Should franchise rugby be reintroduced into Fiji Rugby? Many are calling for its reintroduction since the death knell of the Colonial Cup in 2008.
The Colonial cup ran for 5 years from 2004 to 2008. Announcing its cessation, then FRU CEO Ratu Timoci Tavanavanua said the prolonged 15's competition was detrimental and also blamed low gate takings.
Others disagreed and many predicted that this would be more detrimental to Fiji Rugby. Taniela Tanivula the then Knights coach said that 'All the years of hard work has gone to waste' and that 'this would be a major downfall for Fiji rugby'. Two years later Fiji had its worst Rugby World Cup outing and its ranking slip to its record lowest at 13th.
The question - is can a successful rugby franchise competition be reintroduced into Fiji? I believe so. It won't be easy but a business model that will be profitable should be seriously analysed and put forward.
A Fiji model could be cloned from the New Zealand model. Private business capital is seriously needed especially when the FRU is lacking.
The Wellington Hurricanes Super 15 franchise is run by a consortium including the Wellington Rugby Union, former Hurricanes directors and Welnix, the owners of the A-League soccer franchise the Wellington Phoenix.
The Welnix consortium is made up of successful business owners inluding Gareth Morgan. He was interviewed after being awarded the licence for the Hurricanes franchise. Its an interesting interview and I recommend listening to it.
This model allows the NZRU to collect on broadcasting revenue but at that same time washing its hands off the micro-level management that is often difficult when trying to run the game from a central level. The day-to-day running of a franchise is best done on the ground, and the rationale is that investors will do the job of running the franchise more efficiently than the NZRU or a provincial-based board could.
In the NZ model the players are paid by the NZRU and the Franchisees keep the revenue from gate takings, team sponsors and other revenues that they generate. Interestingly Gareth Morgan talked about generating revenue from the Wellington Rugby Academies. .
Certainly the Fiji situation is different but FRU needs a review and a franchise business model that will work to improve its finances and rugby in Fiji.
I invite your comments below. Click on the pencil.
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