Am I the only one who finds it a little tiring when the Vodacom Bulls play the Vodacom Stormers in the Vodacom Super 14? Maybe I should rather change channels and watch Vodacom Free State take on Vodacom Western Province in the Vodacom Cup. In hindsight, a mistake, but at least the Vodacom Tri-Nations will soon be upon us, with hopefully better quality rugby. See where I’m going with this one, though?
I saw an article on www.sport24.com this morning indicating that the cellular giant is “weighing up its options” when it comes to ongoing sponsorship of everything that moves in SA rugby. With an expanded Super Rugby competition on the cards, not to mention a Four Nations competition including the Pumas from 2012 on, Vodacom may have to weigh up exactly how much more exposure and “name time” they actually need and whether, quite frankly, it makes sense for them to continue as title sponsors not only of virtually all the competitions, but also of a good percentage of the teams playing in those fixtures.
The two unions immediately at risk are Western Province and Free State, both of whose sponsorship deals expire at the end of the year. Both parties have been told they’re free to seek alternative sponsorship arrangements as Vodacom continues to weigh up their options. The other likely target is the Vodacom Cup, which nobody watches anyway (since the games are never televised) and is really unlikely to survive as a going concern in the once-more expanded rugby calendar we’ll face from 2011. That in itself is perhaps the subject of another post altogether, but an expanded Varsity Cup competition, with proper representation from each of the main rugby centres in the country (not just the ones that Francois Pienaar likes) might well prove far more popular as a second-tier competition.
But when it comes to removing some of the extraneous and frankly unnecessary “Vodacoms” from the nomenclature of the local rugby scene, I’m all for it. Variety is the spice of life, after all and I don’t see why we need to have one company monopolising the landscape to such an extent. I’d really like to see far more direct investment and involvement from the local business community in the success of these franchises, rather than “faceless” national conglomerates. What are the chances of finding a Bloemfontein-based business, though…?
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Nobody cared about the damned Vodacom Cup, you get more spectators at a PLB game between Violets and UWC than you get at a Vodacom game
I agree but be carefull….Vodacom is spending huge money and will other sponser be able to fill the gap left by Vodacom??
I agree on the VC though..I wouldn’t sponser it if I’m not getting any airtime.
There is Absa Currie Cup
and ABSA King’s Park 😯
@Pokkel (Comment 2) : that’s very true. It is fine to say that they should scale down but who will come in their place.
3 teams in S14 is a bit much and it would make sense that picking just one would be sufficient, but what would Cheetahs do without them for example.
On a different note it is a bit strange that Vodacom did not leveraged his status as main rugby sponsor to make Vodacom Cup more prominent.
Auto and General Lions!!! 😆
and Coca Cola Park!! bwahahahaha
@wpw (Comment 6) : what about xerox lions 🙄
Bastions of resistance against Vodacomania
I think there should be a clear separation between tournament sponsors and team sponsors. No company should be allowed to take both roles. Also think it’s wrong for one company to sponsor more than one team.
@robdylan (Comment 8) : i think there may be a merit to separate between team and tournament sponsors ie. I thought it was a bit weird when Sharks Vodacom S14 team got the team of the year award above Sharks Absa CC team in 2008, but why not more than 1 team?
@robdylan (Comment 8) : I don’t really see the problem in that. If they willing to spend money to improve rugby in SA why not?
@robdylan (Comment 8) : Ok silly question, but when it comes to recruiting players, does the sponser fit the bill for the players, or does that responsibility lie with the union? Now if the sponsor does fit the bill, can you imagine if they should drop two of their teams and pump some extra money into one specific union? You can “buy” a pretty impressive team.
Does anyone know how big a role a sponsor has with the union?
Codolences to Juan Smith and his family after his father passed away this morning. May you find peace. 🙁
Rugby is a professional sport and money is money. We should actually thank Vodacom for the millions of bucks they’ve invested in SA Rugby over the years, because the sport we love has benefitted.
Undoubtedly, most of us would have wanted to see more VC games televised, but that is not necessarily the fault of the sponsor. Supersport shows more rugby than any other premium provider in the world so can hardly be accused of scrounging in the rugby stakes.
I would argue that the main reason wer’e not seeing VC rugby on tv is because the SABC won’t come to the party. And then we wonder why rugby is not being “grown at grassroots level” as the ANC likes to accuse the unions of not doing.
