Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) chief executive Richard Kinley remains optimistic about the competition’s future. But in a candid interview with the Otago Daily Times he owned up to some concerns.
While television viewership remains strong, Kinley said the crowds were down.
The ORFU budgeted for 12,000 people for Otago’s five home games in 2022 but was short of the target.
It lowered its expectation to 10,000 this year and fell about 500 short.
That means the average crowd for Otago games this season was 1900. To put that into context, the Otago Nuggets attracted an average crowd of 1956 for their nine home games this season.
"It is a concern," Kinley said.
"But we’ve seen a growth with the eyes on TV.
"That has not transferred to people coming to games, so that is absolutely an area we are talking about regularly."
The ORFU’s challenge is to create an environment at live games which is enticing for people and a lot of thought has gone into that, including considering taking games to other venues.
Ironically, Kinley said shifting away from Forsyth Barr Stadium was cost prohibitive.
"We’ve got a 28,000-seat stadium which we are never going to fill for an NPC game, so do we look to take games away from the stadium to somewhere else that meets all the criteria that we have to meet?
"You could have a more boutique environment."
But here is the problem. The ORFU has a tenancy agreement at Forsyth Barr Stadium which runs through to 2025.
They are permitted to play one game outside of Forsyth Barr Stadium.
"We have done a cost analysis of taking a game away and it is cost prohibitive.
"Sky (TV) has to sign off and they just plug and play here."
The cost of shifting all the signage and setting up platforms to house the cameras gets expensive.
"Before Tahuna Park got specced-up our only option was going to Central Otago and the challenge was there was nowhere else in Otago we could play night rugby, so that limited us to afternoon games."
Tahuna Park could be a serious option post 2025, but that would involve a significant trade-off. It does not offer the comfortable environment Forsyth Barr Stadium provides with its roof and pristine surface, which is so well-suited to running rugby.
But any move away from Forsyth Barr Stadium will probably depend on what direction the competition takes.
NZR boss Mark Robinson has previously described the NPC as "not fit for purpose" and has expressed concerns some unions are overspending on their high performance programme.
Kinley said the NPC remained an excellent feeder competition but the financial model was "possibly unsustainable".
"Will we see the NPC continue? Absolutely. But there could be some changes at the next round of funding discussions. But we are locked and loaded until the end of 2025.
"The competition is still relevant. But how will it be structured, when will it be delivered and how is it funded, will definitely be up for discussion."
Kinley felt the change which was needed the most was a tighter salary cap. Currently it is $1.1 million, but the smaller unions cannot afford to spend that much without putting the rest of their programmes under pressure.
"We all pay around the same for players, it is just the unions that can afford to contract more in their squad do so and it gives them a bit more flexibility.
"That means we don’t have as many contracted players as some of unions which means, when we get a run on injuries, it puts a little bit of pressure on bringing players in from outside [the contracted group] that need to catch up pretty quickly."
