Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has called on administrators to ensure Super Rugby’s next broadcast deal puts the game on free-to-air television.
Super Rugby crowds are at record lows this season and Canberra has been no exception, despite the Brumbies sitting on top of the Australian conference.
Rugby Australia has been plagued by off-field drama for several years which has turned some fans away, but McKellar is confident the game can recover.
McKellar says the crucial next step is getting the game into every home in Australia and not just the 30 per cent which have subscriptions to Super Rugby broadcaster Foxtel.
The next television deal will be negotiated from 2021 onwards and McKellar said it was paramount to get games on a free-to-air network.
“Get it on free-to-air, definitely get it on free-to-air. Whoever is doing the next television deal, make sure that happens so that all the kids have access to see the best players running around,” McKellar said.
“Your (David) Pocock’s, your (Christian) Lealiifano’s, your (Scott) Sio’s, Quade Cooper, Henry Speight … all these sorts of players, we’ve got to make sure every little boy and girl in the country has access to them and aspires to play rugby union.
“At the moment we’re sort of hidden away. Fox are tremendous in their support of the game but I think free-to-air would certainly be a real positive change.”
The Brumbies came under criticism for their game style by former player Justin Harrison earlier this month and McKellar said it was time the rugby community banded together.
“Just talk positively about the game. We’ve got rugby union people that are bashing rugby union, like why are we doing that?” McKellar said.
“We’re starting to see the benefits of four teams and two Australian sides might sneak into the finals. We’ve got a World Cup this year … let’s start talking about the good things and the footy instead of worrying about beating ourselves up all the time.
“All we can do is perform well on weekends and put on a good product for our fans … then hopefully they’ll come back and drag a few more people along.
“People love the game, it’s the people that are sort of 50-50 that sit on the fence. At the moment they’re on the other side of the fence and we have to bring them back.”
westernred
It was obvious at the time that Fox was never going to grow Rugby in Australia without free to air coverage. They should have given one game a week to the ABC. Anyway. To late now. Fox is dipping out. FYA is not interested. Streaming is only for the converted.
westernred
Talk positively about the game? This is all they do. Meanwhile it's falling apart.
Katipo
Guest
Yes, Rugby is a confusing game but it is going great in every country where Super Rugby isn’t played. Super Rugby’s dreadful tournament format is the problem. The tournament is not engaging. It’s a failure. A dismal failure. Casual sports supporters don’t even know where the teams come from, and burned-on fans barely understand the convoluted finals format. Year after year rugby supporters give administrators advice on how to improve tournament formats and they have been far too slow to respond. So many great players in Super Rugby. They deserve better tournaments to play in.
Winnie the Pooh (Emperor of China)
Guest
The competition structure is buggered also. Maybe a ten team east coast Australia and NZ only competition home and away. Away games on FTA for your home city like the old AFL tv blackout rules which copied the NFL. The rest can be on some streaming platform if there is still anyone out there willing to pay for this busted ass competition.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Unfortunately the death of Foxtel would probably kill a lot of Australian sport. Almost all major sports overseas are on some sort of subscription service. With anti-siphoning laws, Australia is a rare anomaly. FTA cannot afford to pay huge money for sport, and removing a major bidder won't help values.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Yep IMO I'd love to see the rear end of Foxtel, as a majority of the sports shown are Yank orientated, being sports that we virtually don't play here, on the big stage. I realise that Foxtel has a sponsorship deal in place with rugby, but surely with the game being a global game, there would, or should be other sponsors that could be attracted. Yep free to air, sounds great, as we will be up for more exposure, to the public in general.
Toby
Guest
A big YES!! Ive been whinging about the limited free to air rugby for 20 years. I’m a father of three Foxtel is not an option and going to a game is a once a year thing. So my kids and I sit on the couch on weekends and watch AFL and NRL. And while I’m on my soapbox why not make the Super rugby games that we can see live in Australia at the time Rugby was meant to be played. In my view Saturday and Sunday afternoon are the best time in Australia to go to a rugby match with the family. Up the Reds!!
mick
Guest
I've been saying this for years but the future is not with FTA. It isn't with Foxtel/Kayo either. Foxtel and the FTA stations profits have been falling for years and that's the way the trajectory will continue. Their products are dead in the water. The biggest issue that Rugby has is not lack of free to air it is lack of cross promotion. Good luck finding a pub in Sydney where you don't have to ask for them to flick on the SR. Why? Because they all have deals with Foxtel that they will play the rugby league on a minimum number of screens. Tie that in with Woolies being their stockists and providing their poker machines and you begin to see the issues SR has here. In the land of supplies SR and soccer are the unfortunate losers. The only way to stay relevant is to follow an alternative route. That's what they did when they partnered with Foxtel 30 years ago, when it was new and fresh and Foxtel needed it. Time to cut the cord and negotiate with the real big boys, Netflix, Disney, Google, and Amazon
Malotru
Roar Rookie
The big problem Tuc is that people generally don't understand Rugby. No comprehension = no enjoyment. This issue should have been addressed years ago, with the ARU promoting more junior and school Rugby. Instead the money has gone to the elites (and the top heavy, overpaid administration) and everyone else can go to bu###ry (oops should I have said that?). Axing the Force wasn't really clever either. The only hope now is the Wannabees winning the RWC, which may buy a little time. Forlorn hope I know............
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Who needs money...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No. The only way for the game to become popular again is for people who access to watch it. If people who have Foxtel aren't watching it, why will FTA make much difference?
bigtree.smallaxe
Roar Rookie
Someone forgot to tell him that Super Rugby is on FTA. They play 1 Aussie game per week on Channel 10 on Sunday morning albeit not in HD and not live (of course) and also they play Fox’s “Rugby Wrap” on Monday mornings. This is in Victoria which again is quite surprising. On the Kayo quality. It wasn’t great on ADSL but is good on cable and now that I just got the NBN it’s amazing! I can now tell the difference between Rory and Richie Arnold…but am yet to distinguish JP from Ruan Smith. I might need 4K for that.
soapit
Roar Guru
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://amp.smh.com.au/sport/foxtel-cost-cutting-puts-rugby-football-on-edge-20190513-p51mxf.html&ved=2ahUKEwib5PjLtLHiAhVDjuYKHcuSBaEQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw22ab3djcUVEXYcQtFKSd-O&cf=1
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
It does depend on what 'box' you use to watch- original Chromecast is pretty bad, Testra box much better for example... Watching the Fox channel as mentioned above also is best I found.
Andrew Johnson
Guest
Image quality is outstanding on Kayo, but gets poor if my internet is slow which is very rarely
Gunny
Roar Rookie
Good call, Dan. A lot of us have been saying this for 20 years. Sadly, no-one at the ARU/RA Has ever listened...
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Hmm, RA in a Land Rush with Twiggy, Let me get the popcorn.
Clelo
Roar Rookie
The biggest problem I have experienced with Kayo is maintaining the internet connection. Obviously, that would depend on geographic location and type of connection. We don't have NBN yet and are doing everything through a landline, however, I still get kicked off during a game when internet traffic in my area becomes excessive. No doubt this will change in the future but currently it's far from perfect. The way to avoid having to ongoingly connect to specific games is to take the Channel 507 option on Fox through Kayo. This option is at the end of all the viewing options. Obviously, that only works when all games are being shown on 507 but most are.
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
I've had no issues with quality to date. I've found it comparable with Fox
Purdo
Roar Rookie
I started subscribing to Kayo but found the image quality of the first match I watched really bad. I think it's better to see the games a bit later (for free) with good image quality on a different site. I think free to air TV would be good but not as important as it once might have been. Having faster broadband has helped.