Rugby Confidential: Club Rugby TV deal reached, coronavirus set to claim Hong Kong sevens
The path is now set for Rugby Australia to take every aspect of the game to the broadcast market while a Tahs star opts not to pad up to Aussie quick. It’s all in RUGBY CONFIDENTIAL.
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Rugby Australia’s “whole of game” package is now ready to go to the marketplace after the deal to include the Shute Shield in the offering was finalised.
Club Rugby TV – which held the broadcast rights to Shute Shield for 10 years – agreed to sell them back to the Sydney Rugby Union and NSW Rugby Union after just five years.
The deal paves the way for RA to include club rugby alongside provincial, women’s, sevens and Test match rugby when it goes to the open market.
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Just how much RA gets, or who they sign with interest in a professional game on the slide, is still to be decided but everyone is claiming victory after the restoration of club rugby in the package.
“This is a good day for rugby and hopefully everyone can unite behind the game home,” Club Rugby TV part owner Nick Fordham told Rugby Confidential.
“We’ve handed it back in tip top shape, everyone loves it, you can see the crowds coming back, the sponsors coming back, it’s a really valuable asset and that's why there’s been such a kerfuffle.”
Shute Shield will remain on Channel 7 this season while RA looks for a partner for the 2021-25 period, with the introduction of a new two-tier national club competition.
RA has not commented on the completion of the deal, or how much it paid, although it’s an open secret that the value of Shute Shield has risen dramatically after Fox Sports attempted to buy the rights from Fordham and his business partner, John Murray, before the SRU voted to accept RA’s offer instead.
“That just added more zeros to the discussions and gave the clubs more leverage to get the deal they really deserved, and that’s the most important thing,” Fordham said.
“To put it into context, Sydney Rugby Union and NSW rugby union gave two fans all of their rights for nothing, which probably reflects the position the competition was in that stage.
“But it just needed a bit of spit and polish and some love and care which people like (Club Rugby TV general manager) Hamish Birt gave it so now we’ve handed it back in impeccable condition.”
GOING VIRAL
The coronavirus outbreak is set to wreak havoc on two of the key lead-up events for the sevens tournament at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The Asian leg of the World Series – the rounds in Hong Kong and Singapore – are both set to be postponed because of the spread of the deadly virus.
Other sporting bodies have already cancelled a series of major sports events in China, including the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix that was due to be held in Shanghai, and now other countries in the region are doing the same.
Dating back to 1976, Hong Kong is the premier event in sevens rugby and has never been cancelled before, even during the 2003 SARS crisis.
The three-day tournament, due to start on April 3, attracts thousands of foreign visitors, as well as hundreds of sex workers from mainland China, and is likely to be pushed back until after the Olympics.
TAHS’ NAH
Waratahs backrower Ned Hanigan had a ready-made excuse to turn down the chance to face Aussie fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in a net session at Sydney University.
Even off a short run bowling below full pace, the Hoff is a handful to pad up against so there was no way Hanigan was going to face him while he’s undergoing rehabilitation from concussion.
“I don’t think a red ball to the head will be any good,” he said.
“These things take time and unfortunately concussion is one of those things where you can’t really put an exact time frame on like an ACL or a shoulder, you’ve just got to wait and like I said it’s a bit different with each individual.”
Originally published as Rugby Confidential: Club Rugby TV deal reached, coronavirus set to claim Hong Kong sevens
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