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Speaker 2: It's also Super Rugby Finale. We can the season reaches
Speaker 2: its crescendo tomorrow, the Crusaders and the Chiefs playing out
Speaker 2: the final in christ Church. The Chiefs by the way
Speaker 2: with the wood on the Crusader so far with two
Speaker 2: victories this season. Overall, Super Rugby has seen a significant
Speaker 2: lift in interest this year. TV numbers are up. Nearly
Speaker 2: half the games decided by seven points or less. It's
Speaker 2: been good football. So Jack Mesley is the Super Rugby
Speaker 2: Pacific CEO and joins us this morning. Cob ond to
Speaker 2: you Jack, Morning Andrew, how are you very good? Really
Speaker 2: looking forward to the game? I look forward also to
Speaker 2: the semifinals and the whole lucky loser thing, which, to
Speaker 2: be fair confused me. But the point is Super Rugby
Speaker 2: is back with its mojo. So what changed.
Speaker 3: Well, we've had a real focus on making sure that
Speaker 3: our product on the field is as good as can be.
Speaker 3: So we've had quite a bit of lower innovation over
Speaker 3: the last couple of years and have worked really closely
Speaker 3: with the match officials to really speed the game up
Speaker 3: that's been a real improvement, and then the results this
Speaker 3: year has been really really great in terms of how
Speaker 3: much jeopardy we've had in the competition, with close gains
Speaker 3: and unexpected results and teams that maybe hadn't done that
Speaker 3: well last year doing really well, which I think generated
Speaker 3: a lot of interest. And around that, you know, we've
Speaker 3: added a lot of things for fans to engage with,
Speaker 3: like fantasy rugby and things like that. So yeah, it's
Speaker 3: been a great year and it all comes to a
Speaker 3: head tomorrow night in a great Grand Final, and you.
Speaker 2: Have to also thank Morana Pacifica and also the Fiji
Speaker 2: and Drew for adding a whole lot of excitement and
Speaker 2: also wins to it. Of course, we also saw the
Speaker 2: removal of the Melbourne Rebels, so were those changes good?
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I think you know, the Australian teams were
Speaker 3: definitely stronger with that, with that additional depth of talent
Speaker 3: with the Rebels players going to the other four franchises.
Speaker 3: So yeah, we saw some improvements across the board from
Speaker 3: the Australian teams and you know, Mowana Pacifica had their
Speaker 3: best year yet on the field with much better results
Speaker 3: just missing out on the finals. So yeah, I think
Speaker 3: all of those things have made for the really compelling
Speaker 3: competition this year. And you know, even our team that
Speaker 3: finished last, the Highlanders, we had the between first and eleventh.
Speaker 3: The number of points is the lowest since two thousand
Speaker 3: and four in the competition. So you know, the Highlanders
Speaker 3: just were so unlucky on so many occasions. And that
Speaker 3: closeness of Cobb's been a real key thinking.
Speaker 2: About MAINA PACIFICA as well. They proved that North Harbor
Speaker 2: Stadium cam worked. They had great crowds there, but the
Speaker 2: crowd numbers generally they're a bit low. I was watching
Speaker 2: the Chiefs of this as the Blues, of course, that
Speaker 2: amazing game which the Blues won, and I was surprised
Speaker 2: not to see at least close to us sellout. TV
Speaker 2: numbers are up, the crowds are still lagging.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the crowds are up year on year.
Speaker 3: We're up six percent year on year with a fewer
Speaker 3: number of games than last year. But yeah, some of
Speaker 3: those finals, early finals didn't sell out. We would have
Speaker 3: liked to have sold those out. The finals are difficult
Speaker 3: to sell out because you know you only have a
Speaker 3: couple of days to know the result, get planned and
Speaker 3: get up for sale. But you know, it's a key
Speaker 3: focus of ours to increase the crowds. We're working very
Speaker 3: closely with all of the clubs on that, and yeah,
Speaker 3: I think we'll continue to work hard to get more
Speaker 3: more bumps on seats.
