Mark Evans
SOME OBSERVERS, notably Ugo Monye, have responded to the Covid-impacted Gallagher Premiership fixture list by suggesting that midweek rugby should become a permanent element of the club schedule, particularly during the international window in November and during the Six Nations.
Ugo’s argument, framed within an admirable plea to rugby administrators and players to “stop resisting change”, was that club games in those time periods struggle to attract much interest in terms of TV viewers and print coverage.
Undoubtedly this is correct, although attendances for the same games are no lower than normal. Indeed, it’s a strange yet regular feature of the league that crowds are higher from November onwards – maybe a spillover effect of Internationals raising the sport’s profile.
He also argues that increased flexibility in scheduling might open union up to a wider demographic beyond its traditional core of men over 45 years old.
This debate highlights the trade-off needed between the requirements of broadcasters as opposed to paying fans in the stadia. Where I have a good deal of sympathy with Ugo’s argument is that there is no clear structure to each Premiership round. Since not all six games are televised (recent matches excepted), the schedule isn’t consistent.
In comparison, a competition like the NRL has a clear narrative of one game on Thursday evening, two on Friday evening, three Saturday afternoon/early evening and two on Sunday afternoon. It creates content for broadcast on four days of the week and stories for the media cycle pretty much every day.
They did experiment with Monday night football after the NFL’s success, but it didn’t work – fans simply didn’t want to go to the footy on a Monday night (it will be interesting to see if this is successful in the Pro14). There is still some dissatisfaction with the later Sunday slot – seen as the ‘graveyard game’ – but overall it has consistency and appeal. It combines a mixture of games on free to air and cable. All this achieved in countries that also have to accommodate time zone differences.
In contrast, the Premiership puts three TV games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at various times, then lets clubs sort out the non-TV games’ slots as they see fit. In typically rugby fashion there is no agreement on what each weekend should look like overall. Individual views trump the collective good, which is why Ugo’s proposals have merit but need to be considered within a wider context.
To begin with, let’s get all the games on TV, even if it doesn’t generate a huge increase in revenue. Then you can start to try to meet all the competing interests and aims. You can build on the Channel 5 content and have at least one game per week free to air. Meanwhile, you can create fixed slots that clubs can then market to different crowd segments well in advance.
Friday night games in London are great for corporate clients but not as attractive to families. Sunday afternoon games are the other way around. However, Sale might argue that with football so strong in their area, Friday night is their preferred time regardless.
The first Stoop sellout was against Natal Sharks on a Thursday night, which suggests midweek matches can work so long as the games are blockbusters like Bristol v Bath or Saracens v Exeter. Just don’t put your weakest fixtures into new slots; they won’t prosper. Remember European Challenge Cup games being on a Thursday? Nobody turned up.
One final point. If done well, midweek fixtures are worth considering as a way of growing the audience. They are not the answer to an already overcrowded schedule. We need to play fewer games and getting rid of the Premiership Cup and Shield (A league) completely would be a good place to start.