Early next year the new NZRFU board will face a defining challenge. The SANZAR TV rights deal is to be renegotiated. This was a landmark deal eight years ago bringing US$550 million to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. 

A staggering $500 million more than the prior deal. This deal along with the Adidas deal enabled the NZRFU to take the lead when the game went professional and to maintain control over its primary asset, the players.

Much has changed since 1995. The intense competition between Murdoch and Packer has diminished and Murdoch is no longer as committed to controlling and dominating world rugby. Many pay TV platforms have disappeared and many others are now in mature consolidation phases. 

Eight years ago the competition was intense for male oriented programming (lots of it) and pay TV channels were willing to invest in rugby to generate subscriptions and penetration.

This is not necessarily the case today. Programming is more settled and TV is less driven by ego - and need - than it was. However we do have a solid product and the Super 12 in particular has been very successful. 
    

Tinkering with the Tri Nations would also be foolish. 
The talk of moving this to a bi-annual event rather than annual is just plain stupid. No broadcaster will buy this. The Six Nations gains its strength from its annual ritual. 
Tri Nations has built tradition in the same way.

Job number one therefore for the NZRU is to retain the product as is and to retain New Zealand's dominant share of that.

Job number two is to convince the TV programmes that SANZAR is a major property. Over the past 12 months some striking new deals have been done globally.

The International Olympic Committee U.S. TV deal with NBC was priced at a landmark US$2 billion for 2010 and 2012. This reflected NBC's belief in the U.S. economy generally and the increasingly positive trends for corporate advertising spend. 

It also reflected the continual fragmentation of the TV business with very few properties now delivering significant audiences to advertisers. The world's most important sports events ('major events') will therefore continue to increase in their value to TV stations and advertisers but the 'nice to have' secondary type properties will slip in value.

Can the NZRU help convince the TV stations that SANZAR is a major event and not a secondary event?

The NFL has done this with Gridiron. Their existing U.S. contract is for US$17.6 billion. One year in and the NFL are going for increased value. More games are being played in the regular season and the 2003 TV ratings are way ahead of target so pressure will now go on to increase the value of the deal. A major property indeed.
       

In France, domestic soccer sponsorship increased 41% because of intense competition through two pay platforms with a tiny international deal because of the lack of glamour. In England the Premier League deal declined 10% but is still a hefty US$1.8 billion despite a single PTV channel only. The international rights are out for tender this month with the existing deal worth US$260 million over three seasons.

Rugby World Cup has a fantastic opportunity to lift its revenue with France in 2007 and an even bigger opportunity in 2011 especially if it holds the tournament in sponsor-rich Japan. 

I believe Rugby World Cup is unquestionably a major event and the TV deal should reflect that. But is SANZAR? The Olympics, Soccer, NFL, the Tennis Grand Slams, the Golf Majors and the Tour de France are all 'major events'. The NZRFU and SANZAR need to be putting together a compelling case now that puts the Tri Series and Super 12 in the same league.

As a minimum we must resist any erosion of the current deal. Both in absolute terms and in New Zealand's share. This will be no easy task in itself. Building on this and generating an increase in rights will require skilled negotiation, relentless persuasiveness and some game-breaking ideas. And a more polished performance than we exhibited on the 2003 Rugby World Cup hosting fiasco.

The new team at the NZRU will certainly face their moment of truth in 2004.

As far as the World Cup goes I'm already sick of the Poms. Yesterday I heard this old chestnut doing the rounds.

Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Jonny Wilkinson are standing in front of God at the throne of Heaven. God looks at them and says "Before granting you a place on my side I must first ask you what you believe in".
     

Johnson looks God in the eye and responds passionately: "I believe rugby is the food of life. Nothing else brings such unbridled joy to so many people from the grim North to the bright lights of Twickenham. I have devoted my life to bringing such joy to people who stood on the terraces supporting their clubs and country." God looks up, smiles and offers Johnson the seat to his left.

He then turns to Richard Hill. "And you Richard, what do you believe?" 

Hill stands tall and proud. "I believe courage, honour and passion are the fundamentals of life and I have spent my whole playing career trying to provide a role model for young people in these traits." God, moved by the passion of his speech offers Hill the seat to his right.

Finally he turns to Wilkinson. "And you Jonny, what do you believe?"

"I believe …" says Wilkinson "… you're sitting in my seat."

And before signing off don't you think it's time that we looked at the points system again. We need to reduce the points for drop goals and penalties to two and increase the points for a try to six.

We now have enough video camera, touch judge and yellow card discipline at our disposal to stop foul play ruining the game. We need to continue to reward running rugby and reduce reliance on goal kicking. Hello Carlos. Goodbye Jonny!

  
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