New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Wb1234]

Club riding commercial boom ahead of 2024 season

One New Zealand Warriors riding 'phenomenal commercial boom ahead of 2024 season.

www.warriors.kiwi

warriors riding unprecedented boom in commercial revenues

 

[Wb1234]

Club riding commercial boom ahead of 2024 season

One New Zealand Warriors riding 'phenomenal commercial boom ahead of 2024 season.

www.warriors.kiwi

warriors riding unprecedented boom in commercial revenues

“catering for about 1000 fans every game day – have already sold out for all 10 home games at Go Media Stadium. So have all corporate suites and booths in the West Stand accounting for another 1000 clients each game.”

 

[Wb1234]

Club riding commercial boom ahead of 2024 season

One New Zealand Warriors riding 'phenomenal commercial boom ahead of 2024 season.

www.warriors.kiwi

warriors riding unprecedented boom in commercial revenues

“More than 10,000 tickets have been sold for the first match against Wests Tigers in Christchurch on February 18”

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I can see a business case for a modest upgrade of Mt Smart if we have a good season. Nothing like a full rebuild but a new south stand and some terracing on the north hill. Could easily get capacity up around 35K and then provide some real competition for Eden Park.

 

[Matiunz]

I can see a business case for a modest upgrade of Mt Smart if we have a good season. Nothing like a full rebuild but a new south stand and some terracing on the north hill. Could easily get capacity up around 35K and then provide some real competition for Eden Park.

Best case scenario would be getting more traction on the long gestating CBD waterfront stadium with the new A-League team, that location would add much more to the game day experience than its current location

 

[Wb1234]

I can see a business case for a modest upgrade of Mt Smart if we have a good season. Nothing like a full rebuild but a new south stand and some terracing on the north hill. Could easily get capacity up around 35K and then provide some real competition for Eden Park.

Just get the feeling the wahs will struggle a bit this year, especially if they lose their first few games

hope im wrong

 

[Matua]

Just get the feeling the wahs will struggle a bit this year, especially if they lose their first few games

hope im wrong

Considering how frequently you're wrong in this thread I'm now confident we're going to win the whole thing this year.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Best case scenario would be getting more traction on the long gestating CBD waterfront stadium with the new A-League team, that location would add much more to the game day experience than its current location

It would, but that’s a whole new ballpark in terms of $$.
I don’t think of an upgraded Mt Smart as the solution to Auckland’s stadium situation but more as a useful interim measure.

 

[jim_57]

“More than 10,000 tickets have been sold for the first match against Wests Tigers in Christchurch on February 18”

That’s pretty good for a trial, I assume the regular season game will sell out a few weeks later judging by that.

 

[Matiunz]

Considering how frequently you're wrong in this thread I'm now confident we're going to win the whole thing this year.

I remember him labelling anyone who questioned last seasons Warriors performance as anything but an everlasting dynasty and proof that the All Blacks would be dead tomorrow as a Union troll… does this make HIM a Union troll now?!?!

 

[flippikat]

Good news for both codes but most importantly for kiwi fans. The delayed finish is a non issue except for gamblers

I can't help but think this move by Sky to put "live kickoffs" on their free-to-air channel is to try and prevent the NRL unhooking FTA & Pay TV rights in NZ in the next rights deal (selling FTA to TVNZ or Three/Discovery, but keeping Sky as Pay TV partner)

Up till very recently, FTA coverage here has been crap ever since Sky got their hooks into ALL TV rights.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I can't help but think this move by Sky to put "live kickoffs" on their free-to-air channel is to try and prevent the NRL unhooking FTA & Pay TV rights in NZ in the next rights deal (selling FTA to TVNZ or Three/Discovery, but keeping Sky as Pay TV partner)

Up till very recently, FTA coverage here has been crap ever since Sky got their hooks into ALL TV rights.

Quite likely- but it’s a good result either way.

 

[flippikat]

It wouldn't be the death of RU though.

Besides SR is a failed product anyway. It's been a zombie for over a decade in Australia.

SR is in a struggle to grow it's revenue streams - NZ is well saturated & limited in it's scale, Australia is largely uninterested in RU, and the Pacific Islands are economically just crumbs.

They had an "in" to big & engaged markets via South African teams, but SA has hitched their Provincial wagon to Europe now.. and it's only the "closed shop" attitude of 6 Nations that's keeping SA from aligning with Europe at test level.

Japan and North America are the obvious options for Super Rugby, and will be interesting to see how SR tries to open them up.. so far, so cautious - but I think they can't stay so gun-shy much longer.

 

[The Great Dane]

SR is in a struggle to grow it's revenue streams - NZ is well saturated & limited in it's scale, Australia is largely uninterested in RU, and the Pacific Islands are economically just crumbs.

They had an "in" to big & engaged markets via South African teams, but SA has hitched their Provincial wagon to Europe now.. and it's only the "closed shop" attitude of 6 Nations that's keeping SA from aligning with Europe at test level.

Japan and North America are the obvious options for Super Rugby, and will be interesting to see how SR tries to open them up.. so far, so cautious - but I think they can't stay so gun-shy much longer.

