By Tupuola Terry Tavita

What we’ve always feared when rugby went professional in 1996 has finally happened. No Super Rugby on (free-to-air) tv.

Though the local agents for Sky Pacific would not divulge just how many people subscribe to their ridiculously expensive user-pays service, we could easily imagine it’s probably less than 100 homes, and a couple of bars in town. That’s nominally less than one percent of this country.

Observing the bigger-than-normal crowd at JT’s Sports Bar (one of only two that has Sky Pacific) last Friday night to watch the Blues-Crusaders match, most were ex-pats, business people, top government officials and even a slew of Parliamentarians and church ministers – people you would expect to have Sky at home. And for the church ministers, well, people you normally don’t see at bars.

You get a somewhat guilty conscience watching Super Rugby played out on JT’s giant plasma screens because, outside of town and the whole of Savaii, none is afforded such a privilege.

Since the inception of Super 12 (now Super Rugby) in 1996 at the dawn of the professional era, we’ve always received rugby on TV1.

But things changed when Fiji TV acquired the broadcast and distribution rights last year (till 2014) for Super Rugby from SANZAR. Fiji tv – in a statement this week – has made a conscious decision not to tender out Super Rugby to country broadcasters. Instead it has used it to promote its Sky Pacific user-pays cable network.

A quick phone call to the local agent for Sky Pacific puts the installation of a satellite dish and a box costs a whopping $2000 tala. From then on, subscribers have to fork out $90 tala in monthly payments.

With children just starting school and families struggling to make ends meet, these luxury costs are just beyond the average household’s financial means.

But rugby is king in this country and people want to watch Super Rugby. Especially in the build-up to the September World Cup in New Zealand.

Many have taken this turn of rugby events as part of the continuing spat between the military regime in Suva and the government in Apia.

“Why is Fiji blocking our feed?�? many asked on a radio talk-back show this week.

“I’m sure this has something to do with Bainimarama ,�? one caller opined.

But it’s all about money, big tv money. And rugby – particularly Super Rugby – is the ultimate loser. Because nobody here can afford to watch it. The irony of course is, it comes at a time when all the talk is about spreading the rugby gospel across the globe. Particularly from these three unions.

It comes therefore as some relief that the Samoa Rugby Union has intervened, trying to negotiate with SANZAR a means by which people can watch some super rugby action on free-to-air tv.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

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