Could this be the end of Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship?

[mdaclarke]

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/roux-sa-rugby-cannot-lose-broadcasting-money/

Looks like the South African Government is trying to take Super Rugby and Internationals off Pay TV and on to Free to air TV.

It is my understanding the Australian and New Zealand Rugby rely upon South African TV money. This could be extremely bad news for the Boks, Wallabys, All Blacks and Pumas as well as the Super Rugby Teams.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I would love to see them try.

They have tried to do this and failed on several occasions. Our public broadcaster is in shambles and there are numerous reports of bankruptcy and bailouts to assist the public broadcaster.

They've done this in the past with cricket, and every time they fail, the paytv station, Supersport continues on their merry way. Our public broadcaster simply doesn't have the infrastructure to sustain this plan. They don't even have HD cameras to film the matches and in the past paid Supersport for the filming and then broadcasted it simultaneously on the free station.

I'm not worried one bit.

 

[mdaclarke]

I think they are looking at moving Super Rugby and Currie Cup to Category B "offered to subscription broadcasting licensee on a non exclusive basis under sub licensing conditions."

Does this mean that the games would be exclusive on Pay TV with compulsory highlights on Free TV?
Does this mean that most games would be exclusive on Pay TV with a minority of games shown live on Free TV? or
Does this mean that all games must also be shown live on Free TV?

If it was the top one then this is no different to how major sport is done in the UK

 

[TRF_heineken]

I think they are looking at moving Super Rugby and Currie Cup to Category B "offered to subscription broadcasting licensee on a non exclusive basis under sub licensing conditions."

Does this mean that the games would be exclusive on Pay TV with compulsory highlights on Free TV?
Does this mean that most games would be exclusive on Pay TV with a minority of games shown live on Free TV? or
Does this mean that all games must also be shown live on Free TV?

If it was the top one then this is no different to how major sport is done in the UK

At the moment, the only sport being aired on free tv in SA is local Soccer (not all games), international Cricket matches, boxing and WWE Wrestling.

All other sports are on Pay TV. And Supersport is the one that signs agreements with the Sports Associations locally and internationally. The matches broadcasted on freetv are 9 times out of 10 bought from Supersport in any case.

I think the issue is that Rugby is only available on the premium package, while local soccer is available on the cheaper Compact package and due to cost, more people in the rural areas rather buy the compact package or go to their local pub to watch sport.

 

[mdaclarke]

Seems like Free TV is rearing it's head again.

Government plans to make key sports free to watch

Government has put forward proposed regulations to make the broadcasting of sports in the 'public interest' free to watch, including key rugby competitions.

www.sarugbymag.co.za

"Government has put forward proposed regulations to make the broadcasting of sports in the 'public interest' free to watch, including key rugby competitions.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is said to engaging with the SABC, MultiChoice, eTV, Safa, PSL, Cricket SA, Boxing SA, Athletics South Africa, SA Rugby, Netball SA and Sascoc over the list of 'public interest' sports.

The push is for all South Africans to have access to key sports by broadcasting them free-to-air on SABC.

In response to Icasa's review of the country's sports broadcasting regulations, MultiChoice stated it is engaged extensively in the review process, but would prefer if the regulations were not changed.

'MultiChoice is awaiting Icasa's decision on proposed amendments to the Sports Broadcasting Regulations, as are all stakeholders that engaged extensively in this process,' a statement read.

'It remains our view that the current regulations strike a balanced approach and should not be amended.'

Icasa's proposed list of events that would fall under the 'public interest' has been expanded and includes many events which are exclusive to SuperSport and MultiChoice.

This includes rugby events such as the World Cup, Super Rugby and Currie Cup."

 

[TRF_heineken]

Seems like Free TV is rearing it's head again.

Government plans to make key sports free to watch

Government has put forward proposed regulations to make the broadcasting of sports in the 'public interest' free to watch, including key rugby competitions.

www.sarugbymag.co.za

"Government has put forward proposed regulations to make the broadcasting of sports in the 'public interest' free to watch, including key rugby competitions.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is said to engaging with the SABC, MultiChoice, eTV, Safa, PSL, Cricket SA, Boxing SA, Athletics South Africa, SA Rugby, Netball SA and Sascoc over the list of 'public interest' sports.

The push is for all South Africans to have access to key sports by broadcasting them free-to-air on SABC.

In response to Icasa's review of the country's sports broadcasting regulations, MultiChoice stated it is engaged extensively in the review process, but would prefer if the regulations were not changed.

'MultiChoice is awaiting Icasa's decision on proposed amendments to the Sports Broadcasting Regulations, as are all stakeholders that engaged extensively in this process,' a statement read.

'It remains our view that the current regulations strike a balanced approach and should not be amended.'

Icasa's proposed list of events that would fall under the 'public interest' has been expanded and includes many events which are exclusive to SuperSport and MultiChoice.

This includes rugby events such as the World Cup, Super Rugby and Currie Cup."

