Channel Ten’s Loss could be rugby’s gain

Super Rugby in its current format has NO future.. Ultimately its future is an Australian only competition, maybe NZ too if we get good enough. That is what Australians are interested in seeing. Not interested in SA games all. To get supporters back need public school pathways to demonstrate the teams truely representative of all Australians.

DREAMIN.. Club Rugby is tribal and of interest to local supporters only, so suitable for Streaming only. Super Rugby ..no one is interested in overseas teams, the makeup of the teams is seen as elitist and the game with stoppages and scrums is boring. NO CHANCE..

Rugby was beaten to punch by Cricket with Big BASH. Rugby got in Olympics in 2009 and has been in Comm games no so Cricket but smart operators in Cricket came with Big Bash. Rugby was asleep it could have had a domestic series for 7s. If Pulver can get $300k bonus for botching Force being kicked out and we still do not have decent domestic 7s series for 7s apart from Universities for women - where is mens, its tells you about the culture at Rugby HQ. Its all about doing same and expecting different results. Even the ALFW which is mickey mouse comp has stolen lime light out of our womens 7s Olympians and for the RA needs to take blame for sleeping at the wheels. RA is now talking about growth in game via womens and Indigenous when it could have had year-on-year growth since 2009 of the back on inclusion in Olympics. Mens got bundled out by England yesterday was not surprise - apartly on of the guys was not fast enough so he has to do specific training to get fast. Well why not chose of the the many ex-factor players running around and make them even faster and better - our 7s team was average at best and they played like it. And by the way 7s series can be played over summer with different players not committed to XV's rugby.

It’s unworkable. Players need an off-season. We already have the issue of test players generally being slow starters in Super Rugby because their season ends in December and they don’t start pre-season until January. This would essentially push the end of the NRC to the start of Super Rugby trials. It would also remove the benefit of having a high level rugby competition concurrent with the rugby championship for players to drop back to. There’s looking at creative solutions, and then there’s ruining the basis of your competition. And it still doesn’t really help that the NRC does not provide a similar nightly format to the BBL. That may be something that they accept they’re going away from though.

Do you actually watch rugby? Any rugby on tv is a good thing, no? A new competition has to start somewhere... A marketing campaign to develop tribalism somehow...umm how about asking the grassroots people. They'll tell you. The game itself in Australia is on the line and barely alive. We don't need negative tripe. Think positive.

The idea of playing rugby in summer is ridiculous. Our great game doesn't need to lower itself and become fringe which is what it would be playing in the summer. Ok more rugby content, great, but we can't lower its position in the sporting landscape even more. I think rugby would do better positioning itself less upper crust and more mainstream, even working class. As a rugby player we all know the game is a leveller. Why don't we just show league people how much better our game is? I was watching Tahs play tonight along side the league game and it was remarkable how much better to watch the Tahs/Reds game was. Why can't we show the best bits on free to air highlights at least!! Such amazing rugby this week. Big media companies please look at how good rugby is by comparison. Rather than think about the dollars think what is actually the better game and invest. It will be worth it.

A good idea. If played in summer it would have to be evening fixtures. Other option would be be 7s. Being the Olympic and Commonwealth Games format it would be familiar to the casual viewer.

Not sure how the NRC can be marketed as an alternative to the BBL considering there is about 2 months between the seasons. They’ll be looking to replace the December/January content won’t they?

Nrc is like touch footy, no club support or traditions . Nrc is just clumping a group of people that don’t know one another to play a couple games of oz tag rugby. Different rules, no tribalism , no support .

watched a few of those games. geezers standing around watching endless scrums and counting there pensions (and that was the kiwi players!)

I like reading this kind of article It raises a very good point about Ten looking for content, but will it be sports content though? The idea of replicating, in a way, the BBL is very brave. People switch off from rugby to some extent in summer- maybe Ten should look at the IPRC or something like that.

Canterbury still have salary cap and other problems arising on Raelene's watch. Hope for Rugby's sake the grassroots and TV broadcast problems are sorted.

someone tried to sell French rugby in New Zealand by the internet and it was a massive failure. No one will watch European rugby, here like they do the EPL.

Rugby is one of the few Australian sports that Foxtel has enough exclusivity to attract subscribers. In the North East Foxtel suscription is about 35% whereas in Adelaide its down around 20%. Thats because Adelaide gets to watch its 2 AFL teams on free to air every week. its nocoincidence that the subscription rate is so much higher in the north east because Foxtel has Rugby and more exclusivity over rugby league. The 20% would be those who are wealthy enough to get Foxtel regardless, if Foxtel had monopolies on all the sports in Australia its susbscription rate would be 60%. What rugby needs to do is play hard to get and withdraw itself from Foxtel then Foxtel will come back with double the money and some games on free to air.. No one is going to subscribe to Foxtel for simulcast with no ads. At the moment Foxtel is throwing money at both AFL and cricket in particular with no actual sign that they are going to get extra subscibers while rugby is poverty stricken. Even rugby league is getting a big money without having given up a lot whereas rugby has given them everything on a platter for cheap.

Forget the Israel Folau distraction - this is Raelene Castle's first real test of her ability as a sports administrator.

Won't happen. They could just broadcast say the English rugby premiership or French comp. Better players, big crowds and atmosphere. Watching Aussie rugby played on some suburban park is only good as a free streaming product, nothing more.