Rugby Unions take note.......

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So terrestial television, Channel 4 is to be the main provider of live cricket for the first time since cricket went behind a paywall in 2005 and lost tens of millions of viewers cumulatively over the last fifteen years.

Meanwhile it appears the 6N this year will be the last for a while on free to air TV, despite Australian rugby moving part of their coverage back fta TV and Test cricket is now doing the same.

Unions need to think very carefully on what their priorities should be in terms of awareness and subsequent participation in the sport at all levels - as opposed to paying for the professional tier of the sport which is what is driving this dash for cash and exacerbated by the pandemic.

The NZRU are keeping the paywall and instead offering a percentage of the all black brand to private equity - the Unions have lost the plot.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:So they won't turn up at a stadium if the match isn't on their preferred tv channel? Bizarre logic by them.

No, it's because they have lost interest, they are not watching the teams play all year so the pull to go and watch them on a day out is less. The whole build up of it is lost.

So the they lose interest because the match is not on their preferred tv channel, so they don't attend the match and instead go and watch it on tv. You're getting in a tangle here.

None of that has been implied at all. If rugby isn't accessible then people will lose interest in it and then attendances will suffer, pretty simple logic. You're inventing an argument that hasn't been made.

Nope I'm not soul. Simply reading what LD has written.

To say once again rugby will be available. Post covid we will be able to go to the match. We will be able to watch on tv. We will be able to see highlights on free to air TV (should this new contract go ahead).

You've not read what he's written at all, as you well know.

LordDowlais wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:There could be a number of reasons why attendance was down for Judgement Day 2019. Nobody can say with any justification that it is purely down to one factor. Another reason could be that Season Ticket holders don't like the event, because they can't control where they sit compared to their usual home game. I know of a fair few Cardiff Blues and Dragons supporters who take the hit on the game because of this. There was also a storm on the day, which disrupted travel and could've affected walk ups etc.

Yeah, I get that Risca, but you cannot deny, the bulk of the Judgement Day crowd were armchair/fair weather fans who saw it as a day out, it was almost treated the same as international day. It's these fans that are being lost due to the Pro14 being on PS.

I agree that majority of supporters there would’ve been the same Event crowd as the Wales supporters. I’m not sure on the Premier choice being totally the cause in disinterest in the Pro Teams though.

I find myself not as interested in the product as a whole, with various factors like certain aspects of the league annoying me and the kickfests and defence orientated games we tend to see also putting me off at times, but I also think that the standard of fare served can also match a lot of internationals for slugfests. I know that I read supporters of the Pro Teams saying similar (particularly with certain aspects of the league). So if invested supporters are fed up, then casual supporters won’t engage with it, even if it’s on FTA.

I take your point about Rugby Clubs and pubs not being able to offer it, but I also wonder if a lot of pubs etc would show a lot of Pro 14 rugby games, over the Saturday evening premiership football game anyway.

Lord before the Premier deal who could watch the Pro14 in England.  Now thanks to the FreeSpot deal as part of Premier they now have access to Pro14 in 22m homes that previously couldn't watch it.  Is that good or bad for the league.

Watching AWJ on TV and thinking he is great does what for more players and fans if their school tells them for PE they will not be playing rugby because the sport is to dangerous.  Instead they play soccer and become a fan of Cardiff City and just continue to watch rugby on the free tv never contributing.

Cricket lost its way by going for loads and loads of games against the same teams.  Why would people not lose interest.  Also who wants to play cricket where the match can get rained off, you need loads of free time and summer holidays not great for the schedule. Rugby and cricket not very simillar.

I fall into the camp of wanting the Six Nations on free over the air tv. For me, it is more than just a tournament, it is a national event, really a multi-national. I believe in the long run the more exposure on free tv will help grow the sport than realising profits now on the pay channels/services.