Late last month, South Africa’s main rugby clubs – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – held an urgent meeting with United Rugby Championship (URC) management and broadcaster SuperSport to face an impending crisis.
In stadiums and on television, South Africa’s top rugby teams have seen fans turned away and they are desperately needed to support the professional game well into the future.
No idea was deemed too extravagant and every club was heard. No firm decisions were made, but it was a useful session to identify issues and open more lines of communication.
Tournament structure
One of the main concerns raised was that the URC competition was difficult for fans to understand. It didn’t help that URC’s problems with fixture congestion due to Covid-19 postponements led to a disjointed season.
The URC only revealed the plan for the June 18 final this week, and the trophy was also only revealed during the week.
If South African teams have learned anything, it’s that confusing tournament structuring turns fans away. Super Rugby was perhaps at its best as a 14-team competition before growing to 15 and then 18 teams with a complicated conference system that limited playoff participation for mediocre teams and led to apathy fans and ultimately migration.
In 2015, the average home crowd for the Stormers was nearly 33,000, but in 2019 it was 16,000, a 50% drop in four years. The Lions averaged 23,300 in 2015, but in 2019 only 13,400 fans attended home games. Bulls and Sharks attendance dropped by nearly 3,000 per game.
The television figures were even more alarming. In 2015, Stormers averaged 635,000 viewers per Super Rugby game. By 2019, that number had fallen to 261,100. The Bulls went from an average of 591,000 viewers in 2015 to 253,000 in 2019 and the same trend followed the Sharks (534,550 to 257,000) and Lions (494 000 to 218000).
URC’s latest audience figures are unclear, but stadium attendance has been low due to many factors.
The Bulls experimented with ticket prices of R25 for a game against Irish club Ulster three weeks ago and managed to attract 20,000 people to Loftus, but that’s a far cry from their peak of 40,000 each week.
“It’s been a confusing time for the fans,” Stormers interim general manager Rian Oberholzer told DM168.
“We went from Super Rugby, which was in decline in terms of support, to Covid, to a Rainbow Cup which turned into URC.
“No one has made the effort to explain to fans and spectators who and what this competition is.
“For example, many fans have no idea who the Ospreys are. The mistake we all made was not going back to our support bases to explain to them how this new competition works. People don’t even know how the playoffs work.
“The lack of communication and information sharing on our part is one of the main reasons why we are struggling to bring fans back to the stadiums.
“I think the fans are a bit gatvol with us because they say, ‘Don’t expect us to come to the stadium and pay money for something we don’t fully understand’.”
Covid confusion
When it comes to physical attendance at games, a consistent theme across all clubs is that there are still many confusion over Covid regulations and stadium attendance.
In this sense, government guidance has not helped sports clubs, as regulations are vague in some areas. The sale of alcohol was not permitted under certain levels of Covid restrictions and the 50% capacity limit also remains in place.
“Vaccination issues are always a hurdle to overcome, not only from the perspective of suite owners, but also from the customers of our suite owners,” Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone told DM168.
“A negative Covid test less than 72 hours old surely helps us, but again the downside of that is the cost associated with testing. Additionally, suite owners and businesses are reluctant to ask about the medical status of guests.
“The uncertainty of customer behavior due to the Covid pandemic is also having an impact. Many companies still have strict policies in place that prevent social gatherings, both from receiving or sending an invitation. The capacity restriction (50%) also leaves suite owners with limited invites to their property.
“Initially, when fans were allowed back in, not serving alcoholic beverages was an issue. Although this was recently changed, it was a massive contributing factor to [not] sale of suites.
“The vaccination mandate and negative tests are impacting subscription sales. Due to social distancing in the seating area, we are unable to assign season ticket holders their preferred seats.
“We have however noticed an increase in demand and inquiries from season ticket holders wishing to renew or purchase tickets since the easing of restrictions.”
Ed Coetzee, CEO of the Sharks, made similar observations: “The vaccination mandate and the protocols in place have certainly contributed to the reluctance of fans to come to stadiums and performance will always be a factor,” he said. he declared to DM168.
How to fix it?
Vaccination mandates are likely to remain government policy in the short to medium term, so rugby clubs will have to work harder and smarter to attract more fans who comply again. at stadiums.
Lowering ticket prices is one option, which the Bulls say could be a factor, especially for someone who might have the added expense of a PCR test to attend a game. But it’s not a silver bullet either.
“Personally, I don’t think the issue is so much about ticket prices – because it doesn’t cost more than it did for Super Rugby a few years ago,” Oberholzer said.
“The most expensive seat in the house (at the Cape Town stadium) is R200 (and the cheapest is R50), which matches any other major entertainment event in the Western Cape.
“But when was the last time we asked the fans what they wanted? What do the fans want the stadium experience to be, what food would they like to eat, what time would they like kick off to be and so on.
“The days of expecting people to be grateful and thankful that we (as clubs and administrators) were giving them rugby to watch, are over. People think differently now, especially after Covid.
All clubs are now actively engaging fans through both traditional (email, radio) and modern (social media) platforms to get an idea of what they need and want from a match experience.
“We are not just a rugby team. We are a lifestyle brand and we need to market more than the game,” Coetzee said. “A family going through our turnstiles should be treated to exceptional service and a great matchday experience that extends beyond 80 minutes of rugby.
“We are actively working with radio stations, clubs and universities in our province to bring fans to the stadium.
“We have added aspects such as a dedicated family zone (alcohol-free zone); a children’s area (with a swimming pool, slides, entertainers in this space to take care of the children); a game room; inflatable rides for children; an outdoor food market/café; a beach club for adults; live music and a braai area on the outfields.”
Rathbone added: “While we believe ticket prices are not the main barrier to entry, we have had huge success with the launch of our R25 tickets and will continue to offer this to our supporters.
“We recognized the diversity of the fanbase we have built up and recognized that the cheaper ticketing offer has been well received.
“We are in the process of finalizing our formal market research to determine customer behavior and work on barriers to entry.
“One of the main challenges for us is to welcome back our young and passionate fan base. We had a school tournament next door and we couldn’t allow hundreds of children into the stadium due to child vaccinations. over 12 years old.
The competition for fan loyalty will be fierce in the future and will also heavily depend on the quality of the teams and their performance. The best marketing tool a club can have is a winning team. But in the post-Covid world, even that might not be enough.
“The only way to solve these challenges is to talk to each other and engage the fans,” Oberholzer said.
“Even if the stadium is full next week, it’s not like everything is going well.
“We have to approach the market and the fans differently. We need to ask fans a lot more questions and give them a better product. DM168
This story first appeared in our weekly newspaper Daily Maverick 168 which is available for R25 from Pick n Pay, Exclusive Books and airport bookstores. To find your nearest retailer, please click on here.
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