Australian Rugby Union reports $Aus9.8 million loss

[Bee]

Wow.
That's quite some money...

http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/...reports-aus98-million-loss&ex_cid=espnTW_ANZL

 

[RoosTah]

Wow.
That's quite some money...

http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/...reports-aus98-million-loss&ex_cid=espnTW_ANZL

Yeah, although it's not terribly surprising really. Rugby Union has been badly mismanaged in this country for the past decade and the short-sightedness has really come back to bite us.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that both Rugby League and Australian Football are so much bigger and richer that it's hard for Rugby to maintain its cut-through. Rugby thrived when the NRL was at war with itself, but now it has its act together and is signing multi-billion deals with the networks like the AFL, leaving the rest of the TV money to be split between soccer, rugby and cricket. That in itself has become a challenge, because Cricket - Australia's true national sport - has its shiny new BigBash League now, and that - whilst short - is beating everything for ratings, so is taking yet more of that pool of cash.

 

[smartcooky]

It would be interesting to know how much of that loss can be attributed to the the costs of running the NRC. I hope they don't see chopping that as a solution to their financial woes. Its the equivalent of our ITM Cup, and I can't overstate how important the ITM Cup is to NZ rugby... you can put a great deal of the All Blacks' success down to the NZRU understanding that the money they lose running it is recouped many times over downstream. They fully understand that money spent on the ITM Cup is an investment in the future of NZ Rugby.

The ARU need to keep their nerve, and keep the NRC. It would be a short-sighted and disastrous step were they to axe it the way they did with its predecessor, the ARC, after an earlier financial loss.

 

[Jaguares]

What about the new Super Rugby deal? Fresh money from UK. That should help. And now with Japan at Super Rugby new deals will come. That's the solution for Aussie rugby, cash from overseas because the Aussie market is satured by other bigger codes

While they must keep breathing and collect the leftovers of NRL like Joe Tomane, Eto Nabuli, Caleb Timu, Duncan Paia'aua and others

 

[RoosTah]

What about the new Super Rugby deal? Fresh money from UK. That should help. And now with Japan at Super Rugby new deals will come. That's the solution for Aussie rugby, cash from overseas because the Aussie market is satured by other bigger codes

While they must keep breathing and collect the leftovers of NRL like Joe Tomane, Eto Nabuli, Caleb Timu, Duncan Paia'aua and others

Yeah, this new deal will help quite a bit, and so will the incoming 3 test series against England (nothing like playing a full strength England in a series for an Aussie national team). But structurally Rugby need to increase their exposure in public schools (to be fair, this is now an active part of their strategy - long overdue though), get themselves on free to air television, and do more promotional work for matches in general.

 

[Jaguares]

Yeah, this new deal will help quite a bit, and so will the incoming 3 test series against England (nothing like playing a full strength England in a series for an Aussie national team). But structurally Rugby need to increase their exposure in public schools (to be fair, this is now an active part of their strategy - long overdue though), get themselves on free to air television, and do more promotional work for matches in general.

How much is the increase for ARU in the new Super Rugby deal?

 

[RedruthRFC]

Is this a year on year loss? The RWC must cut into everyone apart from the hosts' profits for that accounting year. I seem to remember the RFU posting a loss back in 2011.

 

[Jaguares]

Is this a year on year loss? The RWC must cut into everyone apart from the hosts' profits for that accounting year. I seem to remember the RFU posting a loss back in 2011.

That's right. Wallabies played less home test matches so they received less cash from sponsors and tickets sale. You can't print your sponsors on the WC jerseys so is less money for you.

A World Cup year is less money for the Unions. I remember some years ago SANZAR threatened that they wouldn't participate in WCs because is a economical lost for them.

 

[RoosTah]

How much is the increase for ARU in the new Super Rugby deal?

It's over 100%, which no one really expected and so they'll all be breathing a sigh of relief, but by the same token the ARU and Rugby community in general are aware that the money is all coming from overseas and that in this country their revenue stream is declining.

In many ways the ARU suffers from the fact that the architecture of Super Rugby has handicapped them somewhat. By organising ourselves on a state basis, Australian Super Rugby expansion has focussed on stretching too far too soon.

What I mean by that is it would have been better for Rugby in Australia from a financial perspective to have had a big Sydney team, rather than the Waratahs to start off with, so that we could expand and have a Western/Northern/Southern Sydney rival. But instead in order to maintain the integrity of its state based approach they'll pushed into regions like Melbourne and Perth, where the rugby communities are small and unable to financially support a Super Rugby side on their own.

For instance, roughly half of this debt is due to the expenses involved in the ARU running the Melbourne Rebels.

The trouble is we've gone too far down this road now, so you can't suddenly dump the Reds and Waratahs and replace them with City sides without causing a backlash.

 

[Jaguares]

It's over 100%, which no one really expected and so they'll all be breathing a sigh of relief, but by the same token the ARU and Rugby community in general are aware that the money is all coming from overseas and that in this country their revenue stream is declining.

In many ways the ARU suffers from the fact that the architecture of Super Rugby has handicapped them somewhat. By organising ourselves on a state basis, Australian Super Rugby expansion has focussed on stretching too far too soon.

What I mean by that is it would have been better for Rugby in Australia from a financial perspective to have had a big Sydney team, rather than the Waratahs to start off with, so that we could expand and have a Western/Northern/Southern Sydney rival. But instead in order to maintain the integrity of its state based approach they'll pushed into regions like Melbourne and Perth, where the rugby communities are small and unable to financially support a Super Rugby side on their own.