RIP Juan’s dad. Our thoughts are with Juan and his family.
@Pokkel (Comment 12) : 🙁 How sad for him, it puts things into perspective a little.
@Pokkel (Comment 12) : 🙁
Sad news indeed!!! 😕 🙄
@Pokkel (Comment 12) : Condolences Juan and family. Must be tough as he just arrived in NZ, but I am sure he made peace and said his goodbye’s. His father is now with Our Father.
@rhineshark (Comment 13) : ummm – you’re sailing pretty close to the wind with that last comment, dude.
… all remember that last round fixture between the Vodacom Bulls and the Vodacom Stormers where the Bulls needed to win at Newlands by 30+ points…at our cost….very smelly….mmm
@robdylan (Comment 19) : Why?
Rob, With all due respet to you and your beloved province, but if they were entered into the Varsity Cup they would see their gats without a mirror and apart from them their is Wits and Rhodes , who else have been left out? Quiet little dig at Francois Pienaar!! I think he has done a superb job and it is a very good competition and one that was comprehensively studied right down to going over to America and checking out the college football and could just be the saviour of our rugby because it gives those guys who never made the Craven ranks and may have been late developers a chance to show off their skills. Maybe you should have a chat with the maritzburg boys and get them playing some decent rugby again:-)
@rhineshark (Comment 21) : cos we’re not allowed to discuss politics here, as per http://www.sharksworld.co.za/the-rules/
@Whindy (Comment 22) : nah – that one can’t stand. The Sharks Union has been trying to get a team into the Varsity Cup since it started, but can’t because Pienaar and his old boys club are blocking them.
You reckon a Sharks Academy-backed team would lose to TUT or the NMMU Madibaz? Pass the pipe 🙂
@Whindy (Comment 22) : Totally with you, Windy. There has for long been calls also to expand the Club Champs. This could be an idela opportunity (excl Varsities)
The Maritzburg boys must really pull up their socks. They lost the relgation encounter against TUT who at the time was useless. TUT lost their top 6 or 8 players (incl captain) to Tuks before the 2009 competition. So much for amateur rugby!
@robdylan (Comment 23) : Aha!! Sorry, must have thought I was on Keo
@rhineshark (Comment 26) : no worries dude 🙂
@rhineshark (Comment 13) : you made me think a bit.
we have quite well publicised Varsity Cup – which is good. Except that Maties are hogging the title all the time and Ikeys are second all the time
and then there is a gap between this and the rugga at provincial levels. When you think about it it’s quite a jump between varsity and prowincial rugby (and here I also mean Vodacom Cup as teams are pretty much fropm the provincial set – up, it’s bit like Sharks B side). The only time I really hear about club rugby is on Sharksbite.
but if you go younger – the schoolboys rugby is also very well publicised, so one could argue that grassroots are covered.
Hi all.
@klempie (Comment 29) : Oh my flok…Klempie het uit die dood opgestaan
@robdylan (Comment 19) : @rhineshark (Comment 21) :
Sorry I missed it. 🙁
@Pokkel (Comment 30) :
@Pokkel (Comment 30) : Nes die Haaie. 😉
@klempie (Comment 33) : Welkom terug aan jou en die Sharks 😆
@Pokkel (Comment 34) : Dankie ou swaer. 😎 Things have been hectic of late. Been flying around attending conferences and wat okal. Vlieg 23rde na die Modderige Eiland vir 3 weke. Dis hoekom ek die afgelope paar weke so skaars was. 😳
I found sth very disturbing:
” Jumping the shark” is an idiom used to describe the moment of downturn for a previously successful enterprise. The phrase was originally used to denote the point in a television program’s history where the plot spins off into absurd story lines or unlikely characterizations. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose viewership has begun to decline, usually through the employment of different actors, writers or producers. (Wiki)
@klempie (Comment 35) : still a wannabe, I see 🙂
welcome back, Salty
@robdylan (Comment 37) : Thanks Crusty. 🙂
Auto & General Lions… lets hope the Sharks don’t adopt something as insane as that.
@lostfish (Comment 39) : Mr Price sounds so much better 😆
@lostfish (Comment 39) : Sharks are the only team not to have given away naming rights. Quite like that, actually.
@robdylan (Comment 41) : is this so? I was pondering why the Sharks are always the Sharks and not Mr Price Sharks or sth else.
