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Here’s how rugby union in Australia can increase its revenue

Anaseini new author
Roar Rookie
24th June, 2019
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Anaseini new author
Roar Rookie
24th June, 2019
13
1898 Reads

The line often used to explain why our female rugby players aren’t given an equal showing in broadcast deals, merchandise sales, membership deals, sponsorship and general exposure is that “they don’t have the same revenue power that men’s teams do”.

Once upon a time you may have been forgiven for believing this, however all the evidence is telling us exactly the opposite!

Let’s forget for a moment that rugby for men is professional across both formats of XVs and 7s, with only the Women’s Australian 7s team being fully professional and our Wallaroos able to achieve consistent match payments (as opposed to seemingly inconsistent ‘reimbursements’) for the first time in 2018.

Now, let’s consider the appeal of women’s sport to the general public and sponsors.

Chris Dutton in 2018 suggested that the Brumbies Women and in fact the SuperW in its inaugural year is [was] reminiscent of the early 90s Super rugby just prior to the professionalisation of the sport in Australia.

The players are all working outside of rugby, the raw talent shown by young and emerging athletes and by most people’s observation it seemed that the style of play was uncorrupted by the sanitation that Australian rugby has long been criticised for.

Women’s rugby union Pearls

How this piece of pure gold in journalism was not more widely shared or even spoken about is beyond comprehension.

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What is even more deplorable is the fact that other sportswriters persist with the status quo, again telling all of us that “women’s sport just doesn’t sell”.

I could write a very long, wordy and colourful manifesto on why some sportswriters persist with the status quo, but that would again be bowing down to the system that has been designed without speaking to the other 50 per cent of society.

I simply cannot be apart of that conversation any longer.

The conversation I do want to be a part of is how Shaun Carney in his article Girl Power: Measuring The Rise Of Women’s Sport In Australia writes that Nielsen, an information, data and measurement company, says that TV viewership and attendance shouldn’t be the only yardstick used to ‘value’ women’s sport.

Instead their research suggests women’s sport has broader engagement, influence and value.

Managing Director of Nielsen was quoted as saying that “1 in 2 (48 per cent) of people say that they would watch more women’s sport if it was accessible on free-to-air TV or free online.”

While we’re quoting numbers the recent crowd attendance for the Women’s State of Origin for Game 1 on Friday 21st June 2019 was 10,515, that’s 2,298 more people that showed up to watch the Roosters take on the Bulldogs in the NRL five days earlier and 2,047 more people than the crowd who dragged their heels to see the Manly Sea Eagles take on the Dragons on the same day.

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Yes, I understand there were larger crowds at other NRL games in 2019, but that’s not my point, my point is that the people telling us that “women’s sport doesn’t sell” are lying to themselves and trying to pull the wool over our eyes in the process.

Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, but that’s the league figures and you’re trying to talk about rugby.

I’ll get to those figures in a moment, but can you remember what Nielsen’s research is telling us?

NSW Origin star Maddie Studdon.

NSW star Maddie Studdon is swamped by Blues team-mates. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Women’s sport has broader engagement, that is, the same people who watched the Women’s State of Origin are more likely to engage with other women’s sports and football codes.

Now for those attendance records for Australian rugby Test matches, 28,842 people were recorded to have attended the Test match between the Wallaroos and the Black Ferns in Sydney in 2018.

Yes, it was prior to a Wallabies Test, but let’s look more closely at these attendees.

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The attendees are families, friends, teammates, fans looking for something different and refreshing in the sport they love so dearly, they’re male rugby fans who saw one game of women’s rugby once and thought to themselves “s**t, these chicks can really play”, they’re partners and children of players, they’re junior clubs looking to reinvigorate their players fire for the game.

They are women, they are different!

What Carney also tells us is that Nielsen’s research has also discovered existing brand sponsors are expanding their portfolios or switching completely from men’s sport to women’s.

The research is also revealing that wider societal issues around diversity and equality are also a contributing factors in women’s sport investment decisions, but those brands who choose to invest receive positive sentiments from fans as female athletes are seen as inspirational, considered role models and positive advocates of healthy body image.

Carney goes on to say that for rights holders, brands and the media, women’s sport represents a chance to develop a new commercial proposition and engage fans in a different way.

Note: In a different way! The contribution of women in sport as players and more broadly in society as participants are different and therefore need to be valued for that difference they bring to the sport.

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