UNBELIEVABLE DISCOUNTS AT AMAZON.COM ||
It’s that time of year again when rugby fans all around Australia patiently wait for the Wallabies to head off on their Spring Tour. The Rugby Championship has come and gone and we sit in purgatory waiting for our next fix of the game they play in heaven.
But why wait for quality rugby when we can create our own competition that breeds engagement and entertainment for the diehard and the casual? A competition that would bridge the gap between The Rugby Championship and the Spring Tour.
A competition that would truly be a national club competition and serve as a unique pathway for players all around Australia. Yes, if I had all the money in the world or if I were good mates with Twiggy Forest…I would create the Million Dollar Club Challenge (MDCC).
The format
The MDCC would be a round-robin/World Cup-style knockout competition. It would consist of 24 teams divided into six pools with every team playing each other once to determine who would move onto the round of 16.
From there quarters, semis, bronze Medal and the grand final matches would be played. But here’s the juicy part: a cash prize is earned at each stage of the competition for clubs that progress. Even just qualifying for the MDCC you would be rewarded for bowing out of the pool stages.
First place – $150,000
Second place – $125,000
Third place – $100,000
Fourth place – $75,000
Quarter Finals – $50,000 x 4 = $200,000
Round 16 – $25,000 x 8 = $200,000
Pool stages – $18,750 x 8 = $150,000
Obviously, how the clubs distribute the money is up to them. I would hope the players would get a nice bonus and the respective communities and grassroots get a nice cash injection to their programs as well.
Qualification
Qualification for the MDCC is determined by a team’s finishing position in their respective state competition. Multiple teams will be selected from each state and territory baring the Northern Territory and Tasmania where a collective All-Star team will represent the state/territory.
NSW = Top 4 teams in the Shute Shield
QLD = Top 4 teams in the Hospital Cup
VIC = Top 4 teams in the Dewar Shield
WA = Top 4 teams in the RugbyWA Premier Grade
ACT = Top 3 teams in the John I Dent Cup
SA = Top 3 teams in the Cooper Premier Grade
NT = One Northern Territory All-Star Team made up of the best players from the top end
TAS = One Tasmanian All-Star Team made up of the best players from the state
Kurtley Beale of Randwick runs the ball. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Fixturing the tournament may prove harder than first thought. As an initial idea, I was thinking of using a seeding system like you see in grand slam tennis or US college sports. Deciding who’s entitled to what seed is the challenge here.
Tournament venues and logistics
Now here’s where all the questions start to arise. Where to host it? Where are players staying? Who’s playing where?
The first edition of the tournament would have to be hosted in a city with a large volume of rugby infrastructure, facilities, and accommodation for the number of teams and spectators coming. Sydney would be an ideal spot for this. Not only is it a rugby stronghold in Australia but it has the sporting infrastructure to match.
In an ideal situation, partnering with Sydney’s universities and surrounding rugby clubs would be the most efficient way to run the tournament in its infancy. Again in an ideal situation, the teams could stay in the living quarters of the unis, use their facilities (training grounds, gyms, pools), and play tournament games at the surrounding club’s grounds i.e. Sydney Uni, Randwick, and Easts.
These would be excellent venues as they’re small enough for vibrant atmospheric games which would translate onto broadcast well.
Speaking of broadcast…
Broadcast, marketing and sponsorship
Finding the right broadcast partner would be crucial to getting as many eyeballs on the MDCC as possible. The obvious choice would be to go with Stan/Channel Nine simply because they’re currently the home of rugby and in my opinion do a great job broadcasting the game.
In an ideal world, I would love to get as many MDCC games televised on free-to-air as we can. Easier said than done, though.
The MDCC from a marketing perspective would be relatively easy and exciting to shout about. The name alone “Million Dollar Club Challenge” is sure to pique some interest in not only the rusted-on rugby diehards but the casual weekend punters as well.
The competition borrows a bit of the American sensationalism you see in the NFL and NBA where the stakes are high and the cash is even higher. Hype and excitement in a competitive format is something rugby has needed in Australia for quite a while now.
Charter Hall Shute Shield (1st Grade) Premiership Grand Final clash between Easts and Norths
Can you imagine the Cinderella stories you see in March Madness or the FA Cup where an underdog with no chance takes down a giant. Who wouldn’t want to see the NT All-Stars take it to the big dogs of Randwick?
A headline sponsor to help fund the tournament would be a must. Partnering with a wealthy individual who loves their ruggers would be ideal (*cough* *cough* Twiggy), but any large company with a good social standing in Australia would be fine too.
Big sporting brands, car companies, or even Cadbury with their Wallabies connection, would be an excellent headline sponsor.
For the teams themselves getting local or state-based businesses to get behind and sponsor a team from their respective states would be the dream. It would be a worthy investment from a local business if the competition resonated with a national audience.
If the MDCC was successful in its first year I would love to make it an annual competition in that September-October time slot. So when Super Rugby finishes and TRC wraps up the players not preparing for the Spring Tour have proper game time with real stakes on the line.
Another pipe dream would be to have a different hosting city each year, judging they had the proper infrastructure and facilities to host the event. As an example it would be Sydney the first year, Brisbane the next, Melbourne, Perth – who knows, maybe even the NT (might be a little hot though).
The hope would be that the MDCC could turn into a serious third-tier competition where players and coaches gain valuable experience.
It could serve as a real pathway for turning talented junior players into elite rugby professionals. Better yet it can be a competition where older players can impart their wisdom to the next-gen players and still play a bit of competitive rugby in the back nine of their careers. T
he benefits are endless with the ultimate goal of identifying talent from across the nation and injecting funds back into the community and grassroots rugby. It could be the spark Australia needs to become one of world rugby’s heavyweights again.
Ah well, we all know money is not free, but at least dreams are.
