Super Rugby Super Round shows why fan experience now matters most
Here’s the thing, rugby fans aren’t fools. Ask them if they’d like to fork out for a trip to a stadium on a cold winter’s night for some soggy chips, while squinting down at the players from a distance. Or if they’d prefer to watch every angle of the action from the comfort of their own home, making the most of the Sky subscription they’ve already paid handsomely for. Present those two options and you’d be entirely unsurprised at their pick.
Despite this, rugby’s been playing a fool’s game for years now. Somehow still surprised to find fans voting with their feet, and slipping those feet into some cosy slippers rather than marching them down to fill the stands. Something had to give and finally, the Super Rugby Super Round did just that. They remembered that fans don’t turn up to matches for the rugby but for the occasion. They created one and were well rewarded for their efforts.
The conditions in Christchurch were a perfect example of what this should look like. Excitement needs to build well before you take your seat.
They had the drawcard of a new stadium, one finally built at a capacity that reflects the limits of our population. They picked a host city that is mad about their rugby and hungry for big occasions. Turning on the unseasonable sunshine, the surrounding streets were buzzing with energy. A well-oiled fan zone added to the vibe, giving access to players that felt very 1990s.
The Super Round was a supercharged version of what other franchises have done in fits and starts. After starting an open dialogue with fans, Hurricanes chair Malcolm Gillies has begun to wrap a better offering around the rugby itself – getting food trucks in alongside traditional stadium options, giving out free vouchers for early arriving caregivers, letting fans onto the pitch post match. The Blues also offer early-bird discounts on kai, have their own walkway of food trucks and have brought in acts like Drax Project to provide halftime entertainment.
These changes really are the minimum required for professional sports events in 2026.
What was unique about what happened at the Super Round was that they successfully created a fear of missing out. Regardless of whether their team won or lost, fans left stoked they had been there. That right there is what rugby needs to learn. That right there is what rugby has been missing.
If the success of your fan’s experience is dependent on your team winning, you are setting yourself up to lose. Rugby was at its height in this country not when our teams were winning but when they were connected. The community touchpoints that were created over the Super Round are what the game needs to strengthen. Fans may have come for the stars or for their team, but chances are the best bit was having a space to relate to one another. To meet with folk who loved the thing that they loved, while being shown some love by their sport.
The game of rugby has been put on a pedestal, well out of reach of regular Kiwi punters. It took fans for granted and wondered why they stopped turning up. The truth is, rugby will be sidelined if it ignores the wisdom of the crowd. What the masses revealed at the Super Round is what might yet save the competition. An event designed with fans’ experience at its centre is what will always win the day.
Alice Soper is a sports columnist for the Herald on Sunday. A former provincial rugby player and current club coach, she has a particular interest in telling stories of the emerging world of women’s sports.