All Blacks fans miss out as NZ Rugby shifts more tests overseas

If ever there was a statistic to confirm that New Zealanders are being marginalised in the quest to commercialise the All Blacks, it is surely that the national team has 14 games left to play this year and only one of them will be on home soil.

The domestic fan may be feeling a little unloved because only 30% of this year’s All Blacks tests are being played in New Zealand and just one month into an international season that runs from July to late November, 90% of the programme is now slated to take place offshore.

If it was a one-off then maybe domestic fans wouldn’t have a legitimate gripe, but the numbers show home fans have been increasingly short-changed, with 56 home tests played between 2009-2018 and 43 played or scheduled to be played between 2019-2028 (although the calendar is not confirmed).

That’s a 25% reduction over the 10 years and while 2020 and 2021 were affected by the Covid pandemic, even adjusting the figures to what was originally scheduled, there would still have been a hefty reduction in home fixtures.

Within this reduced home calendar, there has been a concentration of tests in Auckland and, to a lesser extent, Wellington, with regional centres such as Nelson (2018), New Plymouth (2013) and Napier (2014) – all of which hosted tests between 2009-2018 – cut entirely from the roster.

Of the 32 home tests the All Blacks have played since 2019, 21 have been in either Auckland (two were at Mt Smart Stadium) or Wellington.

The next most-used venue has been Dunedin, which has hosted five tests, but it’s likely that in the full course of the 2019-2028 period, the All Blacks will play more in the US than they do in Otago.

They have already played three tests in the US since 2019 and will play a fourth in September when they take on South Africa in Baltimore.

With games being broadcast behind Sky’s paywall and such a high concentration of fixtures in two urban centres in New Zealand, it could be said the All Blacks are losing their claim to be the people’s team.

Maybe, when more games per decade are played in the US than they are in the South Island, they have already lost that right. Or at least they are no longer the people of New Zealand’s team.

This offshore drift is, of course, about money – with two clear objectives of making more in ticket revenue by playing at larger stadiums and also showcasing the brand in strategically identified markets with the aim of winning new fans and new sponsors, and selling higher volumes of merchandise than they would in New Zealand.

Match day revenue has been a perennial source of frustration for the national body as the money the All Blacks earn from playing tests is almost minuscule in comparison with the major Northern Hemisphere nations.

Last year, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) made $34 million from match day revenue, whereas England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) raked in $286m.

The two entities have vastly different revenue profiles, as of the $522m the RFU made last year, 54% came from match day revenue, 17% from media rights, 14% from sponsorship and the rest from government grants and investment returns.

NZR, by comparison, had 31% of its $304m of revenue last year come from media rights, 47% from sponsorships and 11% from match day income.

Understandably, NZR wants a higher percentage of a higher total revenue to come from match days, hence this push to playing more offshore fixtures.

NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster says of this balance between making money and connecting the All Blacks with their domestic fanbase: “That’s the challenge. If we were purely a commercial business, we would take all our games offshore to maximise our revenue.

“But we are not. We are part of the fabric of this country. We are accountable to our members and loyal to our public and participants, so we just have to manage that.

“And that means we don’t maximise every cent we could earn commercially but we have to balance that. If we act in a purely mercenary way around commercial revenue from test matches, ultimately it will bite us in the a*** domestically and the health of the game here. And that is a judgment call. We get feedback that’s for sure.”

The issue of whether NZR is getting the balance right could be debated endlessly. NZR is running an investment thesis that says the All Blacks have to be commercialised offshore to make the sort of money needed to then be invested in the domestic game at all levels down to the grassroots.

The financial logic stacks up, but what is the long-term cost domestically of playing so many games outside of New Zealand? What impact will this have on participation in the sport as there is truth to the adage that the next generation can’t be what they can’t see?

Also, when so much of the rugby the All Blacks do play in New Zealand is in either Auckland or Wellington, what impact will this have on the brand profile domestically and the number of people actively following the national team and buying subscriptions, match tickets and merchandise?

The provinces feel like they remain rugby’s strongholds – the places where the game remains a focal point of communities – yet they are being denied the right to access the All Blacks the way they once were.

Having the All Blacks come to town to play a test has incredible tangible and intangible value for smaller, provincial centres. There’s the payday that comes for local hospitality businesses, but there is also the more valuable asset of connection between the players and the people.

And it’s believed there may have been an indirect financial cost to the decision to only play four home tests in 2026, as this may have been a factor in Sky reducing its annual fee for media rights from about $100m-a-year to $80m.

On top of this, there has been a relentless narrative from NZR since 2022, after its decided to sell a stake in its commercial revenue to US fund manager Silver Lake, about the importance of the overseas fan.

Every initiative seems to be aimed at finding new, offshore fans. NZR’s content strategy is heavily skewed to foreign audiences and the loyal domestic fan who buys a Sky subscription, a season ticket to their Super Rugby team and a replica All Blacks jersey may be wondering if they are being taken for granted.

When the All Blacks end up playing 39% of their games in front of their own people as they have done so far since 2019 (excluding World Cups), domestic fans have a valid argument to say they are the victims of this globalisation strategy.

“At times we have to make decisions that are not optimal financial decisions but they will be the optimal for the game, and our stakeholders – our people, players, coaches and members,” Lancaster says.

“We have to be accountable to them. It is subjective and we have to try to strike a happy medium.”

Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.