Sport: We don't care enough

Quick rugby spot quiz: name the date of the Super 15 final.
Don't feel bad - I had to Google that too.
Let's face it, for the average punter like me this competition has lost its lustre.
Much like the upcoming netball world champs, the build-up has become almost meaningless - a handful of teams are so clearly dominant from the get-go the finalists are inevitable weeks out from the playoffs.
What's more, with so many hired guns coming and going, there's no sense that you're watching your local team anymore.
It's the professional era, of course, now and that's the nature of the beast.
But the franchise model is clearly giving rugby fans some pause for thought in this Rugby World Cup year.
Waikato Stadium has been near empty all competition, despite some typically fiery late season performances from the Chiefs and other stadia all over the country are reporting dismal numbers.
Just this week, the Blues' marketing department were practically begging fans to turn out for the "home" finals qualifier against the Waratahs with just a paltry 10,000 tickets sold at column deadline.
At the same hour down in Nelson they'd sold a modest 9000 for the Crusaders clash with the Sharks tonight, well up on a per-capita basis, granted, but still woefully short of previous Super 15 fixtures at Trafalgar Park.
Sky has to take some of the blame. If you're interested in rugby, you already have a subscription so why would you shell out more than $100 for a half-decent seat, parking and over-priced food and beer.
Better to stay warm and dry at home, avoid the over-the-top security pat-downs, and eat and drink what you really enjoy. Anyone who's been to a Super 15 game at Eden Park already knows there's more atmosphere in your refrigerator's ice box anyway.
We just don't care enough about these teams any more to shell out that kind of money for that type of "entertainment".
The powers-that-be will kid themselves into thinking it's just the fact it's a Rugby World Cup (RWC) year so rugby fans are saving their hard-earned for those already over-inflated tickets.
Fair call and in many cases they may have an argument.
But that doesn't address the fact that Super 15 franchises need to up their game in terms of what they're offering the fan at the grounds.
They're woefully under-performing right now and have a delusional idea of the product they're selling.
The Super 15 lately has felt just like a long-winded trial to weed out the in-form All Blacks and that's what it always will be unless there are some radical changes in format and marketing.
Just look at the ITM Cup. It doesn't pretend to be any more than it is; province against province playing for relative peanuts and pride at the end of the day.
Yet the crowd atmosphere you get at even the lowliest of clashes runs rings around your average Super 15 fixture.