Super Rugby confusion at heart of fans discontent – could lead to uncluttered jerseys

By David O’Sullivan

David O'Sullivan
David O’Sullivan

I’m not usually a rugby fan who wears the replica shirt of his favourite team, but in the case of the Lions in 2014 I was prepared to make an exception.

In 2012, the Lions finished bottom of the Super Rugby log, were relegated from Super Rugby and sat out the competition in 2013. When they returned in 2014, they had no sponsor.

Who would have wanted to sponsor them anyway? They were constant losers, never ending higher than third last in the competition for over a decade. They lost every single game in 2010 and finished bottom of the log three times in five years. A three-year sponsorship deal with MTN ended in 2013, so they had no title sponsor for their comeback to Super Rugby. There was no logo on the front of their jersey, though a second-tier sponsor Redefine Property Group’s logo appeared on the back.

That was the jersey I wanted – the one with no big logo on the front. It looked so unusual. The bare, uncluttered jersey would be a reminder of how tough the times had been for the Lions.

Now the Lions players have Fly Emirates emblazoned on their chests. As do players from Arsenal, Benfica, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Paris St Germain and Hamburg SV. The Dubai-based airline has a vast number of sports sponsorships in football, rugby, tennis and Grand Prix. The Lions are the first franchise rugby team to be sponsored by Emirates.

Read also: The Lions (yes, the Lions!) are top of Super Rugby

Undoubtedly, the injection of sponsorship money has enabled the franchise to hold on to some of their players who might otherwise be lured overseas by the power of the Pound or Euro. Salaries will be the biggest expense of the GLRU, and the undisclosed top-up from Sheik Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s airline will have been of enormous importance to the franchise.

A financial impact is critical, but there will also have been a psychological impact on the players knowing that a big foreign sponsor believed in them. Along with good management and excellent coaching, they got their confidence and composure back. And it showed.

After finishing fourth last in Super Rugby in 2014 wearing their plain red jerseys, the Lions started to rebuild. When they kicked off their 2015 Super Rugby season on 13 February at Ellis Park against the Hurricanes, they were called Emirates Lions and their stadium was Emirates Airlines Park. They finished 8th, just missing out on a play-off position. Now they’re top of the log (the main log, not the Africa Conference 2 log or even the South African group – the overall log), a playoff berth is secured with two games left to play. If results work in their favor, the Fly Emirates team could host the final. It’s heady stuff. It seems such a long way from the days of the plain red jersey.

Super_Rugby(I’m not convinced that a sponsor gets value from replacing the name of a well-known stadium with their own. The TV commentators might call it Emirates Airlines Park, but very few sports journalists and none of the fans do. Rugby fans have too much emotional attachment with the name Ellis Park. By all means, brand the stadium flamboyantly. The big red Emirates banners suit the stadium, which is a big red monster anyway. But no one is buying into the new name, just as no one ever passionately referred to Securicor Loftus or Axxess DSL St Georges).

Long may the Lions’ association with Emirates last, because it’ll soon become harder and harder to convince a big sponsor to throw vast amounts of money behind a rugby team. Sponsors associate their name with a rugby team for exposure, not for the love of the game. Sponsors want to see a return on investment. That means brand exposure. Which means being seen on TV.

A sponsor wants to see large TV audience figures for the sport. That’s why English Premiership clubs can command large sponsorship deals. The EPL is viewed all over the world.

But the TV audiences for Super Rugby are starting to fall, and sponsors are surely watching the trend with concern. Last Sunday, Rapport newspaper revealed that up until round 9 of this year’s Super Rugby competition, South African TV audiences had dropped by 3.8 million viewers compared with four years ago. Rapport also found that viewerships in both New Zealand and Australia had also fallen, but not quite so dramatically.

It’s interesting to see the fans’ reaction on social media. The biggest reason cited for discontent is the confusing format of the Super Rugby competition. So many conferences, so many teams, too many local derbies, too many mediocre teams.

In the 2016 version of the competition, a South African team might not ever have their strength tested by playing a New Zealand side in New Zealand. Local teams have, more often that not, struggled playing in Australasia. Winning overseas separated the men from the boys. Now some teams only travel to Australia, while others only travel to New Zealand. Some teams are perceived to have an easier draw than others. Gone are the days when South Africans were regularly up against the best Kiwis and Aussies in a real test of strength and skill.

Can fans really get excited about seeing their teams in action against the Jaguares at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani at a quarter to midnight? Are the Sunwolves or Kings as compelling to watch as the Chiefs, Brumbies, Crusaders or Hurricanes?

At the end of each weekend’s fixtures, how can fans tell from the various logs (Africa Conference 1 & 2, New Zealand Conference, Australia Conference) who is dominating whom in Super Rugby? They have to read various logs in conjunction with one another. And then they’ll discover a team that’s fourth might have more points than a team that’s second.

Super Rugby has become overly complicated. Try reading the competition rules once and then explaining them to a mate. No re-reading the rules. It’s impossible. In their desire to increase the competition’s reach by including the Jaguares and Sunwolves, SANZAAR (as it’s now called) might well have decreased the fans’ interest.

If the fans are losing interest, the TV audiences will continue to decline. If the TV audiences decline, the sponsors will start losing interest. And then we’ll be back with teams in uncluttered rugby jerseys, like the Lions in 2014. And we remember how desperate those times were.

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