@rekinek (Comment 42) : t’is indeed so.
In the words of the (in)famous Charles and Eddie – “would I lie to you, baby?”
@robdylan (Comment 23) : I thought he was having a go at tv channels . . .
” Now it`s all been spoiled by politics, it`s never gonna be the same . . . “
@robdylan (Comment 43) : but as they say : “jealous minds never satisfied”
Ah, lunch time… my favourite time of the day!! 😎
@Original Pierre (Comment 44) : just as long as you don’t touch me on my studio, everything will be just fine!
@wpw (Comment 46) : What’s for lunch?? And don’t let your wife hear this because homecooked dinner SHOULD be your favourite time of the day 😆
I am so grateful to Mr Price, Red, Maxed that their name does not precede the Sharks that I support them whenever I can.
The Vodacom Cup or a similar competition that runs parallel with the S14 is very necessary, especially for S14 teams, because its one place where fringe players and those coming back from injury can remain sharp / find their feet in case of a S14 call up.
I’m with Salmo on this one. You can’t have a varsity cup and not a next stepping stone before the CC and S14. The Vodacom Cup is essential to give those players the exposure and to be bled into the S14. The only reason that the VC is not well attended is because its not advertised that much at all and is’nt subsequently televised. I think that the CC should be used to integrate the VC and S14 players. After all, with the S15 and 4N next year, the CC is said to take a back seat.
@Salmonoid (Comment 49) : I like the idea of having an “A-team” competition that can run in parallel with hte Super 15, as curtain raisers
I mean with integrate seeing Bressler with Sykes, Cooper with Smit/Beast, Stemmet with Adi, Richards with Stef/JP, Downey with Botes, etc.
@Pokkel (Comment 48) :
stir fry 🙄
There is an age limit in the Varsity Cup isn’t there? The reason why Maritzburg’s Varsity team isn’t that great is coz all their good players have been poached by UCT.
Steinhoff has too much say in the Varsity Cup – their management is very Stellenbosch-centric and it shows…
@MerckZ (Comment 54) : To be fair, if you were offered the chance to get out of the hellhole that is KZN to go and play in Cape Town, wouldn’t you also take it?
@klempie (Comment 55) : KZN is a hell of a lot better than Gauteng 🙄
@Pokkel (Comment 56) : Indeed.
@klempie (Comment 55) : and KZN weather is a lot better than Cape Town 🙄 but there is definately a lot of nice things happening in CT
For a start the tik is cheap, and freely available with many other drugs, in and around Observatory, right near the varsity.
@Salmonoid (Comment 59) : 😆 😆
@Pokkel (Comment 58) :
but there is definately a lot of nice things happening in CT
Yeh. Like being able to walk around at 8pm at night.
Was actually down in Cape Town for a couple days a couple weeks ago. Loved every minute.
@klempie (Comment 62) : Go back in winter and stay a week and we’ll talk again 😉
@Pokkel (Comment 63) : I’ve always said it’s better to be cold because of the weather than to be cold because of the lack of a pulse pushing blood through your body… 😛
@klempie (Comment 61) :
In which part of Cape Town was this – Obs maybe.
@klempie (Comment 64) : You will not be happy to know that, per capita, the Northern and Western Cape lead the stats when it comes to murder and assaults.
@Salmonoid (Comment 65) : Green Point.
@Salmonoid (Comment 66) : You would also probably not be happy to know that the Northern and Western Cape are the only two provinces keeping stats these days… 😛
@klempie (Comment 67) :
Hmmmm, fairly close to Sea Point, walking around after dark…..intersettinggggg. 😈
@Salmonoid (Comment 69) : I’d like to say I was walking on the wild side, but compared to Joeys, it was a walk in the park. 😛
@klempie (Comment 68) : 😎
What did you think of the Newlands repalcement stadium. I presume you did see it.
@klempie (Comment 70) :
I was thinking more of “on the pink side”
@Salmonoid (Comment 71) : Yes I thought that was a great comeback myself. 😎
Only saw it from a distance, and from a distance I still think Moses Mabhida kicks its ass for sheer awesomeness.
@klempie (Comment 64) : 😆
@Salmonoid (Comment 72) : Ohhhhhhhhh…My naivete is showing it seems. Who knows who I might have fallen prey to! 😈
@Salmonoid (Comment 69) : have these stats increased for the paeriod of couple of weeks ago?
