Like any other Super Rugby Club, the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua side is a three-legged stool that relies on gate revenue, commercial activities and broadcast revenue to sustain it, says CEO Mark Evans.
He said it was critical to ensure all three legs were functioning well.
“Firstly is the revenue, it comes from the crowd numbers and that just feeds into the franchise and the project,” Evans said. “And then there is commercial – the sponsorship, licencing, and merchandise.
“All those commercial activities are going really well, the business community of Fiji has really gotten behind it, it’s a leap of faith for them they did not know how well it was going to be. “The level of interest and engagement on television and social media, it’s become an easier sell.
“People will be looking at the audience and the number of people we can reach, the message we can put forward, that’s going really well.
“Third is the broadcast revenues. Most clubs in Super Rugby they have the biggest revenue streams, for us we have a smaller audience, we in a smaller market even through the viewing numbers are fantastic.
“So we are going to think hard on how to monetise the broadcast. We get a lot of support from World Rugby, the Australian government and New Zealand Rugby and we are so thankful.
“So our aim is to get the three legs of our stool all operating.”
While all the Swire shipping Fijian Drua home games have enjoyed good crowd turnout, ticket prices still remain a challenge for many with grandstand tickets ranging from $75 to $180 and grass to embankment tickets between $20 to $40.
The Fijian Drua surprised many to reach the quarter-finals of the competition this year and fans will be expecting the side to go at least one step further in its third season next year.
