Mike's Minute: The critical meeting for NZ Rugby today
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Why is New Zealand Rugby facing a “critical summit” and what’s the core problem?
Rugby uh gets together today. Uh we'll talk to Elliot, as I say, shortly, for what they're calling a critical summit. Uh they don't make money. That's your basic problem. They haven't made money for years. They're forecast to lose even more money in the future. Three starters for ten are lined up as I understand it today.
What are the three main restructuring options being considered for Super Rugby and the NPC?
One, expand Super Rugby with two new teams. Two, continue super and NPC but merge super into the unions, and three replace both with a new eight to ten team comp. Glass half full part of This is the fact that revenue in the past decade has doubled. Problem is the costs. So the revenue V expenditure aspect of this seems fairly easy to address, I would have thought. Can you make more money?
How does doubled revenue over the last decade still leave NZ Rugby in the red?
Most likely not. So you trim your cloth to meet your income. There's a good old fashioned idea, why don't they try that? That of course comes with sacrifice, yes, and some wailing and gnashing, but in general terms businesses that have seen income increase but still can't make any money, they tend to be a bit loose at the old checkout. This all goes in part of course to what they see as their Their core reason for being. Are they in fact a business?
Is NZ Rugby a profit‑driven business or a collective aimed at growing the game?
Are they more a collective designed to grow and see the game prosper? Is their guiding force to make money or simply kind of break even and spread what they have about the place? It is indisputably a sad state of affairs that our national game can't make money, but they are hardly the first to face this fiscal test, of course. Private money, I would have thought's an obvious answer, some brutal decision making around what's not. To have versus what pays the way are obvious starting points, I would have thought. The collective nature of the place strikes me as a problem. Too many unions, too much provincialism, too much old boy nonsense, dare I suggest, a bit much wokery.
Can private investment and cutting “wokery” solve the fiscal crisis of NZ Rugby?
What I know is the world is full of very, very successful sports and sports teams. I see. A sea of clubs with growing fortunes. I see crowds, I see ticket prices, I see betting, I see so many aspects of sport internationally, actually not just growing, but booming. We have got to produce, surely, one sport that actually does well in this country. I mean, not all your sports have got to be on their knees, surely, and if rugby can't turn a dollar, what can? For more from the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks Ed B from 6 a.m. weekdays or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why is New Zealand Rugby facing a “critical summit” and what’s the core problem?
0:00–0:14
2
What are the three main restructuring options being considered for Super Rugby and the NPC?
0:14–0:36
3
How does doubled revenue over the last decade still leave NZ Rugby in the red?
0:36–0:58
4
Is NZ Rugby a profit‑driven business or a collective aimed at growing the game?
0:58–1:32
5
Can private investment and cutting “wokery” solve the fiscal crisis of NZ Rugby?
1:32–2:06
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Mike Hosking Breakfast
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