Overdose of rugby sinking NPC?

Canterbury's Codie Taylor offloads in the tackle of Otago's Lee Allan during their round four ITM...
Canterbury's Codie Taylor offloads in the tackle of Otago's Lee Allan during their round four ITM Cup match in Dunedin earlier this month. Photo Getty Images
New Zealand's provincial rugby championship used to be the gold standard for the game at that level, but in the age of professionalism it is in decline. ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire looks at the reasons why.

It was inevitable that Super Rugby and professionalism would be the beginning of the end for the NPC as an A-list competition. When money is involved, it is usually where the money is that will win out. Unfortunately for the NPC, or ITM Cup as it has been rebranded, it is not there.

Many have bemoaned the decline of the NPC, once the golden standard for provincial rugby on a worldwide scale. The competition has essentially become a development competition, with the biggest names in New Zealand rugby having little to no involvement. This has been blamed for a lack of interest in the competition. It has certainly not helped. But it is not the only reason the NPC has taken the fall from grace that it has.

In this day and age, we are saturated with rugby. From mid-February through late-November there is seldom a weekend without rugby of some form aired on television. It starts with the Super Rugby competition, which lasts anywhere between 21 and 24 weeks, not counting the break for the June tests.

The Rugby Championship then takes over, with two games a round on six weekends of an eight week stretch, each of which is built up and analysed to death like never before. Once that is finished, we are into the end-of-year tour and all of a sudden, it is December.

Somewhere the ITM Cup has to fit in, but it is hard to see where. There is just too much else going on. Some things are inevitable in the professional era. Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship attract larger, global audiences that offer a more profitable investment for advertisers and a better business propositions for bidding TV-networks. If the game is to remain professional, the money has to come from somewhere and because of this, the two SANZAR competitions will continue to flourish.

That does not help New Zealand's provincial game though. Super Rugby is continually being expanded, making it more appealing to a wider audience. Expansion has made the competition's season last longer and longer, to the point that it is now nearly double the length that it was when it first started. The ITM Cup now starts not long after Super Rugby finishes, by which time we have had so much rugby in the year already, it is hard to get as enthused about yet another competition.

Rugby was never better in the professional era than in its early years. The teams still carried many of the amateur ethos and consequently the game was far more open, as the structures each team played with were nowhere near as organized. That defences have become so hard to crack is another inevitability of professionalism, as they have time to put so much emphasis on their strategies and patterns.

But there was also less rugby. The Super 12 was finished by early June, with a 14-week season including playoffs. It was an easy format to follow, the quality of rugby was high and it did not drag on and on unnecessarily. You were not sick of it by the end and you were left wanting more.

The international window boasted fewer games too. A couple of tests against visiting European sides and a Tri-Nations calendar which saw each team play four games rather than six. The All Blacks would play six or seven tests and then slot back into the NPC for the final eight or so weeks.

During this international window, there was not a lot else going on. Club rugby was still in full swing, but in terms of rugby on television, there would generally be a maximum of one game a weekend.

Some weeks the only game would be the Wallabies vs Springboks, with no New Zealand team in action at all.

By the time the NPC started in mid-August, there had been a good break from the constant bombardment of televised rugby. The All Blacks had played six to seven tests across a three month period and were done by the end of August. For the next few months, the NPC was the major event on the rugby calendar and the fans were ready for it to start, given the lack of televised rugby over the past few months.

It can be seen in other sports around the world. Perhaps the best example comes in the USA's rugby equivalent, American Football. Despite its obvious popularity, it is not overdone. The professional season lasts for around five months, including playoffs. That is half the length of the rugby season.

College and high school seasons are even shorter. Yet it remains hugely popular and the fans are no doubt itching for the next game, seeing as they get so little of it. They are left wanting more at the end of the season, rather than being ready for it to be over.

Clearly there are some differences. The NFL dominates American Football, while rugby has multiple competitions to fit into a season. But the principle remains the same; sometimes less is more.

Of course this is not the only issue with the new NPC. The ridiculous format the competition follows is a turn-off for some, as is the dominance of Canterbury, which has gotten boring over the years.

If it was the only rugby available though, and the supporters had been left waiting for more, then surely it would have a greater following. Without the All Blacks being involved, the competition has lost some of its quality. It is no longer the nation's best playing against each other.

But it still has appeal in that it is the best of the local club players, who the rugby community follows all season, playing against their equals from other provinces. They are players you can identify with, the men who you will see in their clubrooms on a Saturday after a game.

The current Otago team has a handful of names that were touted as prospects coming through the age-grades within the region. Think Hayden Parker, Michael Collins, Matt Faddes, Lee Allan, Craig Millar, Josh Dickson, the list goes on. They are the players the region has seen grow up and it is special seeing them realize a dream and pull on the senior Otago jersey. Super Rugby does not have quite the same appeal; you are not necessarily supporting your own players.

Only, by the time the provinces' own players get the chance to take the field, the supporters have been overwhelmed with so much rugby, that they need a break. The All Blacks will always attract attention, their pull goes beyond simply playing rugby, but represent an important part of New Zealand identity and culture. They are perhaps somewhat immune to the saturation.

The NPC, or ITM Cup, does not have this to fall back on. It is just another rugby competition; one that is almost set up to attract less attention. Perhaps it is the reality of professionalism. Rugby relies on television money and television relies on being able to sell slots to advertisers. The bigger the reach, the more the advertising slots are worth, making them more profitable for the television networks, making the rights to the bigger events more valuable. Therefore they are willing to pay more for them.

It is a symbiotic relationship though and where rugby affects television, television also affects rugby. Super Rugby is now the premier competition below internationals in the southern hemisphere. It covers three countries and attracts more global interest than the domestic competition later in the year. Therefore, it is constantly being expanded. Theoretically the longer and bigger it is, the better the business proposition and the higher the price for television rights will be.

It is where the money is and the ITM Cup just cannot compete with this. As the Super Rugby schedule gets longer and longer, the international window is pushed later and later in the year. The ITM Cup has to be squeezed in somewhere and there just is not room to do so while also making it an A-list attraction.

In an ideal world Super Rugby would go back to twelve teams, the Rugby Championship would be cut down and the NPC would reclaim its place of prominence in New Zealand rugby. This will not happen though. When money is involved, it is where the money is that normally wins out and it is not with the NPC. It is odds on that the saturation of rugby will continue and while that is happening, it is hard to see the NPC ever regaining the prestige it once held.

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