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[November Tests 2017 EOYT] Scotland vs. Australia (25/11/2017)

I don't know a lot about Australia but it's interesting to think about what Union needs to do differently to be more financially secure. I personally don't understand the Free to Air argument. The future of content is that it is paid for directly by the consumer. I sort of get that union might need the exposure that free to air would provide BUT Australia has already won two world cups and played in the most recent final. Does union really need more exposure then that? How does a sport get more exposure then that?

It appears that union has always tried to be the "premium" sports product trying to best leverage its private school heritage and international scope. This has basically worked for soccer in the States (middle class not private school) and it seems like a decent enough approach for rugby to take. I guess it just hasn't been sustainable.

Rugby is very approachable with both women's and sevens varieties. Embracing both is the future of the sport. Aren't some parents getting turned off by violence in league?

I personally think that Super Rugby will be much better next year. Hopefully it will show some modest growth and Australia can build from there. I actually thought that TV ratings were up last year. Is that wrong? Ireland coming next year should also help. Italy and Fiji were just not winners this year from a fan engagement perspective. And why did Italy play in Brisbane and Fiji in Melbourne? Shouldn't it have been the other way around?

In theory, I can see how ditching South Africa would help Australia in Super Rugby from a time zone perspective but South Africa and Argentina give Super Rugby access to the more established European and American spectator sports markets. Total revenue for the comp would surely slip without them. I'm not sure how less revenue for Super Rugby would help union in Australia.
The answer, in Australia at least, is that Rugby suffers from a class divide. Much of our talented sportsmen and women miss Union altogether as it is seen as a private school boys club and that position is enforced by its inaccessibility to the poorer folk of the community. It marginalizes the game and reduces our participant pool and viewership.

Having said that, it's far too late to jump on the free to air wagon now. Regular broadcasting is on it's way out.
 
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The answer, in Australia at least, is that Rugby suffers from a class divide. Much of our talented sportsmen and women miss Union altogether as it is seen as a private school boys club and that position is enforced by its inaccessibility to the poorer folk of the community. It marginalizes the game and reduces our participant pool and viewership.

Having said that, it's far too late to jump on the free to air wagon now. Regular broadcasting is on it's way out.


Yep, I have to agree 100% with this.

Between them, Aussie Rules and Rugby League absolutely have the "blue collar oval ball" market cornered.
 
The rugby fraternity needs to decide how they want the game of Union to be perceived over the course of the next twenty years. In the States there has been a concerted effort on the part of the telco's to entice the majority of the demographic to a single platform where mobile and tv are essentially fused into the single subscription. It has mass market appeal for a lot of content however that said the amount of content available at the subscribers fingertips has increased ten fold and the majority of that content is simply "substandard" There is a reason why the established networks have invested huge sums into their infrastructure not only on the tech front but in over looked areas (ie staff/corporate sponsorship etc etc..) the result is when you pay for your subscription and switch on your 200 inch widescreen TV you are watching the game in the best possible format from the best angle with commentary from experts who have a history in the game. The alternative is a dongle, a bunch of guys who cant pronounce the team roster let alone understand the fundamentals of the game and camerawork that looks like it was filmed on a smart phone. The likes of Sky, fox, ITV, BskyB etc.. would be wise to refrain from joining the stream of diluted mass marketed subscription seekers and pioneer a more exclusive all inclusive tech savvy package that delivers content to the viewership without sacrificing the "quality" of the content it is delivering. Rugby Union is a prime example of a sport that has never been fazed by the desire of quarterly earnings if it means increasing the quantity of the subscriber base at the expense of a "quality game of rugby".
I think you've rather neatly captured the attitude that has seen Rugby in Australia fall into its current state of gross disrepair. I'd also add that anyone who thinks Union isn't concerned about quarterly earnings - even if you were just talking about Australia - has never read a financial report from any of the major unions. I can only assume you're a bit of an outsider and idealist based on those comments, but I assure you that obsessing over quarterly earnings is precisely how the ARU sold the clusterfuck of a competition that was the expanded 18 side Super Rugby tournament to the then 5 Super Rugby franchises in Australia. They all mostly thought it looked like a bad idea, but Pulver pulled out the spreadsheet with all the TV money they were supposed to get and they all shut up. So much for not being worried about earnings over integrity lol.

