Aussie Pro Rugby
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Aussie union and football struggles re: crowd numbers -
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@Daffy-Jaffy wonder why no 2022 figures, wonder if they kept that small upward trajectory
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NZ average attendances wouldn't be 25k would they, so around 2006 things were looking really good
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Rugby:
@Daffy-Jaffy wonder why no 2022 figures, wonder if they kept that small upward trajectory
Tahs had average crowds of 5k in 2021 and averaged 12k for their last three matches in 2022. Interestingly, considering how the ARU seemingly do a go it alone press piece every month, the Tahs biggest crowds were against NZ teams.
Also, it's rather difficult trying to find a comprehensive list of crowd numbers.
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4:00PM NOVEMBER 9, 2022
A group of sports investors including Wallabies star Bernard Foley are backing a “rugby on water” series kicking off this week, ahead of a capital raising that will target private equity to expand the event around Australia and overseas.Aqua Rugby, invented by ex-Cricket Australia administrator and music event promoter Jimmy Galvin with his mate Foley over a pub meal, launches beachside at Sydney’s Manly on Thursday.
The event, which Mr Galvin describes as “Hong Kong Sevens meets the Monaco Grand Prix”, features three days of rugby matches with five players on each side on a 30m x 30m pontoon moored on the harbour, with players scoring tries by diving into the water and also getting crash-tackled off the side of the pontoon.
Event organisers are expecting a crowd of about 6000 people to line the foreshore on the weekend to watch the event, with corporate hospitality taking place on superyachts that will anchor near the pontoon.
Aqua Rugby has also attracted funding from the NSW government and sponsors such as Buildcorp, 4 Pines Brewing, Ingenia Holiday Parks and Raydel.
Aqua Rugby chairman Shane Anderton and Jimmy Galvin co-founder describe it as “Hong Kong Sevens meets the Monaco Grand Prix”.
Mr Galvin, who still has his own festival production company, said Aqua Rugby should not necessarily be regarded as “a novelty” despite its uniqueness and combination of sport and entertainment. He said spectators should expect action on the pitch.
“There will be plenty of competitiveness. We encourage the players to come up with tactics and tap moves. It is a professional set-up, with marquees on shore, doctors on the actual pitch itself and lifeguards on every corner. They will be full-blown games.”
Mr Galvin says he and Mr Foley, who will miss the weekend’s festivities given he will be playing for the Wallabies, dreamt up Aqua Rugby “to showcase rugby in a brand new, modern format and bring colour, fun and entertainment back to the game,” which has been criticised for being difficult to follow and giving referees too much influence.
Shane Anderton, a partner at Sydney law firm Deutsch Miller who has invested in Aqua Rugby and chairs its board, said the event’s attractiveness as a “sub genre” of an existing traditional sport was a big appeal for him and other prospective investors.
“Rather than this being an annual or biannual event, I said to the guys we’ve got the potential to create an entirely new subgenre of the sport of (rugby) union. We’re seeing that being a well trodden path with sports like (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and shorter forms of cricket and obviously with union, the current sevens format,” Mr Anderton said.
The next step for Aqua Rugby, said Mr Anderton, was to undertake a capital raise of at least $2m in the first quarter of 2023, with likely investors being family offices or investors in sporting start-ups with the potential for private equity involvement in the future.
“The main driver for (the raising) will be expansion. The first region for us will be Western Australia, and we are currently in discussions with Rugby WA at the moment. Then a very natural next step is across the ditch to New Zealand … probably somewhere in the Auckland region,” he said.
“Beyond that we think Singapore would be good, and we’ve been in discussions there, and then the US. We think there will be strong interest in the US, and we see a blueprint or may we can follow. There’s the Rugby World Cup in Australia (in 2017) and then the US (in 2031) and then we can create something of a South-East Asian tour.”
JOHN STENSHOLTEDITOR, THE LIST
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the one thing rugby in aus definitely needs is further diluting of the product
new people cant tell the difference between league and union let alone 7's....lets give them another one
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@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
invented by ... music event promoter Jimmy Galvin with his mate [Bernard] Foley over a pub meal, ....
Says it all.
Drunken pub conversation, unfortunately between 2 people who possibly have the wherewithal to stupidly carry through with it. -
any other sport would do something similar as, at MOST, a gimmick before a jersey launch, draft or awards dinner ...rugby tries to claim its a serious competition
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Rugby:
any other sport would do something similar as, at MOST, a gimmick before a jersey launch, draft or awards dinner ...rugby tries to claim its a serious competition
Rugby X anyone..?
