Should SARU rethink their deal with SANZAR?

First topic message reminder :

For the past number of years prior to the Super XV expansion South Africa’s premier rugby competition the Currie Cup had 8 teams competing with the other 6 provinces competing in the B division. With the newly formed Super XV the Currie Cup had to take a back seat where it has now been reduced to only 6 teams.

Now as many of you will have undoubtedly read before, I am not in favour of the Super Xv in its current format, mainly for two reasons, firstly the Super Xv conference system is flawed, but mainly due to the fact that the Currie Cup now seems but a mere afterthought. Since the introduction of the Professional era, rugby in South Africa has migrated to where only 5 teams earn any significant money to sustain true professionalism and the other 8 teams have to live of scraps and have there for no finances to hold onto their star players.

To illustrate the migration of top players away from traditional strongholds of the Currie cup, here is a list of the teams who made the Currie Cup semi finals in the seventies:
Natal (Sharks), Transvaal ( Lions), Northern Transvaal (Bulls), Freestate (Cheetahs), Western Province (Stormers), Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Eastern Province (Kings), Griquas.

List of teams who made the Currie Cup Semi-Finals in the eighties:
Natal (Sharks), Transvaal ( Lions), Northern Transvaal (Bulls), Freestate (Cheetahs), Western Province (Stormers), South West Africa (Namibia), Eastern Province (Kings), Griquas, Northern Freestate, Western Transvaal (Leopards), Eastern Transvaal (Pumas)

When considering that there will now be only six teams in the Currie Cup it shows that our feeder systems are dying a slow death and at best struggle to maintain a semi- professional league. I do not believe this is good for SA rugby, and the situation needs a revamp.

From information I gathered and also assumptions that need to be made on the basis that some figures are just not available to the public, I want to create a hypothetical scenario.

1. Supersport is the largest rugby broadcaster in the world (source wiki)
2. Supersport paid 1.6 Billion rand for the domestic football broadcasting rights the PSL for a 5 year period
3. Local tickets for Derby matches in the Super XV is 20%-25% more expensive than when overseas teams tour which proves local derbies are more popular.
4. Top teams such as the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls get more than 30 000 spectators to a match.
5. Provincial rivalry in SA is as strong as ever.
6. The average ticket for a Super Rugby match is R120.

So based on this.

If SARU were to go on their own and withdraw from the super rugby tournament it stands to reason that Supersport will pay a similar amount of money (if not more) for the Currie Cup as for the PSL which because of affordability in the mass population has a smaller television audience than Rugby.

If we look at an average crowd attendance of 20 000 per Currie Cup match, this would mean 1120 000 spectators at an average ticket price of R 120 = R 134 000 000 earnings. So broadcasting rights per year R 320 000 000, Ticket revenue R 134 000 000. Total (excluding merchandising and sponsors) R 454 000 000.

If you divide that by 8 teams it would provide each Province with R56 000 000 or 4.5 million pounds.

Now I accept I don’t have enough concrete information to go into any further depth. But to me at a quick glance it seems viable.

You still have to consider, Sponsorships, revenue from stadium refreshments, the hospitality boxes, merchandising and revenue SARU earns from the IRB, The Rugby Championship and test broadcasting income. This would result in a bigger base of development, more players can be retained and our top players will play 14 round robin Currie Cup matches, a semi -final and final, and 12-14 tests. This will In turn provide better management of players, less fatigue and fewer injuries.

I suppose it will be very difficult to establish how many if you look across the board. But does it not conern you that so many youngsters dissappear?

It has been rife in SA over the past few years, these guys will represent other nations and that after we went to the expense in our school systems to develp their talents.

biltongbek wrote:I suppose it will be very difficult to establish how many if you look across the board. But does it not conern you that so many youngsters dissappear?

It has been rife in SA over the past few years, these guys will represent other nations and that after we went to the expense in our school systems to develp their talents.

Fortunately for NZ in most cases it's not the youngsters who are going - the NZRU "Home only" selection policy means that you effectively have to give up on any All Blacks' dreams if you go.

The magic of the shirt is out weighed by cash,and that is sad.Also the pettifogging rule changes when they worked ok for a century.Take the scrum
the 3-4-1 scrum is THE BOK scrum,as a former prop.You know the mechanics,the importance of the positioning of the feet,and all 8 thrusting together at the hook.How you bind is picked on,if you put your hand on the ground to balance your self penalty,players can`t detach before ball hooked etc.
The ritual dance negates any advance from the feed,oh i know the Front Row mafia have always ruled.BUT deliberate collapsing was beyond the pale to dangerous,spine damage now it`s coached.40 out of a 100,collapsed,another 33 reset,upto 25 seconds before SH decides to use it.
Biltong maybe we agree to disagree,Super Rugby in some form will stay,the grassroots will continue to survive it always has.Last year Crusaders had no home,and massive injury problems yet they made the final.What impressed me was the Quality of the wider squad that came in for McCaw,Dagg,Carter,Berquist
etc.
You are concerned with Sa Rugby and its roots.myself NZ,Super Rugby the answer is less teams,but better ones.CurrieCup/Itm then Super,then 4Ns,then anything else.THAT is how the Season should be !!!Does it worry me Nz youngsters going aboard NO,there will always be one to take his place it is the way of things.
IF SA reverts to the only home team players will be picked by Boks that MAY be a deterrent.It works for Australia and Nz and if they get a few matches under there belts more Cash as there Cv is better when they cash in.

If Australia had a decent (or indeed any form of) domestic league then the super rugby could have been kept for the semi finalists of each domestic league. Sadly they dont of course and (it seems to me) that they have the most to gain from the expansion of super rugby and therefore the most to lose if SA decided to re-negotiate their position.

A clear layout for the season would be a good step forward, but that may well be a pipe dream. I do think the super rugby has got too big and unwieldy, and isnt as 'super' anymore. But money talks and tv revenues are now more important than stadium attendances I think.

Bathman_in_London wrote:If Australia had a decent (or indeed any form of) domestic league then the super rugby could have been kept for the semi finalists of each domestic league. Sadly they dont of course and (it seems to me) that they have the most to gain from the expansion of super rugby and therefore the most to lose if SA decided to re-negotiate their position.

A clear layout for the season would be a good step forward, but that may well be a pipe dream. I do think the super rugby has got too big and unwieldy, and isnt as 'super' anymore. But money talks and tv revenues are now more important than stadium attendances I think.

Stadium attendances in NZ for both SXV and INL cup are up over the past couple of seasons (the Crusaders/Canterbury excepted, due to the Chch earthquake)

Sorry I didnt mean that attendances were down, I meant that tv revenues are very important these days and are the driving force behind a lot of changes to rugby.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Sorry I didnt mean that attendances were down, I meant that tv revenues are very important these days and are the driving force behind a lot of changes to rugby.

Ah

In that case I agree with you completely.

I dont think I explained myself very well, I need to get out of the office, my brain is fried!

Bathman_in_London wrote:I dont think I explained myself very well, I need to get out of the office, my brain is fried!

Me too!