Also, it's cute to talk about the future of streaming and the death of TV, but the fact is that our internet infrastructure is still far from up to the task of streaming HD sport live to mass audiences. It handles mobile devices well enough, but it is still a fair way off doing a HD premium service that can support major events. Optus proved that with their EPL rights fiasco when it became obvious the quality they could offer customers was far from the expectations set by old cable providers with their full HD transmission.

A change in the landscape is on the horizon, but it's not really come to live sport anywhere in the world yet
 
I have no doubt Murdoch will be more than satisfied when he cashes out in a few years and the rights are onsold to the "new platform providers" and I'm sure by that stage that a suitable secure stream will be able to handle all the masses that will be queueing up to subscribe to the "new improved version".

I can assure you I am very familiar with the workings of a balance sheet and it would make complete sense for Pulver and his cohorts to take the approach that he has taken as it is good business sense, however for those of us whom the game of rugby is a little more than just a numbers game it is obvious that this approach is not in the long term best interests of the game!

Really? So you're familiar with financial modeling and you still think what Pulver "and his cohorts" did made "good business sense"?? You're not a Bond "University" alumni by any chance are you?

Seriously though, the decision was so manifestly NOT good business sense that it is still threatening to basically destroy the game in Australia due to the bankrupting the WA Rugby and the war that has started with Andrew Forrest.
 
Really? So you're familiar with financial modeling and you still think what Pulver "and his cohorts" did made "good business sense"?? You're not a Bond "University" alumni by any chance are you?

Seriously though, the decision was so manifestly NOT good business sense that it is still threatening to basically destroy the game in Australia due to the bankrupting the WA Rugby and the war that has started with Andrew Forrest.
The best example of their ineptitude is a small one. They refused rugbyWA's settlement offer for the order for costs in the proceedings they won. They offered something like 650/850k and Pulver in his infinite genius refused it, saying he would get the full 850k. rugbyWA immediately proceeded to go into administration whilst it's backers pulled out. Pulver literally just sharted away 650k by 'hardballing' and losing. They are beyond inept.
 
WA rugby was a poor idea and should never have been mooted in the first place. They play the odd game of Aussie rules and occasionally hit a boundary (if the XI is in form)! As for Forrest he would tell anyone that he has rugby interests at heart...couldn't be further from the truth. No I'm not Bond alumni. As for Pulver it was a smart "personal" business decision that he made ....not necessarily a savvy business decision as far as the ARU coffers are concerned....there is a difference

Wow... the mental gymnastics you're attempting to employ here to paint Pulver as some sort of genius is truly spectacular. It's got to be the most impressive example of bullshit spinning I've seen this side of a Trump press conference. But please, go ahead and humour me by explaining how imploding Australian rugby made good personal business sense for the CEO of Rugby Australia.
 
Think that might be Ireland's phone number rather than playing numbers!

That's a bit rich coming from Ireland, you will not see Wales doing the same thing.............. :p
In all seriousness Scotland have recruited well with a number of Scottish Qualified players who were not wanted by their birthplaces but have gone well for Scotland.
 
It's no secret that in NZ the game is embraced by all levels of society,
this is one of our secrets to rugby success. everyone plays it. all of NZ are brought together in rugby. we embrace all.
when i played club in aus it was all ex private school boys . which is fine cos they were awesome people but i wondered where all the normal working class people were.
 
Pulver is no genius ...not sure how you reached that conclusion ...like the CEO of any company he is answers to a board ...who I imagine are on the verge of giving him notice!
lol you're really not sure? I'll give you a hint champ - it was this part:
As for Pulver it was a smart "personal" business decision that he made.
As I wrote above though, I'm happy for you to elaborate a little more on that so you can better explain the personal brilliance of his work destroying the code in Australia.
 
this is one of our secrets to rugby success. everyone plays it. all of NZ are brought together in rugby. we embrace all.
when i played club in aus it was all ex private school boys . which is fine cos they were awesome people but i wondered where all the normal working class people were.
Playing League and gayFL eh.
 
lol you're really not sure? I'll give you a hint champ - it was this part:

As I wrote above though, I'm happy for you to elaborate a little more on that so you can better explain the personal brilliance of his work destroying the code in Australia.
I think at this point he's just trolling you man.
 
no need to elaborate on anything...read my other posts if you cant draw any logical conclusions from it then get some one to interpret it for you, I wrote it in good old plain English
lol With your block posts that are almost entirely bereft of punctuation I can assure you that "good English" isn't your forte.
 

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