play at home.
An Australian rugby fan at Green and Gold Rugby has proposed introducing a similar shield to the NRC named after the late Brumbies player Shawn Mackay. The Shield would initially be given to the winners of this year’s NRC (in addition to the NRC trophy), and would be defended at their first home game of 2015.
While the prestige of the Ranfurly Shield exists through decades of tradition there is no reason a similar concept can’t work in Australia. It would be unique in Australian sport and something Australian rugby fans, players and coaches would buy into from the start.
This is a brilliant idea and all the ARU would have to do is endorse it. The cost of creating the shield can be crowd sourced and presented on behalf of fans.
3. Double-header events in Sydney and Brisbane
I’d like to propose that each season of the NRC feature a weekend of double-headers – one in Sydney on a Saturday afternoon featuring the four New South Wales teams, and the other in Brisbane on the Sunday featuring the two Queensland teams playing against inter-state rivals.
These should be more than just a couple of rugby matches – they should be events with a rugby theme. Think local bands, sevens matches before and between the main games, kid zones and a mini street food and craft beer festival.
I suggest these events should either open the season or be played the week after the NRL grand final. Keep the prices low, promote it as a festival for the rugby community at good venues and the people will come. With clever promotion there’s no reason such events couldn’t attract big crowds at the Sydney Football Stadium and Suncorp Stadium.
4. Combined Super Rugby and NRC memberships
The easiest people to convert to the NRC are those that regularly attend Super Rugby. Given the crowds to the NRC so far, this has not yet been achieved to any great extent.
When people sign up for a Super Rugby membership they should have the option of adding on an NRC season ticket to their package. In the one-team cities this is easy enough, but it’s not much more difficult for the Waratahs and Reds to provide a choice of NRC memberships.
5. Free NRC passes for junior rugby players
Every registered junior and student rugby player from the cities holding games should receive a pass (in the form of a plastic card) that provides free entry to all NRC matches.
The physical pass would increase awareness, encourage more families to attend and is something kids would enjoy having.
6. International marquee player allowance
Before the NRC began a lot of the publicity the competition received was because of a rumour that Johnny Wilkinson was going to be signed for a few matches. For whatever reason, this didn’t go ahead.
In a crowded sporting market it is very difficult for the NRC to attract significant media attention. Having a player like Wilkinson involved would have been a huge boost for the competition – not just the team he played for.
If NRC teams are willing to fund the acquisition of an international marquee player I think they should be allowed to. There would unlikely ever be more than two or three involved in the competition at any one time and there would be no huge advantage to those teams that signed one. For the competition the publicity would be valuable and would cost the ARU nothing.
7. Stop calling it the third tier
Since its conception the NRC has consistently been talked about as a third-tier competition. Or a player development competition. It’s the worst branding imaginable for a new sporting league and negatively affects the perceptions of casual fans. Why would anyone want to go to something that is essentially labelled third rate? Or that is purely designed to develop players for other competitions?
Australian rugby fans, administrators, commentators and media need to stop obsessing about tiers. You never hear this word used in other sports. Technically the NRL is the third highest level that Australian rugby league players can be selected for, yet you’d never hear it called third tier.
The NRC has to stand out as a competition in its own right as the highest level of domestic rugby. Teams should be aiming to win the national title (and hopefully in future, the shield) above anything else. Player development will occur naturally as a result of that.
Scrumpoacher
Guest
Still living in the past with that reference...
bryan
Guest
I haven't heard good commentary in any sport for quite awhile.... At least since Skull retired
Stin
Guest
Great article. Craft beer and rugby - surely a match made in heaven.
Bakkies
Guest
Boks are mostly back for the last rounds and finals which fills the stands.
Eddard
Roar Guru
Brett, the perfect time to add the shield would be in year 2 as it makes sense to give it to the winners of year 1. I don't think it's really adding any significant layer. It doesn't add any complexity to the competition, or any real logistical or administrative challenges. It's just something cool that may add a bit of interest for fans and the competing teams. And Sheek, the challenge shield wouldn't add any additional fixtures. It would simply be on the line every time the holder plays a home game as is the case with the Ranfurly Shield in the ITM Cup.
jimmyc
Guest
You guys are missing the point. There is plenty of footage whole games even. I am talking about a round wrap just like ABC Shute Shield one.
Marlins Tragic
Guest
Not that I am one, but I have plenty of mates that love RL, so are you saying that leaguey's don't like craft beer?
Marlins Tragic
Guest
+1
Marlins Tragic
Guest
At $50 bucks for a season pass to get access to ALL the stream, live or otherwise, with "good commentary" - I'm in :)
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Sheek, Do you watch much ITM Cup or Currie Cup? Because if a national competition requires that the best are available .i.e. ABs or Boks then neither of them are national competitions either. Because if you do watch it you'd note that at best a couple of ABs have gone back for one game and one game only and so far not a single a Bok has featured in the Currie Cup.
