Canterbury sports fans face a tough decision after Sky TV declined to move their team’s NPC semifinal fixture to avoid a clash with the Black Caps v England match on Saturday night, with one fan describing the situation as “pretty ridiculous”.
Canterbury face Hawke’s Bay at 7.15pm at ApolloProjects Stadium, directly clashing with the Black Caps’ T20 match against England at nearby Hagley Oval.
The rugby will be broadcast on Sky, and the cricket on TVNZ.
New Zealand Cricket said the T20 international had been scheduled since March last year.
The Herald understands that Canterbury were offered a Friday kickoff to avoid the clash. However, they declined because it would have meant only a five-day turnaround after beating Counties Manukau in their quarter-final on Sunday.
Instead, they lobbied for an earlier Saturday kickoff.
Sky declined that suggestion, opting to screen a match between Australia A against a Japan XV in the 5pm slot.
A statement from the broadcaster said: “We wanted to offer Sky customers a full afternoon and evening schedule of rugby content, culminating in the primetime NPC match.
“Ultimately, Sky wants to make key matches like this semifinal as successful as possible from a viewership perspective. Our data shows that viewers prefer an evening kickoff time over an afternoon kickoff time.”
Sky TV: "Our data shows that viewers prefer an evening kickoff time." Photo / Photosport
New Zealand Rugby’s general manager of community rugby, Steve Lancaster, said NZR “appreciate[s] the efforts they [Sky] have made across the season to promote and broadcast our provincial competitions”.
He added that showing Heartland Championship games such as the Meads Cup final between Mid Canterbury and Thames Valley at 2.05pm this Saturday highlighted how some games “may come up against other big sporting events such as motorsport or cricket”.
The cricket v rugby clash has left Christchurch sports fans facing a tough choice.
“They [Sky] don’t want to give in to the other network [as] the cricket’s on TVNZ,” said fan Chris Ferguson, who bought Black Caps tickets for himself and his father months ago.
“Sports fans are now in a position where they have to choose which one to go to. It’s just not right.”
The Black Caps play in Christchurch on Saturday night. Photo / Photosport
Fellow dual-sport fan Brett Collins said he emailed Canterbury Rugby to push for an earlier kickoff as soon as he learned of the clash.
“Sports fans in Christchurch are quite passionate about both codes, and I’d love the opportunity to be able to go and watch both live.
“I think it’s pretty ridiculous … to not even try and maximise people being able to watch when you try to compete with an international cricket match is not the best move.”
Sky said scheduling conflicts “always involve trade-offs”, with Lancaster confirming the NPC final will be played at 4.05pm next Saturday.
For those fans wanting to make the best of both worlds, leaving the Canterbury match at roughly 9.15pm would mean they could catch the second innings at Hagley Oval, which is set to finish about 11.45pm.
