Missed my point all together! I am not talking about equalising down. just making the point that our sport as most sports that are not of interest to the vast majority of the worlds population or the mass market in the USA or Asia can not get the type of TV revenue we need to pay full time players or make the profits that will bring in investment. We are a small niche market who on the whole are watched by people who are not in the highest income groups that the advertisers are courting. The only thing in my opinion that will make our sport entertaining is for equally matched matches with tight results at whatever level you choose to watch. Wether that will help to spread the sport is anyone’s guess, but getting the game spread wider & more people playing the better. If people don’t like watching games that are not played in super stadiums by highly paid players then we are sunk anyway.

Quote: Alan "At least that's one thing we've got going for us, in Leigh. Beeching closed our railway, way back in 1969. In fact the town is now reckoned to be the largest in England without a station. Alan,i don't wish to undermine your post,but here is a list of towns on wiki without a train station from the 2011 census. I'm sure the population would have changed 7 years on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_l ... ay_station

Quote: Alan "At least that's one thing we've got going for us, in Leigh. Beeching closed our railway, way back in 1969. In fact the town is now reckoned to be the largest in England without a station. Alan,i don't wish to undermine your post,but here is a list of towns on wiki without a train station from the 2011 census. I'm sure the population would have changed 7 years on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_l ... ay_station

Somebody should tell the ARU that, because 120,000 watched their 3 tests v Ireland earlier this year, 110 ,000 people have attended their 3 tests in the Championship so far and now they're off to South Africa and Argentina, before heading north to play Wales, Italy and England in games where they receive a quite hefty appearance fee.

Quote: Call Me God "Somebody should tell the ARU that, because 120,000 watched their 3 tests v Ireland earlier this year, 110 ,000 people have attended their 3 tests in the Championship so far and now they're off to South Africa and Argentina, before heading north to play Wales, Italy and England in games where they receive a quite hefty appearance fee.'" On the face of it not too bad, but look a bit deeper. Its well know that Rugby Union in Australia is down and out. Ten’s live broadcast of the deciding Rugby test match between Australia and Ireland drew a metro audience of 435,000, which was not enough to pull the channel out of last place on the ratings ladder.'" Taken from planet rugby forumTRC total crowds and avg since 2012 2012 - 532'644 (44'387/match) 2013 - 488,113 (40,676/match) - Down 8.4% from previous 2014 - 430,582 (35,882 per match) - Down 12% from previous 2015 - 243,416 (40,569 per match) - Only 6 matches compared to previous 12 matches - but average up by 13% 2016 - 431,288 (35,941 per match) - 0.2% increase from 2014. 2017 - 367,318 (30,610 per match) - Down 15% from previous'" Recent Australia matches: https://www.austadiums.com/sport/crowds.php Wallabies v Argentina 16k Wallabies v South Africa 27k Not exactly a hot ticket whether it be live or on tv. As for TV ratings, its not even a blip on the radar. Super Rugby has about the same amount of people who watch AFL soccer on a weekly basis tuning in.

Quote: Call Me God "Somebody should tell the ARU that, because 120,000 watched their 3 tests v Ireland earlier this year, 110 ,000 people have attended their 3 tests in the Championship so far and now they're off to South Africa and Argentina, before heading north to play Wales, Italy and England in games where they receive a quite hefty appearance fee.'" On the face of it not too bad, but look a bit deeper. Its well know that Rugby Union in Australia is down and out. Ten’s live broadcast of the deciding Rugby test match between Australia and Ireland drew a metro audience of 435,000, which was not enough to pull the channel out of last place on the ratings ladder.'" Taken from planet rugby forumTRC total crowds and avg since 2012 2012 - 532'644 (44'387/match) 2013 - 488,113 (40,676/match) - Down 8.4% from previous 2014 - 430,582 (35,882 per match) - Down 12% from previous 2015 - 243,416 (40,569 per match) - Only 6 matches compared to previous 12 matches - but average up by 13% 2016 - 431,288 (35,941 per match) - 0.2% increase from 2014. 2017 - 367,318 (30,610 per match) - Down 15% from previous'" Recent Australia matches: https://www.austadiums.com/sport/crowds.php Wallabies v Argentina 16k Wallabies v South Africa 27k Not exactly a hot ticket whether it be live or on tv. As for TV ratings, its not even a blip on the radar. Super Rugby has about the same amount of people who watch AFL soccer on a weekly basis tuning in.

Not as big is an understatement. It's a minority sport competing with AFL soccer.

Hooked on tv cash is the wrong term. Its not through choice Rugby Union in Australia isnt viewed by many people.

Where does the $30 mil profit come from?



RA’s annual report cites the messy axing of the Force amid the Super Rugby restructure and disappointing tickets sales for Wallabies Tests as major factors in the downturn.

RA recorded a surplus of $17.8 million following a $3.7 million surplus in 2016 but the year also included $21.6 million in government funding for the new RA headquarters in Sydney.

Without that one off injection, RA recorded an operational deficit of $3.8 million.'"