@Pokkel (Comment 74) : 😛
@klempie (Comment 75) : You won’t fit in in Cape Town since you don’t drink…..and the Capetonians love drinking
@Pokkel (Comment 78) : Alle Saffers drink soos piskoppe man.
I won’t fit in in Cape Town simply cos Capetonians are up their own arses (often literally)!
@rekinek (Comment 76) : 😀
Those are from a couple of weeks ago, right about the time when some tall Gautie oke was weaving a path of destruction across the land.
@Salmonoid (Comment 80) : hmmmm ….
@rekinek (Comment 28) : Nope, I’m going to disagree with you there.
The Varsity Cup is covered on Supersport and any schoolboy rugby we see is also only on Supersport.
When do the youngsters without pay tv get to watch rugby? We can’t expect there to be an awakening of interest in the sport if only a very small percentage of SAfricans ever get exposed to the game.
The schoolboys that play rugby are in a minority of schools and by far the minority of people ever go to university or college in SA.
More has to be done.
@rhineshark (Comment 82) : ok. let’s tackle this one 😛
Supersport is exclusive – must agree to that, how many saffa has access and how percentages are laid out? i do not have a clue. I think M-net (which is a bit cheaper subscription) shows some games. What’s going on on SABC – not a clue either I stopped watching them long time ago. Every now and then sth of interest (like “Shoreline”) pops out, but I think they do show certain games albeit with delay.
Whether schoolboys should learn about rugby from tv is entirely different matter. my thinking was more along the lines, let’s create public interest in rugby events by showing the games on tv. This will attract sponsors, and sponsors look for somebody with income (let’s face it : no logic in advertising coke to a man who can hardly afford bread). More sponsors interest more stakes encouragement for schools to participate and developing rugby in their respective schools and so it goes, circle becoming bigger.
Vodacom definitely made a difference to the Tjietas. 🙄
@FireTheLooser (Comment 84) :
Very good point. I’ve asked the question before, Howcome the Cheetahs can’t keep their players? And if they got less money from Vodacom than the other teams did then that already explains their business accumen. 😳
@KSA Shark © (Comment 85) : cheetahs only claim to fame recently is regularly beating the sharks – i dare say the sharks done a lot of good to this franchise
kind of paying back for all the nicked players 
@KSA Shark © (Comment 85) : Try explaining that to their supporters….they seem to suffer from a mental block and their debating capabilities shuts down after arguing that the Sharks are to blame for their poor performances.
This is from one such argument, but they still didn’t get it:
…..’So by your own admission the Tjietas has not one decent reason for not having one of the two top teams in the S14 from SA, seeing as you’ve beaten the Sharks that many times, won that many CC’s, why would a player then rather go to an inferior franchise such as the Sharks?
Can’t be the money, surely a successful team such as the tjietas are able to market their brand well enough to never have to think twice about the amount of money they are able to offer their many star players?
Btw, the kiwi and ozzie S14 teams obviously has no regard for how many times the tjietas have won the CC and beaten the Sharks, hence them simply strolling onto the park to collect their annual 5point grant disgracefully sponsored by the tjietas.’
@FireTheLooser (Comment 87) :
Bottom line.
As long as there is any marketing involved then the Cheetahs will never have enough money to keep their players, they just don’t have the money to keep the guys away from the lure of the REAL cities in SA.
Now if winning the S14 had to have them figure out how to breed sheep then they’d have a cupboard full of S12/14 trophies.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 88) : They’ve got everything they need to effectively market their team, even more than the Sharks, yet they fail.
They’re obviously too daft to do their jobs properly, no use blaming the Sharks for giving their ‘pre-star’ players a place to sleep and a warm meal every night.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 89) :
They’re obviously too daft to do their jobs properly, no use blaming the Sharks for giving their ‘pre-star’ players a place to sleep and a warm meal every night….. and not forcing them to wake up at 4am to milk the cows.
Can’t blame em for leaving. 😉
Money money money shit the teams need money me too eeeehhhh 😉
FTL and KSA Shark, you guys a vrek funny. 😆
@wpw (Comment 92) :
😉
@rekinek (Comment 83) : Exactly, but Vodacom´s market is the world´s biggest per capita users of cellphones, which are 15 miilion people without pay tv.