The lesson New Zealand Rugby needs to learn from basketball
The lesson New Zealand Rugby needs to learn from basketball
“We want people talking about basketball, we want to increase media coverage and we want our fans even more engaged than they already are."
Opinion: Basketball New Zealand gets it… I’m not so sure New Zealand Rugby does though.
Wellington Rugby Union officials this week have been working through the prospect of moving their NPC home games from the 34,500-capacity Sky Stadium to the 2000-capacity Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua.
An announcement is expected next week.
Given the Wellington Rugby Union lost close to $700k last year and NPC crowd numbers are on the decline it’s hardly surprising they are searching for a smaller and less expensive venue to host games.
But I’ll circle back to a previous opinion piece I wrote and again ask; can New Zealand Rugby’s management - hand on heart - say they have given the NPC competition the best chance to thrive?
I’m not talking about chucking a whole heap of money at it either. I’m simply suggesting a concerted marketing and promotional effort to better engage fans.
While the Wellington Lions retreat to a 2000-capacity venue, across town at Basketball New Zealand HQ they are plotting ways to advance their flagship provincial competition - the Sal’s NBL.
An announcement this week highlighted that.
NBL officials have introduced a mid-season player trade window to the 2024 NBL season. It’s the first known player trade window included in a professional sporting competition in New Zealand.
And it’s the reasoning behind the left-field move which is why I’m suggesting basketball at the moment gets pro sport and rugby has some work to do.
A quote from NBL general manager Maree Taylor hammers home that the NBL is in the right mindset at the moment.
“We want people talking about basketball, we want to increase media coverage and we want our fans even more engaged than they already are,” Taylor said in a refreshing statement.
“In a crowded sporting landscape, it is important that the league continues to look for ways to engage our fan base.
“As we add new initiatives, the league will continue to work closely with teams to review our activity each post-season and make amends where needed.”
Sporting organisations need to find ways to attract media and fan attention, without obviously impacting the credibility of their competitions.
Traditionalists will suggest a unique mid-season trade window could become a farce. I tend to think the NBL has the balance right and it will actually get the desired result - increased fan attention.
The 66-hour trade window will occur at the mid-point of the season.
But you’ll get the days of speculation leading into the trade window promoting more fan attention.
It is just one of many innovations that the NBL has looked at to generate more interest, and it has former NBL general manager Justin Nelson’s fingerprints all over it.
For many years now Nelson has told anyone who wants to listen that the most important people in professional sport are the fans.
His priority when taking on the NBL job was to find a way to spread the player talent throughout the competition, rather than just having two or three teams in title contention, as had been the case.
“As a fan, you should be able to walk into a stadium, arena, football ground, whatever, or sit in their lounge rooms and put the TV on, and genuinely believe your team has a chance to win,” Nelson told me in a previous interview.
The NBL introduced a new competitive balance/salary cap system, and the league has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Nelson now works for Sky Sport and leads the broadcaster’s drive to boost fandom.
“The Sal’s NBL continues to lead the way in New Zealand when it comes to innovative concepts and finding new ways to engage with fans. Over the last two years we have seen player timeouts and the Sky Broadband Rapid League come in, both being world firsts, and now there is a trade window on the way that is sure to spark some chin wags,” Nelson says.
“Today’s young fans are built different, they engage and immerse themselves in sport differently to previous generations, and it’s pleasing to see the Sal’s NBL at the forefront of driving fandom. This is a league that is prepared to put its fans first and try different things that connect with their fans.”
Over to you now New Zealand Rugby. It’s your turn now to help breathe some life into our provincial game. It can be done and isn’t just about money.
It’s simply about putting the fans first and thinking outside the square to attract attention.