Aussie Pro Rugby
-
Club rugby set to turn down Fox Sports and stick with RA
The Sydney Rugby Union is set to reject an offer from Fox Sports to show every Shute Shield match live and favour Rugby Australia's plan to bundle together the club competition into a new broadcast deal provided the governing body can get its hands on the club television rights. As revealed by the Herald this week, Fox Sports made an eye-opening offer to show every Shute Shield match live for the next five years, either on one of its main channels or Kayo Sports, as well as pay out the remainder of a deal with Network Seven and Club Rugby TV. However, RA has signalled its desire to buy the rights back so it can sell a top-to-bottom package, with chief executive Raelene Castle extremely keen for a more comprehensive product that she and her team can take to market. “Our strategy is to provide an integrated ‘whole of rugby’ presentation to our fans and, importantly, we are confident that there is real interest from the market in this content,” an RA spokesperson said earlier this week. A source with knowledge of the situation has told the Herald the SRU is going to turn its back on the unprecedented Fox Sports offer and support RA in its quest to possibly put club rugby, Super Rugby and Test matches together into a multimillion-dollar package. For that to happen, RA still need to pay out the remainder of the five-year deal between Network Seven and Club Rugby TV, owned by Nick Fordham and John Murray, which expires at the end of 2024.Fox Sports also approached the Queensland Rugby Union with a similar offer to buy the rights to its club competition, the Hospital Cup, but that has been rejected.(...) NSW Rugby, which works closely with the SRU, is yet to formally state its position.Club rugby set to turn down Fox Sports and stick with RA
The Sydney Rugby Union, like the Queensland Rugby Union, is set to buy into Rugby Australia's vision for a 'whole of rugby' broadcast deal.
-
-
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Why on earth is Fox doing that? Just to have some rugby on its platform?
cheap rugby. and the SS seems to have a following, unlike Super rugby.
The viewing figures from the weekend are apocalyptic
-
@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Why on earth is Fox doing that? Just to have some rugby on its platform?
cheap rugby. and the SS seems to have a following, unlike Super rugby.
The viewing figures from the weekend are apocalyptic
Do they have the actual viewing figures for the SS? I'm sure they'd be a lot lower if a Fox subscription is required to watch it.
-
@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
Why on earth is Fox doing that? Just to have some rugby on its platform?
cheap rugby. and the SS seems to have a following, unlike Super rugby.
The viewing figures from the weekend are apocalyptic
Just looked them up:
The first round Super Rugby matches averaged just 33,000 viewers last weekend, down 19 per cent on round one last year and games involving Australian teams were down 35 per cent.
Castle on receiving those numbers before continuing negotiations:
-
@antipodean There was also no Saturday night game in Australia round 1 this year which I imagine would do the best figures.
But starting in January is nuts.
-
@antipodean I was at a BBQ where the three or four Aussie rugby fans (Tahs fans, spit) didn't even know Super rugby had started and thought the weekends matches were still preseason, but the three Kiwis did.
-
I can not overemphasise how much the average rugby person in Australia has turned away from SR.
-
@antipodean given the level of disinterest in NZ I can only imagine how bad it might be in Oz!!
-
@Paekakboyz A surprising number of my family/friends have stopped watching Super Rugby this year. Even my rugby fanatic Dad.
-
-
@Tim it's crazy and I think it's a hot mess of being meh about super rugby (we know its changing significantly), hangover from failed RWC, issues with the new coaching appointments, plus the ongoing blegh about ABs having limited time. Add in all the increasing real life pressures and the reasons to disengage pile up fast! oh, and the whole broadcasting side of things too!
-
@Stargazer said in Aussie Rugby:
@Tim Do you know why? Is it the early start? Not winning the RWC? ABs being rested? ...??
For me it is the early start. Rugby starts in Autumn in my head and finishes in early spring.
-
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
Just looked them up:
The first round Super Rugby matches averaged just 33,000 viewers last weekend
Where did you look them up - from a News Corp source?
@Nepia said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean I was at a BBQ where the three or four Aussie rugby fans (Tahs fans, spit) didn't even know Super rugby had started and thought the weekends matches were still preseason, but the three Kiwis did.
New Zealanders will be the last people in the world to know that Super Rugby is dead.
-
@Hooroo said in Aussie Rugby:
@Stargazer said in Aussie Rugby:
@Tim Do you know why? Is it the early start? Not winning the RWC? ABs being rested? ...??
For me it is the early start. Rugby starts in Autumn in my head and finishes in early spring.
playing rugby now is totally ridiculous. The season is 6 weeks too long. And that's just at the start.
Personally the player drain also lessens my interest. And that problem is even worse in Australia.
-
@Hooroo For some of my friends/family it's mostly the constant changes. To the format, to the rules and how they are applied; trials etc. Especially if those changes don't improve the entertainment value of games. It will be interesting to see if SR's popularity will increase from next year, with fewer teams, round robin, fewer games.
I'm also convinced that a lot of the dissatisfaction is created/fed/aggravated by the clickbait-driven media. If they write often enough that SR sucks for some reason, people will start believing it. Too many opinion articles dressed up as factual reports are also annoying.
If only we had a few good rugby writers and analysts working in the digital and broadcast media with sufficient exposure.
Is 1014 Rugby dead? I enjoyed that programme.
-
This is the best summary of where things stand with TV rights here. Still a long way to go.
Rugby Australia officials remained confident on Thursday their unprecedented decision to test market interest in rugby's broadcast rights would not blow up in their faces.
As much as I respect some of their rugby journos, you can't trust News Corp publications on this one. You just wonder if they are singing from the company hymn sheet.
-
@Kiap said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
Just looked them up:
The first round Super Rugby matches averaged just 33,000 viewers last weekend
Where did you look them up - from a News Corp source?
Not quite, but the only ones I could find:
Ministry of Sport - Your MVP in the Business of Sport.
The leading platform on sports business news, insights, and events, connecting the sports industry with the latest trends and opportunities around the world.
-
@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
Personally the player drain also lessens my interest. And that problem is even worse in Australia.
I was talking about this on the weekend and my interest is slightly reinvigorated to see talented youngsters given an opportunity. Every now and then (which tends to be after a RWC), it's nice to see the driftwood removed from the competition.
-
@antipodean Yep, I find it quite interesting to watch the newbies, esp if I've been following some of them from the time they were still playing for their school's 1st XV.