That article doesn't say much actually. The public broadcaster, the SABC doesn't have money, and I don't know how they will go about doing this without some sort of governmental bailout. Which would just be a repitition of the previous time.

CSA, PSL, SARU, ASA, BSA all have contractual agreements with Multichoice and Supersport, so there isn't much chance of those contracts being terminated because of the benefits both parties are getting from it.

Should the SABC be able to air the games, it would most probably be on the same arrangement they had in the past with multichoice.

 

[mdaclarke]

Government aiming to bring sports to wider SA television audience | Sport

ICASA has published its latest draft regulations aiming to make a number of sports free to watch for a wider audience including the FIFA World Cup, MTN 8 and Super Rugby tournaments.

www.news24.com

Further regulations published

Regulations proposed to bring Super Rugby, Currie Cup and World Cup to Free-to-Air TV.

I note that the Rugby Championship is not included.

How will this affect SARU?

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I think @TRF_heineken knows more about SA broadcasting than i so cant comment too much

A slight tangent thought is some of the discussions about broadcasting in Aus, reports that Channel Nine wants to bring super rugby and Aus games to free to air and streaming service "Stan"

rough breakdown is Aus games free to air on Nine and some marquee super games, with the rest on "Stan", this is a paid service but only $9 a month rather than paying for Foxtel and its something a lot of people already have

it would be less money for RA than renewing Foxtel but the potential to reach a lot more of a casual fans

will come down to long term v short term gains for RA, fingers crossed

 

[Kiwiwomble]

wow...just confirmed this morning, pretty exciting for rugby in Aus, would love to see something similar in NZ

Nine, Rugby Australia confirm groundbreaking $100m broadcast deal

Super Rugby will be on live on free-to-air television for the first time with a landmark partnership officially confirmed by Nine and Rugby Australia.

www.theage.com.au

 

[TRF_heineken]

Government aiming to bring sports to wider SA television audience | Sport

ICASA has published its latest draft regulations aiming to make a number of sports free to watch for a wider audience including the FIFA World Cup, MTN 8 and Super Rugby tournaments.

www.news24.com

Further regulations published

Regulations proposed to bring Super Rugby, Currie Cup and World Cup to Free-to-Air TV.

I note that the Rugby Championship is not included.

How will this affect SARU?

I don't think there will be a difference to what the arrangement is now.

Look at the article's 2nd last paragraph before they list what must be shown: "ICASA listed the following events which must be broadcast "live, delayed-live, or delayed" by free-to-air broadcasting licenses".

The part in Bold is of particular importance. Because what this means is if Supersport has an agreement with sporting governing bodies in place, with regards to the broadcasting rights, they will remain in place, and Supersport will have the rights to premier those events live on their platform. Then there will have to be some sort of agreement between Supersport and the National Broadcaster, SABC, as to the broadcasting of same event on the Free-to-Air tv. Which will mean it will be delayed-live or delayed matches.

It's precisely what is currently going on now in SA.

All that this regulation is going to do, is to widen the umbrella of events being showed.

It's not going to affect SARU at all, well at least not with it's agreement with Supersport.

It's much the same as with Cricket South Africa and their recent deal with Star India Broadcasting. Which was a billion Rand investment which will pump in huge amounts of money into SA Cricket. That broadcasting deal will remain in place, even with CSA's agreements with Supersport and other broadcasting companies, as the non-free-to-air platforms are more focused on the international viewership. While still keeping a big chunk of the SA population's craving for sport in tact as the local sport lover knows the quality of the broadcasting, and what they will be able to enjoy watching.

I do however think that whoever works at ICASA, needs to update their knowledge of sporting events and the involvement of SA in some of these events. The idea of the free-to-air broadcasting rights, is to get the local population, who don't own/can't afford paytv, to watch South Africans compete in these events. Yet there won't be many South Africans playing Super Rugby anymore....

 

[mdaclarke]

Jurie Roux: Icasa 'remedies' would ruin SA Rugby

SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux has added his voice against the loss of exclusivity of broadcasting rights during a public hearing on Thursday.

www.sarugbymag.co.za

Update. I note that both the SARU and the South African Premier League are against this.

 

[Al Bangor]

I used to love Super Rugby and would happily stay up way too late to stream it live here in the USA. But I've lost interest with all the teams leaving and the bickering that went with it. I'm not taking sides on who's to blame, I'm just burnt out. And that's a shame because it used to be my favorite professional rugby union competition. I might renew my interest when the 2021 season begins play, but as of now I'm not feeling it.

Best wishes to Super Rugby and it's fans.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

if you can bring yourself to do if, SRA had some awesome spectacle games and bringing back in the Aussie teams will add another dynamic

 

[TRF_Olyy]

World Rugby investing in 2x Pacific Island Super Rugby sides

 

[Kiwiwomble]

not sure how this will work considering all the proposals only allowed for one, great news though

 

[Al Bangor]

World Rugby investing in 2x Pacific Island Super Rugby sides

I'm already a fan of Fijian Drua and I can't wait for them to play in Super Rugby. Kudos to World Rugby for their investment.