The 2013 Australian Rugby Union Annual Report is a revealing document that highlights the dire situation Australian rugby currently finds itself in.
Of the 86-page document, only 26 discuss the finances. The first 47 are a glossy smokescreen that precedes the grim truth about the ARU’s dismal financial situation and the fact that it ain’t improving any time soon. The reporting equivalent of The Emperor’s New Clothes, it’s testament to Pulver’s marketing background and the ARU’s inability to get it – they need the grassroots players and supporters to deliver their strategy and grow the game.
The lynchpin of the ARU’s strategic plan is to expand participation, both playing and supporting, to develop elite success, which will allow the ARU to reach its financial potential. The vision is “To re-unite and re-energise Australian Rugby.”
Australian rugby’s financial problems are too big to be buried behind 48 pages of loose, slicked-up statistics twisted into snappy infographics, happy stories and coloured-up images. It’s 1980’s style PR – “Look! It’s an eagle!”
It’s actually super simple. During the 2013 financial year 95 per cent of the ARU’s $145M revenue came from broadcasting, match day and sponsorships. So the entire value proposition rests on the number of stakeholders who watch rugby on TV or buy tickets to games. Getting out of the hole requires a huge, loyal supporter base who want to buy tickets, watch broadcasts and see sponsor’s brands.
The 2013 New South Wales Rugby Union Annual Report shows that it is already running at a loss. Despite this, the ARU has chosen to alienate their core stakeholders – the players. Rugby has a small, loyal stakeholder base. The current administration’s commitment to oscillating between studiously ignoring them and actively alienating them makes no business sense.
In January 2014, the ARU released the results of the first Australian Rugby Annual Participation Census. They were thrilled to say 615,809 people had participated in rugby in 2013! More than ever before! A 27.5 per cent increase on the previous year!
Not so fast.
Of that 615,809 participants, nearly 400,000 were occasional and promotional participants. That’s an awful lot of under-tens who had a kick-around at a promo down at the local park. Once. Only 230,662 (37 per cent) took part in competition or structured rugby programs.
The Rugby Link streamlined registration service promised to help clubs streamline registration, competitions, websites, scoring, player statistics and supply bulk communication tools. It has become a Trojan Horse for a surprise national participation levy and a national insurance levy. Combined, they’ll cost seniors $100 a season and juniors $35.
This is probably small change to Pulver, who’s paid an astounding amount a year to run a business whose financial woes continue to deteriorate under his stewardship. Apart from the two women on the Board, the ARU is led by a core group of men who went to GPS schools, played rugby at an elite level and mix in rarefied circles. They know little about their grassroots players, a good many of whom live on the average wage and net $1120 a week.
On that wage, at the start of the season, a hundred bucks upfront stings. Especially on top of boots, headgear, mouthguard and a couple of kids starting winter sport. The club player is the backbone of the game. They scrimp to buy the big match tickets, they watch the broadcasts, they buy the merchandise, they take friends to games. They are the core of the ARU’s value proposition to broadcasters and sponsors.
They could be forgiven for thinking that the ARU is doing its level best to alienate them. Changing to a sporting code that is affordable could be a financial necessity for some families. Others might just like to be part of a code that values them and gets the concept of the average wage.
The spin in the ARU Annual Report is shameless. The loose use of statistics in the census media release is blatant. That the GPS old-boy, old-school leadership team is arrogant enough to sign off on them shows how much they underestimate the intelligence of the people they need to re-unite and re-energise Australian rugby.
The assumption that alienating the grassroots talent pipeline will deliver the elite success strategic outcome assumes that their talent pipeline comes out of the GPS system or from wealth. There are lots of budding Adam Ashley-Coopers out there, and in ten years’ time they’ll be playing elite level… rugby league.
For all its gloss, the Annual Report shows that the ARU is hopeless at adding up, has little respect for its existing stakeholder base and, with the current stakeholder approach, no hope of expanding it. If revenue boosts from the participation and insurance fees are based on their trademark slippery figures, rugby is guaranteed to slide deeper into the hole.
The way they’re going, in 20 years time going to the rugby will be as quaint and rarefied as watching royal tennis or bicycle polo. Enjoy it while it lasts.
30mm tags
Guest
Good analysis , Sheek. I don't understand the comments pointing to elitism as a reason that the following for RU is behind RL and AFL. . My belief that RU has a smaller following is based upon two things, firstly not many people are exposed to it as getting a Rugby union toe hold in a school that has established RL and /or AFL fixtures or sports days is very difficult and therefore to those who don't experience it at a young age are more likely to take an interest in what they are familiar with, ie RL or AFL. Secondly, RU is complicated and many people do not fall in love with what they do not understand. Like many who have been following the game for decades can not comprehend or justify many a ref's interpretation. Many people find that a reason to declare it is too complicated. Keep up the good work Sheek,you write well. Incidentally, I believe the NRC which you don't support has legs and I look forward to it in 2015.
soapit
Guest
the local community are happy playing league. that strategy only makes sense if youre not wanting anything to change out there.
soapit
Guest
that list only demonstrates the lack of commitment to this very important reform. are you seriously suggesting we ignore all the pro arguments because similar projects havent succeeded after one season.
soapit
Guest
checked out the big bash lately?
soapit
Guest
i'm sure the nrc plays a large part in that model with all the money staying in oz no matter who wins (i'm assuming they're planning that it will one day bring in some money)
Justin Mahon
Guest
Success needs to be redefined. Success will be a national league which is focused on developing players and which leverages existing resources and passion for the game such that people feel they 'own' the product and support it. This is what the FFA Cup and NPL national competition do in football (in two different ways). It matters to none of the fans of these clubs that the A-League and many other continental and other leagues are technically superior.
