Pro 14 Rugby. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Tomorrow wife and daughter are off to watch a Pro14 rugby game between the Ospreys and the Scarlets with a friend and her grandson (I can't come because I'm working). It's made me think that though the season is roughly half way through I've not single game even on the TV this season.

Now the main reasons are a combination of work and coming back home to discover the result on Twitter beforehand. But the other big reason is the lack of free to air TV coverage in the new season. BBC Wales having lost the contract leaving just S4C to show one game a week.

And what is the result now? Well what I'm going to say is word of mouth, or rather lack of word of mouth. Because if my personal experience is anything to go by there appears to be just near silence by people I know on the subject. Why? Well they appear to be not that bothered.

Why? Well I would argue that it basically stems from the relative lack of support for the Welsh regional clubs for all of the areas they cover. The Valleys with regard to the Cardiff Blues (no longer called the Cardiff Blues it appears now) or Bridgend concerning the Ospreys. People were happy to watch the Friday night game on the BBC because it was there. But they do not have any loyalty to a club strong enough to subscribe to Premier Sports (the company that holds the rights).

(Of course I'm chatting generally here. The obvious exception are the Scarlets. Still chatting on a general level the point holds)

As I said at the time the focus was on BBC Wales losing the contract. But so did Sky Sports. They knew the product was not worth putting more money into it.

Actually there is another free to air channel showing PRO 14 rugby. Freesports. Owned by Premier Sports and they show one match a week. Trouble is the match appears to be the least attractive of that week's fixture. That is a mistake. It might not be the biggest game of the week but it should be one that people would be prepared to watch. That might make them be interesting in a Premier Sports subscription.

And this is serious. Less children being interested in watching rugby means less adults being prepared to watch the game which would probably damage the national team.

Better minds than mine can chat about how to deal with the future of Welsh club rugby. But those minds need to deal with the situation quickly.

So how is it that wife, daughter, wife's friend and her grandson are going to the game tomorrow then I hear you ask?

It was free.

Until the next time.