Marlins Tragic
Guest
Firstly, why don't Fox recorded the game & show it later? Secondly, Don't worry Roar boys, Google should give you author rank over that other site :) At least that site is not running google adsence ads, then I'd be a little worried if I were the marketing dude here at the Roar.
Bakkies
Guest
How do you know that the IRB is being insular?
Bakkies
Guest
Weren't on sold live rights? The problem for SA is that Thursday night Aus games are on during working hours.
scrumpoacher
Guest
Comments disappeared? Sheek got me taken down I suppose...
AndyS
Guest
But Sheek, the only thing that bestows "history, tradition, heritage & tribalism " is time. Expecting those in what is by definition a new competition is the epitome of “I want it now”. The best you were ever going to get is the mere illusion of those things; the real thing is something that has to be built from somewhere.
clipper
Guest
Eddard, I can see your point and perhaps I didn't word my post the best - by all means call it them National Championship games, but if there is negative publicity with the crowds, it can be justified by saying it is equal to Aussie Rules crowds and probably greater than league crowds at that level, but should only be mentioned for discussions such as those.
Woodsman
Guest
Interesting read, Brett. Good to see opinions from the northern hemisphere regarding some of the law changes. We like to peg them as revelling in set piece dominated borefests and kickathons but perhaps it's not entirely the case. If enough articles like this pop up elsewhere in the world of rugby perhaps the IRB can be convinced to be a little less insular too.
Mike
Guest
One further point - commercial FTA will not be interested in promoting and broadcasting a comp that they suspect may not be there next year. Hence why I agree 100% with ARU making long term financial viability a priority.
Mike
Guest
"it is time the ARU stood up to Fox ( who are after all only showing ONE match per week anyway) and offer the footage to the local broadcasters..." This assumes that Fox is preventing free to air broadcasting - I don't know that they are. I haven't seen any direct reports to that effect, and Fox handed over digital rights to the ARU which it didn't want to exploit itself. Also, it is clear that Fox is willing to share broadcasting with FTA interests if the terms are right. It has done that with NRL and AFL. It also indicated it was prepared to do so with Super Rugby, but that seems to have died because of a conflict of priorities - Fox/Sky want to do a deal for all of Super Rugby whereas Australian FTA just want to pick the eyes out, i.e. the local derbies and don't want the other matches. That at least will not be an issue for NRC. As Brett points out above, broadcasting costs money. Paying ABC to do it isn't viable - ARU is arleady living hand to mouth and this comp is being run on a shoestring. Therefore, the only way forward for FTA is commercial broadcasting, i.e. finding an FTA network prepared to take on the comp as a regular broadcast designed to increase ratings to significant levels. That involves both serious commercial risk and serious potential for profit. Its not something any FTA network will take on lightly. They have to know that the comp is a good one, and that its backers (ARU etc) are both serious and competent. I think that has to be what the ARU aims at. If it doesn't get it this year, then just keep aiming for it. And they should keep talking to all the commercial networks - not just Ten, but SBS, Nine and Seven. And at the same time ARU should continue to pursue whatever marketing initiatives are within its means, including: * following up this streaming - it seems to have potential to get the games onto TV screens, and the more viewers it gets, the more it assists the push to get on FTA as well. We don't know yet what commercial potential streaming has got, but if NRC can pursue it with little expense then it should do so, and who knows - they might be at the cutting edge on this one. * persuading Fox(tel) to take up more games on its network - that requires that Foxtel be satisfied that it will get ratings. * other marketing initiatives. Its all part of getting a viable footprint. Bums on seats is particularly important.
Richard
Roar Rookie
That does sound like a lot, $66k - $198k over the season. But let’s say you go for the no frills option, 1 - 2 camera and no commentary. Let’s also say that 2000 people will watch each game steamed/available online for free (excluding Fox). So that's 6000 people per week watching the content if the games streamed/available at no cost to the viewer. These are very small numbers. Now I am going to make a heroic assumption and one based entirely on my own preferences. I am an accountant and an economist, so I am comfortable with this. Let’s say a third of these people would still watch the games even if they had to pay to access the content. That’s 2000 people per week paying to watch the streamed/available games. Let’s say their maximum price point is $5 per round or roughly $50 for a season pass. Now you’ve just generated $100k of subscription revenue before sponsorship and even assuming your costs are 25% higher than the $66k you originally estimated for the season, you’ve still made money, maybe! All of this rests on the assumption that the die hard, grass roots, ‘rugby is me life’ punters get on board. Judging by what we have seen in these initial rounds that assumption may not be too wide of the mark. The real point I am trying to make here is not that it is The Roar’s responsibility to think about this stuff. It is the responsibility of a well-resourced media organisation to give genesis to these types of ideas (all of them above). Unfortunately the media organisation rugby has been monopolised by is doing what monopolist always do, raping profits from the consumer while providing a substandard product.