Second season of URC promises to be better than first

The second edition of the United Rugby Championship (URC) kicks off next month with organisers confident  they can build on the success of the inaugural tournament.

They have 34.6-million reasons to be sanguine about the new season — the record audience number for last season’s tournament. It represents an increase of 169% compared to the 2020/2021 Pro14 and Rainbow Cup campaigns combined.

The URC, which is a bigger, bolder version of the Pro14 that preceded it, features greater SA participation, which partly explains why the tournament set new audience benchmarks. This happened despite the reduction of the regular season to 18 rounds.

The tournament’s organisers believe the strong viewership figures produced across the UK, Ireland and SA prove “less is more”. Italy also reported their largest audiences, while international rights coverage and the launch of the URC.tv streaming service bolstered the global total.

In its first season, the tournament was supported by free-to-air broadcasters in the UK, Ireland and Italy — BBC Wales, BBC Northern Ireland, Mediaset, RTÉ, S4C and TG4 — and by leading pay-TV companies SuperSport (SA) and Premier Sports (UK and Ireland). Though that gave the tournament a wide footprint, it did not guarantee large viewer participation, but those who were able to tuned in.

There is much to be upbeat about before the second edition that kicks off on September 16.

The reasons for the spike in audience numbers are multitude. Like anything new, the curiosity factor, for a tournament in a sport where change is slow and deliberate, was high. 

Last season the pandemic, even though it was loosening its grip, still had a profound effect on the tournament. Matches had to be rearranged, while others were cancelled. Travel restrictions made scheduling a nightmare. While the inaugural tournament faced substantial challenges, it was still able to put on a show and it helped that from a spectator’s perspective the tournament did not appear to be afflicted by post-lockdown blues north of the equator.

Added to that, the inclusion of teams from SA’s major metropolitan areas also piqued interest.

SA audiences, though starved of international competition, took a while to warm to the tournament in its new guise. Their increasing awareness of the beats and rhythms of European club rugby will only benefit the competition in the long run. The tournament is likely to go from strength to strength as it is yet to fully tap into the markets available to it.

A full roster of matches, as well as the relaxation of lockdown restrictions in SA, will surely have a positive effect on next season’s numbers.

The URC final between the Stormers and the Bulls was played with a 50% stadium capacity limit still in place. At the end of next season one can only imagine what SA’s great rugby cathedrals can offer at the altar of the URC’s number crunchers. Remember, too, that SA’s Stormers, Bulls and Sharks will now participate in the Champions Cup, while the Lions are set for duty in the Challenge Cup. That will further broaden awareness among European audiences.

It is perhaps tinged with irony that SA rugby, which seemed to hit a wall after New Zealand pulled the pin on Super Rugby, has so decisively expanded its horizons.

The URC owes much of its success to pitting well coached, highly skilled teams with diverse playing styles against each other in a very competitive environment. It also helps that this happens in time slots that are convenient to broadcaster and viewer alike.