Good for fans, not so good money-wise

Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge acknowledges the new Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament won’t help the cash-strapped club pay the bills.

While grateful to have the team back in front of the TV cameras after the Government said professional sport could be played under alert level 2, to be confirmed Monday, Mansbridge knows not getting fans through the gates during a 10-week domestic competition will deny the club it’s main form of income.

‘‘It doesn’t really help a lot – in fact it helps nothing,’’ Mansbridge said.

The positive side, he noted, was that it underpinned the sponsors’ confidence and at last gave supporters something to look forward to when the competition restarts, possibly as early as late June.

With no games played since midMarch because of Covid-19, sponsors were denied the opportunity to be exposed to a wide TV audience under lockdown.

Mansbridge welcomed the chance to finally give commercial partners some exposure on a broad scale. ‘‘We are doing some stuff for them in terms of helping them promote [their brands] outside of rugby but it would be nice for them to see their names on jerseys and on strips, and LED lighting and things like that.’’

The Government’s declaration that Super Rugby could return, albeit under a new format, resulted in a flood of messages from fans to the Crusaders yesterday but hosting games in an empty Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch is no way to help a business thrive.

‘‘It is about representing the community, more than it is about making a lot of money,’’ Mansbridge said. ‘‘There isn’t any money in it.’’

The reality is that as long as Covid-19 remains a threat to New Zealand society there’s zero chance of supporters being allowed into any sports arenas in New Zealand, although that may change as the season rolls on.

It can cost in the vicinity of $9 million to run a Super Rugby club, possibly more, and although Mansbridge says no commercial partners have walked it’s expected the Crusaders are staring at a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2020.

‘‘Our sponsor stable for next year, we think, would look very similar to the sponsor stable for this year.’’

The Crusaders will play four games at home, and with no playoff format scheduled there’s no chance to boost the coffers with extra games.

The team at the top of table after 10 weeks will be declared the winner, and the Crusaders are desperate to defend the title they have won for the last three years.

There are hopes that fans may be allowed in at some point, but NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson was cautious about getting too excited when asked yesterday.