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@antipodean i guess AFLX was a thing briefly but died really quick, AFL seems to ve leaning more and more into the traditional aspects, real club rivalry stuff
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@Kruse said in Aussie Rugby:
@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
invented by ... music event promoter Jimmy Galvin with his mate [Bernard] Foley over a pub meal, ....
Says it all.
Drunken pub conversation, unfortunately between 2 people who possibly have the wherewithal to stupidly carry through with it.doesn't look like this idea has the legs to float
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ACT Brumbies start process to sell up to 49 per cent of the club
EXCLUSIVE
JOHN STENSHOLT
EDITOR, THE LIST
@JohnStensholtThe ACT Brumbies are up for sale, as officials search for private investors in a deal that could value the Super Rugby club in the tens of millions.
The Canberra-based team, the most successful Australian side in Super Rugby history, have commenced a process to sell up to 49 per cent of the club to local or international backers.
Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson told The Australian that the club, now owned by the local ACT rugby union governing body, is looking for the money at a time when rugby union is enjoying an upswing in popularity.
“There’s a great opportunity with what Rugby Australia has put in place over the next decade, what they’re calling the ‘golden decade’ with the (British) Lions tour in 2025 and then World Cups in 2027 and 2029,” Thomson said.
“All of that will be fantastic and there will be certainly be flow on effect into the rugby community from those events and what we need to do as organisation and to stay as what we believe is the premier Super Rugby team in Australia, is to find a level of investment to keep pace with everything and stay ahead of the game.”
The Brumbies have engaged advisers and prepared an investment deck to be sent to prospective investors, with the funds raised to be used to shore up the Brumbies balance sheet – revenue is about $18-20m annually and the club usually posts small profits or losses – and to help grow interest in rugby at a grassroots level and attract more fans to the sport.
Thomson said the Brumbies hoped the sales process would flush out interest from buyers in Australia and overseas, given rugby union clubs in the northern hemisphere are mostly owned by private individuals or corporations.
“It could be a big investment company or a rugby-friendly individual. We will take all those inquiries as they come to us. It would be good to have some local connection but we are open to worldwide offers,” Thomson said.
“The thing about the Brumbies brand is it is known worldwide and the reach of Super Rugby is worldwide too. So we think it will interest people in a lot of different areas.”
The Brumbies, who are debt free, are projecting a 25 per cent increase in membership and game day revenue annually through to the men’s World Cup in Australia in 2027 (the women’s event will be held two years later) as rugby’s finances recover after Covid-19.
The club should also benefit from a revamped Super Rugby competition agreement with New Zealand, a new broadcast deal after 2026 and increased funding from Rugby Australia from next year onwards.
Thomson would not be drawn as to what value the Brumbies could achieve in a sale transaction, though the move comes as private ownership of Australian sports clubs increases in both volume and team value, outside of the AFL and cricket’s Big Bash League.
Stakes in several National Basketball League teams have changed hands at $35m values in the past two years, with Tesla chair Robyn Denholm last year buying a 30 per cent stake in the Sydney Kings at an even higher valuation.
Meanwhile, A-League soccer club Melbourne Victory recently clinched a new investment deal with Miami-based 777 Partners in a deal that could value the team at up to $50m. Accounts recently lodged with the corporate regulator show the Victory lost $6.7m from $15m revenue in the 2022 financial year.
The most valuable Australian sports team is the ASX-listed National Rugby League side Brisbane Broncos, which has market capitalisation of about $110m. News Corporation, the publisher of The Australian, owns a majority stake in the Broncos. While the club missed the NRL finals this year it delivers regular profits, including a $3.6m pre-tax profit for the six months to June 30.
Meanwhile, Rugby Australia is continuing negotiations for a private equity investment of its own that could see the national governing body raise $150m for an ownership stake in its commercial arm.
JOHN STENSHOLT
EDITOR -
@voodoo worked brilliantly for us at teh Blues - the private investors led us to ongoing success and multiple titles.
uh.
yeah.
Seriously, though, it depends on the investors and what they bring. We wound up with Sir JK, and Tana as head coaches. Hope it works for you.
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@nzzp different vibe in aussie though, not only is aussie obviously "bigger" (not rugby, the actual country/population) but its also still hugely private school boy focused....so there might be some old mates on some board that dont want to "sponsor" but could be attracted to buy a piece
