The Super XV is a rugby competition comprising 15 franchises based in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In 2006, the average New Zealand Super XV crowd was 22,000. By 2012, that had dropped to 16,000. Roll forward to the 2014 season, New Zealand teams occupied 7th, 9th, 10th, second last and last place on home crowds stats.
The ITM Cup is New Zealand’s national competition. It comprises 15 teams, is a “feeder” league to Super XV teams and widely acknowledged as a maj...or reason the All Blacks have been dominant for decades. Regarding crowds, they have been in decline since 2008 to the point that now average game-day revenues are less than game-day costs – e.g. Auckland city (population 400,000) averaged 4,500 spectators per home game in 2013!
Tana Umaga (All Black legend, coach of ITM team Counties Manukau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tana_Umaga ) said on Radio Sport today that we need to get families back into watching rugby. I think he’s right but that means addressing issues like when the games are played, ticket prices, ease to and from the ground, stadium amenities and stadium entertainment.
It’s not simple but it’s imperative given that the current model is broken!
The ITM Cup is New Zealand’s national competition. It comprises 15 teams, is a “feeder” league to Super XV teams and widely acknowledged as a maj...or reason the All Blacks have been dominant for decades. Regarding crowds, they have been in decline since 2008 to the point that now average game-day revenues are less than game-day costs – e.g. Auckland city (population 400,000) averaged 4,500 spectators per home game in 2013!
Tana Umaga (All Black legend, coach of ITM team Counties Manukau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tana_Umaga ) said on Radio Sport today that we need to get families back into watching rugby. I think he’s right but that means addressing issues like when the games are played, ticket prices, ease to and from the ground, stadium amenities and stadium entertainment.
It’s not simple but it’s imperative given that the current model is broken!