Bakkies
Guest
Tennis put too much emphasis on grass courts which there are very few events in the circuit on. This is while our players struggled on clay. There is a whole season plus Roland Garros on it with a raft of rankings points on offer. Serve-volley is no longer common either. This has brought the clay court players in to the field on hard and grass courts.
Garry Edwards
Guest
Kath Logan, you are a breath of fresh air- don't leave, (although you probably will) keep the energy and the awfull truth coming. Sad to say but too many writers dance around never quantifying and almost always hiding behind pseudonyms. I know, I know its social media but really are some people..... I've played rugby and been a fan for ~50 years but today, nah, poor administration, bad publicity, us versus them, the select GPS, the select clubs, votes around the table, the selfish dribble from parochial interstaters. And, no! It's not harmless it peeves people to such a point that they lose interest, less bums on seats, steers kids away, it saps the energy and next thing they're off the radar- permanently.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I'd love to meet the 6 year old who came up with that one.
tc
Guest
Storm Boy Well 7s has taken off around the world unlike league which will never amount to much outside two states of Australia
RobC
Roar Guru
Kurtley Beale contract topup for 2015?
Squirrel
Guest
Faith you have to be joking. Everything they do is the opposite of what has to be done
ethan
Guest
I agree with Not Bothered in that the position should be filled on qualifications, not gender. Having said that, diversity, in general, is definitely a good thing, to bring as many different backgrounds of experience, and therefore as many different viewpoints to cover all angles, as possible.
David Corduff
Guest
An excellent article which succinctly describes the ongoing demise of Australian rugby. The Sydney-centric nature of the administration ensures the head-in-the -sand attitude is maintained and sees rugby quietly falling further and further behind AFL and soccer. Rugby League is what it is and will probably sustain itself courtesy the State of Origin series. Just look at the rest of the rugby world...its thriving whilst we struggle. Why? It's all about the administration of the game. Please ARU...get your act together before it's too late. You owe it to the game and to those of us who are passionate about the greatest game on earth!
hog
Guest
Well the ARC was given a year life span by the ARU, Now wasn't that brilliant planning and foresight. Now who planned that miserably failed comp (as you say) well surprise, surprise it was the ARU. I haven't made up some dodgy statistic, but the majority of team sports are generally organized in domestic competitions in individual countries. What part of that is hard to understand.??? I haven't advocated that we just drop everything, but rugby in Australia will never gain market share in Australia while Super rugby is its leading competition. And that is a reality that the ARU will one day have to face. Pulver may very well want to do the right thing long term for the code here, but if you are for one minute that naive to think that the vested political & self interested parties that make up the controlling powers that are the ARU are gonna let him. Just remember there was a reason that world wide search for a CEO ended up in Mossman.
Johnno
Guest
Not Bothered What's a joke? that wer'e(OZ rugby) slip-sliding away? And all the rest. And as for insults, I can remember ever or not in an extremely long time that Ire or Wales are higher ranked than us.
Johnno
Guest
Not Bothered And look at how much hockey generates in revenue nad participation rates, despite aussie being a good field-hockey country. Field-Hockey doesn't have a full-time pro comp in Australia, and not many countries of the world have a full time pro hockey comp where big money is paid. India,Holland,Germany, are the only countries I can think off, that resemble haveing any pro hockey comp. Don't know of any aussie hockey players earning 500K per year. Maybe if hockey had more generous subsidies, they might have more participants, same with Tennis, and now while were at RUGBY.
Not Bothered
Guest
Australian national rugby comps. Wallaby trophey. Failed due to lack of funds. APC. Failed and discontinued after 1 year. ARC. Failed and discontinued after 1 year. NRC. Running at a loss. Super Rugby (in Australia) Running at a loss. So forgive me if I doubt that throwing all the eggs in one basket and diving head first into a stand alone domestic comp is the solution.
Not Bothered
Guest
I think the local community should start a rugby team rather than wait for Pulver to do it for them.
Not Bothered
Guest
Mate, if you believe any sport will succeed in a national comp then you are simply wrong. To try and use some made up statistic to support your theory is nonsense. A domestic league was never utilised ever until the APC. The ARC failed miserably, nobody watched it and the ARU put a lot of money into it, even paying for it to be shown on TV due to a complete and utter lack of interest from TV channels to invest in an Australian domestic rugby comp. Now the ARU have learned from this and are trying to be a bit more sensible about it with the NRC. Your opinion that they must quit everything and commit to a very risky domestic comp that according to past experience is very difficult to get backing of any kind for is not thought out. If a domestic comp is the way to go then Pulver and co are doing it right rather than jumping into the deep end with no back up, especially after finding out its hard to keep afloat in Australia. You dont have the solution, the ARU are working on one and you should show more faith.