For instance, roughly half of this debt is due to the expenses involved in the ARU running the Melbourne Rebels.

The trouble is we've gone too far down this road now, so you can't suddenly dump the Reds and Waratahs and replace them with City sides without causing a backlash.

From what I've heard the best option for ARU would be a second team in QLD.

I heard that ARU wants to move the Force to Western Sydney but that market is satured. Too many NRL teams and teams from other codes like Sydney Wanderers and Sydney Swans have poor crowds, something like 10k per game, similar than the Force in Perth or Rebels in Melbourne. Sydney Swans is an economy loss for the AFL but they earn a lot of money in the others states so they don't have problems for a long-term investment there.

The QLD community looks like the best organized rugby community in OZ. Ok, forget the current status of Reds, if the team plays good rugby and wins games, they can get big crowds at Suncorp stadium. For example, this season they lost all their games and can get 17k at Suncorp vs Highlanders, even more than Brumbies in home games. If they win games and reach the playoffs, they can sell out the Suncorp easily. While Waratahs has less support in NSW. The Tahs can't sell out the Allianz stadium easily, even in playoffs (Remember last year).

QLDRU has the advantage that Brisbane is not satured by NRL teams, they only have an NRL team (Broncos), so they can get big support from casual supporters. They have a whole city for them. While Waratahs can't get that kind of support because NSW is satured by too many NRL teams, they are everywhere, so the casual supporters are less than in QLD. Only the diehard fans support the team. Also, my personal opinion, the Queenslanders looks more passional supporters than the New South Welshman, any team in Brisbane with the Koala and the Q as logo can get support there. Many casual rugby fans support the Reds there. People who don't follow rugby but support the QLD teams. For that reason the health of Reds is so important for Aussie Rugby. They are the strongest rugby comunity in Australia

QLD have a very interesting organization in the NRC, only 2 teams. They could bring that idea to Super Rugby with 2 teams. One team playing at Suncorp stadium and the other playing at the Ballymore stadium.

 

[RoosTah]

From what I've heard the best option for ARU would be a second team in QLD.

I heard that ARU wants to move the Force to Western Sydney but that market is satured. Too many NRL teams and teams from other codes like Sydney Wanderers and Sydney Swans have poor crowds, something like 10k per game, similar than the Force in Perth or Rebels in Melbourne. Sydney Swans is an economy loss for the AFL but they earn a lot of money in the others states so they don't have problems for a long-term investment there.

Queensland does make a certain amount of sense, but you ignore Sydney at your peril... the population of Sydney will hit 5 million this year, versus about 2.1 million in Brisbane. Ideally, Ithink you'd want to Super Rugby teams in both.

Also, the ARU don't want to move the Force to Sydney - that was just a thought bubble from a former Force executive who'd given up hope on them. But the Force have carved out a decent niche in the Perth market, so it's not something they'll be considering

There are obviously too many NRL teams in Sydney, but Rugby needs to carve out a fan base that extends beyond just the east and north shore, and so it must do something about the west.

Personally, I'd like to see the Waratahs split their matches across the city - say have 4 at Moore Park, 3 at Parramatta and take one to Penrith too. But that doesn't appear to be something they're willing to consider, so the next best option is having a cross town rivalry.

 

[Jaguares]

Queensland does make a certain amount of sense, but you ignore Sydney at your peril... the population of Sydney will hit 5 million this year, versus about 2.1 million in Brisbane. Ideally, Ithink you'd want to Super Rugby teams in both.

Also, the ARU don't want to move the Force to Sydney - that was just a thought bubble from a former Force executive who'd given up hope on them. But the Force have carved out a decent niche in the Perth market, so it's not something they'll be considering

There are obviously too many NRL teams in Sydney, but Rugby needs to carve out a fan base that extends beyond just the east and north shore, and so it must do something about the west.

Personally, I'd like to see the Waratahs split their matches across the city - say have 4 at Moore Park, 3 at Parramatta and take one to Penrith too. But that doesn't appear to be something they're willing to consider, so the next best option is having a cross town rivalry.

2 teams in NSW and 2 in QLD would be the ideal but for something like that, the ARU need a lot of money and at least 10 years of excellent performances at Super Rugby level, and win some Bledisloes to increase the TV raitings and crowds.

 

[The_Wol]

I'll just find an NBA star who enjoys watching rugby and get him to bankroll the ARU with 10% of his paycheque

 

[RoosTah]

2 teams in NSW and 2 in QLD would be the ideal but for something like that, the ARU need a lot of money and at least 10 years of excellent performances at Super Rugby level, and win some Bledisloes to increase the TV raitings and crowds.

If the Wallabies started to win the Bledisloe Cup on a consistent basis it would be a massive help from a public interest standpoint, but for that to happen we need better development all round.

Ultimately it's chicken and egg stuff in that sense, but the real long term viability comes from club success and rivalries, and given the Tahs aren't about to suddenly start spreading their brand across the city, I wonder if it would be a worthwhile experiment re-branding us simply as 'Sydney' so that future expansion could accommodate another Sydney team.

 

[Jaguares]

If the Wallabies started to win the Bledisloe Cup on a consistent basis it would be a massive help from a public interest standpoint, but for that to happen we need better development all round.

Ultimately it's chicken and egg stuff in that sense, but the real long term viability comes from club success and rivalries, and given the Tahs aren't about to suddenly start spreading their brand across the city, I wonder if it would be a worthwhile experiment re-branding us simply as 'Sydney' so that future expansion could accommodate another Sydney team.

Waratahs Sydney or just Sydney? Haha