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Leagues and Governing Bodies

U.S. leagues taking note of Australian growth

A collection of 200-pound rugby players from Australia is expected to create a buzz for the sport in Chicago again on Saturday.

For the second year in a row, TLA Worldwide is bringing a top international rugby team to Soldier Field. Last year, it was the New Zealand All Blacks that attracted a sellout crowd to the venue. This year, the Qantas Wallabies from Australia (ranked No. 3 in the World Rugby Rankings) will compete against the U.S. Eagles team at the 61,500-seat stadium.

Saturday’s effort, however, also serves a larger purpose — showing the development of Australian sports as a whole. U.S. leagues and companies are noting the growth and are seeking ways to capitalize on what they see as an increasingly rich sports landscape, and burgeoning fan interest, across that foreign continent.

TLA Worldwide drew nearly 40,000 for its four-city ice hockey series in Australia, and will bring rugby back to Chicago’s Soldier Field again this year.
Photos by: TLA WORLDWIDE
For its part, the Australian government is encouraging the nation’s sports leagues, teams and venues to compete for global opportunities. A lead example can be seen with arguably the continent’s most visible annual event: the Australian Open. The state government of Victoria is investing more than $500 million to upgrade the facilities at Melbourne Park and turn Rod Laver Arena, the main venue for the Grand Slam event, into a state-of-the-art entertainment venue. Work is expected to be completed by 2020.

At the announcement of the plans for the facility revamp earlier this year, Victoria Sports Minister John Eren noted the government’s desire to lure more international events to Melbourne.

“We are looking at all options. We like the sound of American football, we like [the] NBA, we like the NHL,” he said.
Earlier this month, Rod Laver Arena hosted the first game of the men’s FIBA Oceania Championships between Australia and New Zealand in front of a full house of 15,064. The hope locally is that interest like that will help attract U.S. leagues to the country for showcases of their own.

“The Australian public has a huge appetite for sport, and it’s fantastic that U.S. sports leagues recognize their popularity here,” said Brian Morris, CEO of Melbourne & Olympic Parks.

Among the leagues taking a look is the NBA.

“We continue to work with the local constituencies there to figure out how we can make that happen,” said Scott Levy, senior vice president and managing director of NBA Asia and India. “It’s a long way [in miles], but we’d like to bring the teams there.”

Levy noted that Australia is the NBA’s top market outside of North America for NBA-Store.com and its League Pass streaming service. Australian NBA players Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills and Dante Exum have brought increased exposure to the NBA in Australia through the development of their own careers in the league.

Major League Baseball has already planted its game flag in Australia. The league opened its 2014 season with a three-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The league also is the majority owner of Australia’s professional baseball league.

“We’ve been very encouraged by the enthusiasm that not just our sponsors and other partners there but even government officials have had with the aftermath of that event and their eagerness to see us come back there again,” said Chris Park, MLB’s senior vice president of growth, strategy and international.

Park added that the media piece of the puzzle will be critical to development efforts. The league does not have a regular over-the-air TV presence.

“We [don’t] just [want to be] the producer of marquee events, but a deeper partner and a more reliable and a more durable partner,” he said.

The Australian TV market features three major free-to-air outlets and pay-TV operator Foxtel, which is a joint venture between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Australian telecommunications company Telstra.

“There has been a massive growth in [TV] and online,” said Craig Kelly, CEO of Australian sports agency Elite Sports Properties, which earlier this year became part of TLA Worldwide through acquisition. “That [has] led to more revenues [for leagues] and athletes.”

Earlier this month, the country’s premier sports league, the Australian Football League, signed the biggest broadcast deal in Australian sports history: a six-year, $1.7 billion broadcast rights agreement with partners Foxtel, Channel Seven and Telstra. The deal represents a 67 percent increase in average annual value, according to the league.

That desire for live sports content fuels the interest of TLA, and other agencies, to develop new offerings within Australia.

TLA operates two properties on the continent. It acquired the rights to produce the International Champions Cup soccer tournament from 2015 through 2018 in Australia from Relevent Sports. It also earlier this year staged a four-city hockey tour called the Ice Hockey Classic. That series, which featured U.S. and Canadian teams led by former NHL players, attracted nearly 40,000 spectators across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

“Hockey for us just solidified the concept that when you bring quality entertainment, folks will come,” said Mike Principe, CEO of TLA Worldwide.

Gate revenue has served as the largest revenue driver from these events to date, what with the events being in their early stages. The hope, however, is that sponsorship could grow in significance as the events become part of the regular sporting landscape in the country. It’s one of many areas in which those invested in the country see opportunities for growth.

“I really don’t think we’ve scratched the surface in terms of hitting capacity constraints or anything like that yet,” TLA Chairman Bart Campbell said.

HJ Mai is assistant managing editor of SportsBusiness Daily Global.

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