Trying to crack the US or Japan again would just be repeating the same mistakes of the past.

Can't really speak to NZ RU, but AUS RU has hit a dead end where the only way they can start moving forward again is to backtrack first. With the exception of a miniscule group of diehards, of which there aren't enough to support the sport, nobody gives two shits about SR aside from a handful of the local derbies and the product on the field simply isn't commercially competitive with the NRL, AFL, and debatably a few other sports as well.

Obviously it's easier said than done considering their financial situation and position in the market, but the ARU needs a national competition with decent exposure on FTA, and they needed it like 15 years ago. They also need to be open to making minor rule changes independently of WR to try and make the product more appealing to Australian audiences.

None of it will actually happen though, the old boys are too busy huffing their own farts.

 

[flippikat]

Trying to crack the US or Japan again would just be repeating the same mistakes of the past.

Can't really speak to NZ RU, but AUS RU has hit a dead end where the only way they can start moving forward again is to backtrack first.

Obviously it's easier said than done considering their financial situation and position in the market, but the ARU needs a national competition with decent exposure on FTA, and they needed it like 15 years ago.

The thing is, I really think Australian Rugby is being put into the "too hard basket" when what really could fix them is a bit of cross-pollination with NZ Rugby - not just allowing NZ players to play for Aussie SR teams & still qualify for All Blacks selection (even if it's limited to a quota of x NZ players per Aussie SR club), but getting Aussie players & coaches to come over here & improve their skill set.

They also need to be open to making minor rule changes independently of WR to try and make the product more appealing to Australian audiences.

None of it will actually happen though, the old boys are too busy huffing their own farts.

Local rule changes just won't fly with World Rugby - and it actually could cause headaches for the Wallabies when the players have to revert to standard rules.

 

[Wb1234]

The thing is, I really think Australian Rugby is being put into the "too hard basket" when what really could fix them is a bit of cross-pollination with NZ Rugby - not just allowing NZ players to play for Aussie SR teams & still qualify for All Blacks selection (even if it's limited to a quota of x NZ players per Aussie SR club), but getting Aussie players & coaches to come over here & improve their skill set.


Local rule changes just won't fly with World Rugby - and it actually could cause headaches for the Wallabies when the players have to revert to standard rules.

Yeh more kiwis playing in super rugby has to be a good thing for the all blacks too with greater depth

 

[Matua]

I can't help but think this move by Sky to put "live kickoffs" on their free-to-air channel is to try and prevent the NRL unhooking FTA & Pay TV rights in NZ in the next rights deal (selling FTA to TVNZ or Three/Discovery, but keeping Sky as Pay TV partner)

Up till very recently, FTA coverage here has been crap ever since Sky got their hooks into ALL TV rights.

I thought Sky has always had all the rights? They used to have a partnership with TV3 back in the day before they bought Prime and used that as their free to air option?

TBH, I highly doubt the NRL would risk their relationship with Sky by offering free to air rights to rivals.

 

[The Great Dane]

The thing is, I really think Australian Rugby is being put into the "too hard basket" when what really could fix them is a bit of cross-pollination with NZ Rugby - not just allowing NZ players to play for Aussie SR teams & still qualify for All Blacks selection (even if it's limited to a quota of x NZ players per Aussie SR club), but getting Aussie players & coaches to come over here & improve their skill set.

The ARU has pushed for looser eligibility rules in SR before and it's clear that the NZRU (and SANZAAR) will never agree to it. TBF a lot of people in the ARU are against it as well.

It'd be a steep hill to climb and the destination wouldn't be worth it anyway as it wouldn't address the fact that nobody in Australia gives a flying f**k about the Kiwi sides, or that RU doesn't have a single star player anymore. Having the best talent nobody has heard of poached by teams most people can't name won't improve RU's standing in Australia.

Besides, Australian and Kiwi rugby have been playing with and against each other since their inception, and it's done nothing but hurt Australian Rugby for about 30 years. The relationship between the two is inequitable and the ARU don't have the leverage to improve it.

Local rule changes just won't fly with World Rugby - and it actually could cause headaches for the Wallabies when the players have to revert to standard rules.

Firstly, I doubt changing the points value of penalty and drop goals and some minor tinkering to incentivise open play would have that much impact on the Wallabies in the grand scheme of things.

Secondly, Australian RU is in the position where it could effectively cease to exist as a commercial product within the foreseeable future if it doesn't make significant changes.

Surely pissing WR off by changing the rules is better than effectively going extinct, and if it causes another schism it causes another schism.

 

[mongoose]

perhaps Rugby should be a more egalitarian game in Australia for starters... it would probably go even further backwards to start off but then after time actually make some progress.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Rugby union's decline in Australia correlates with its rapid expansion into new markets. There's obviously other factors that have contributed to the game's downfall, but expansion has certainly had an impact.

Lack of FTA coverage is blamed for the game's decline, but that doesn't explain why Super Rugby was pulling strong crowds 25 years ago when it was hidden away on Foxtel.

Not having established "suburban" teams participating in a national competition cannot be discounted as a reason for the game's decline.

The two biggest sports in Australia are based around "suburban" teams.

Maybe people like tribalism?