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'Fan-centric' innovations expected once Super Rugby Commission is established
By Ned Lester
New Zealand's love of rugby is complex and varying. Australia's, even more so. The relationship between the respective unions is "unique" but New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson is certain the two will soon come to an arrangement on the establishment of a Super Rugby commission.
The commission will provide a clear and progressive future for the competition and look to re-engage any waning fanbases as other sports threaten to steal rugby's spotlight.
Since Super Rugby's future is confirmed until 2030, maximising the entertainment value and community connection will be priority number one and an objective deserving of its own, full-time staff.
The commission's official purpose is to "drive commercial revenue, oversee rules and regulations, shape the future strategic direction and generate fan-first initiatives".
So what avenues will the commission explore? Ideas being floated such as a draft, a salary cap, a player transfer or a trade system all have their merits but, whether they serve the best interests of the competition and the sport overall will likely be investigated and ruled upon by the commission.
"I think there will be more and more work as the commission stands up to investigate those areas, with urgency," Robinson told Paddy Gower Has Issues.
"We're incredibly open-minded to all these possibilities. Nothing is off the table as it relates to the way we're viewing the future of the competition."
While club registrations are down, Blues CEO Andrew Hore told Paddy Gower Has Issues that digital engagement and broadcast numbers are trending upward.
"People are following," he said. "They're there. It's getting them back to the ground.
"This sport needs to be treated like any other world-class international competition, and actually have people working on it all the time.
"Working out what the fan wants, making it far more fan-centric doesn't take a lot, and then you start to get the tribalism building again and people travelling again which is fantastic."
Some progressive innovations can be expected over the coming Super Rugby seasons, for now Robinson is without doubt "the game is still really strong in terms of its connection to people's hearts and minds."
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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