Speaker 2: Well, the crowds are very important. Of course, broadcasting rights
Speaker 2: help pay for a lot of everything, but at the
Speaker 2: same time, crowds as where you make your margin. And
Speaker 2: I see the Crusaders complaining about the fact that they're
Speaker 2: fifteen thousand sent to temporary stadium which is gone next year.
Speaker 2: It's sold out, but they're only going to break even.
Speaker 2: So we really need to get fifteen thousand or more
Speaker 2: to these games. How can we do that, Well, we've.
Speaker 3: Got to build the base, so we've got to bring
Speaker 3: new fans in, and so a lot of our strategies
Speaker 3: around around fantasy and gamification is to bring younger fans
Speaker 3: to the games and start to really ensure that those
Speaker 3: people are coming in and experience what a great product
Speaker 3: we have. We got to do continue to get better
Speaker 3: at our marketing, making sure everyone knows when the games
Speaker 3: are on and those sorts of things, and then the
Speaker 3: clubs are doing a great job about creating an amazing
Speaker 3: experience in stadium, and we're pretty confident that when we
Speaker 3: get more people in, they're going to see what a
Speaker 3: great spectacle it is and what a great matchday of
Speaker 3: the club's put on and come back. So it's all
Speaker 3: of those things that requires a really concerted effort for
Speaker 3: all parties and we're certainly focused on that.
Speaker 2: Having said that, it's a bit disappointing that the cowbills
Speaker 2: are not going to be allowed into the ground by
Speaker 2: the Crusaders because that would have added to the spectacle.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the Crusaders have made that decision. I
Speaker 3: love the fact that the Chiefs have now built an
Speaker 3: app in which will play cow bells, and so I
Speaker 3: think the Crusaders will probably have more cow bells and
Speaker 3: maybe virtual cowboys and they ever thought imaginable in the
Speaker 3: ground tomorrow night, so I'm sure we'll be hearing lots
Speaker 3: of cow bells regardless.
Speaker 2: I heard I heard some talk that the Crusaders or
Speaker 2: the Canterbury people have invented an app that plays sheep
Speaker 2: noises as well, so you could have the sound of
Speaker 2: cow bells and sheep at this game.
Speaker 3: Fantastic. I mean, I love the banter that's happening between
Speaker 3: the two CEOs, creating some further interest in a big match, and.
Speaker 2: It is a big match. I mean, the Crusaders have
Speaker 2: been coming all season long. They've got better and better
Speaker 2: and better. The Chiefs have been magic right from the
Speaker 2: get go. But now we come down to the game.
Speaker 2: So what do you reckon it's going to happen?
Speaker 3: Yeah, as you said, I mean the Chiefs have got
Speaker 3: a really good record against the Crusaders, not just this
Speaker 3: year but from the last couple of years. I think
Speaker 3: they've won five of their last seven matches against the
Speaker 3: Crusaders and three of the last five down in christ Church.
Speaker 3: So everyone knows about the you know, the Crusader's dominance
Speaker 3: at home, but I think the Chiefs are the one
Speaker 3: team that probably are not marred by that statistic as
Speaker 3: our other clubs. So yeah, it's going to be a
Speaker 3: cracking match. And the Chiefs the grand final in a row,
Speaker 3: Clayton McMillan's last match for the Chiefs, they've got plenty
Speaker 3: to play for, so yeah, and I think it's it's
Speaker 3: set up to be an absolute cracking match. And the
Speaker 3: conclusion of what's been a really good final series.
Speaker 2: So onwards, onwards and upwards for Super Rubby. The Crusaders
Speaker 2: get to Kaha the new stadium next year. Twenty five
Speaker 2: thousand people are there, not fifteen thousand, and no drafts
Speaker 2: and that's going to be brilliant. So the product's going
Speaker 2: to get better down there. And I'm just like to
Speaker 2: congratulate you and your organization, but most of all the
Speaker 2: players for entertaining us on the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks, Ed, You're right. It's the clubs and applies
Speaker 3: to coaching staff that that have put on a great spectacle.
Speaker 3: So we wish them all the best tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Night, good stuff. Jack Measley is a Super Rugby Pacific CEO.
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