If there is a positive coming out of the restrictions placed on sports as they come back from the coronavirus lockdown it is the way the “new normal” has swept away the misconception that match-day crowds may become less relevant in the television age.
It is easy to understand the latter thinking. The mega money paid by television for the right to broadcast events makes up an increasingly high proportion of the money used to keep the various sporting codes going. If the Springboks do go to the Rugby Championship now scheduled for Australia from November 7 to December 12, for which they will be horribly unprepared if they do, it will be for just one reason.
They need the money, and television pays significantly more for international rugby than it does for domestic competition. But does the reliance on television money for survival mean that in time match day attendance will become less relevant?
The answer to that question has been provided in the first phase of rugby’s comeback from Covid-19 that will climax over the next few weeks as Super Rugby AU in Australia and the Champions Cup in Europe follow the New Zealand Aotearoa competition and the Pro14 by coming to their respective conclusions.
These past few months did provide a good case study on what the rugby business would look like without crowds. And it may not be a coincidence that most of those who have been getting their rugby fix from television over the past few months will tell you that the Aotearoa, the only competition that drew proper crowds at games, was the most addictive viewing.
Ulster coach Dan McFarland summed it up when he said ahead of the final that a sense of occasion was lacking
The debate may be a bit skewed by New Zealand rugby being the leader regarding on-field aesthetic and innovation, but comparing the Pro14 and the Aotearoa right now is like comparing apples with oranges.
The Aotearoa kicked off in the same week that New Zealand registered a zero infection rate. It meant it was possible to fill venues to capacity. The Pro14 games were played in front of empty stadiums, something that became more noticeable once the competition reached the play-offs.
Ulster coach Dan McFarland summed it up when he said ahead of the final that a sense of occasion was lacking. The lack of real jubilation in the winning Leinster squad afterwards may have vindicated McFarland’s view.
The Pro14 teams did not get the energy from the crowds that the Aotearoa teams were able to draw off, and apart from affecting overall quality it has to affect the enjoyment of the television viewer too.
Even in the early weeks when there were many penalties there was high entertainment value in the Aotearoa. That was probably because for the first time in a while a buzz was being generated by near full houses for regional rugby.
It made every game feel like an occasion, and that helped inspire those of us who couldn’t be there to watch it on television. Last week’s North-South game in New Zealand provided some high-quality rugby, but the closed stadium “festival” just didn’t grab me in the same way as the Aotearoa games played in front of big crowds did.
The impact of match day attendances on my enjoyment of a televised event has been most noticeable regarding the Premier League. I don’t think it was just because my team, Liverpool, had already won the league that by the end of the 2019/2020 European soccer season I was watching much less than I did before.
Cavernously empty
Part of it may come down to change of habit. The lockdown months forced us to look for other ways of entertaining ourselves and perhaps to see the world a bit differently. But much of it comes down to the absence of the crowd excitement and sense of theatre that drew me to the Premier League before Covid.
Theatre and sense of occasion is not something we experience a lot in SA rugby nowadays outside of when a Test match is being played. Too many local games before the pandemic were being played in almost cavernously empty stadiums.
Now that we have seen rugby being played in front of full stadiums (Aotearoa), partially populated stadiums (Australia) and closed stadiums (Europe) we are better informed on what impact having proper crowds, and therefore a sense of occasion, has on the overall product.
Right now it is what it is, and health and safety considerations will dictate that when the sport does return here it will be in closed stadiums. But there will be a time when our stadiums will be open again.
Rugby officials worldwide need to work extra hard in the time before stadiums are reopened on ensuring they find ways to make the overall on-day entertainment appealing enough to attract big crowds back into the stadiums.
The future of the overall rugby business depends on it.
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