The Most Watched Rugby Team In The World? Fijian Drua’s Staggering Numbers

Monday, 31 March 2025, 5:20 pm
Article: RNZ

Jamie Wall, Digital Sports Journalist

Analysis - Things are looking good so far for Super Rugby Pacific in 2025 and, even though the results might not be showing it, for the Fijian Drua too. As the competition rides a rejuvenated wave of interest thanks to a highly entertaining opening six rounds, numbers are up across the board.

In Fiji, that interest is particularly massive - so much so that the team is claiming that half the country is tuning in to the Drua's games.

"In our first full season [in 2023], we averaged 150,000 devices," said Drua chief executive Mark Evans.

"So that's a that's a rock solid number. And this year so far it's 310,000, which is quite something.

"Now you put that into context: that doesn't include people watching on television ... and there's a significant number watching on television.

"We just don't know how many [but] I don't think we're spruiking it artificially when say we think now at least half the country are watching it live. I think that's a pretty easily defendable assertion."

Drua games have the advantage of being broadcast on free-to-air TV in Fiji, and with a population of a little over 900,000, that projected audience would easily make them the highest-watched team in Super Rugby Pacific.

However, Evans has an even bigger claim.

"I think we're the most watched team, pro rata, in the world."

While the TV numbers are impressive, the Drua are certainly capable of drawing a crowd too but have to evenly balance their fixtures between Suva and Lautoka.

"Fiji [is] such a disparate country geographically, a third of the population are under 18 across 120 islands.

"We split between two brands because [of] the markets, as we found out last year when we played through for some circumstances, we played five out of seven games at Lautoka and it's too many.

"The market can't hold with the income levels of most of the people and it's very hard to sell that many games."

It's meant that by virtue of the draw and the Drua being up for it, Churchill Park in Lautoka has become one of the most formidable venues in the competition. The Chiefs have already found that out the hard way this season and the Crusaders are yet to win a game in Fiji overall.

However, Evans is adamant that the Drua's goal is bigger than just bums on seats.

"We're trying to we try to significantly improve the national team. That's a big thing.

"Fiji are ninth in the world now, which and we've been known for a while and we there's quite a gap to 10th in the rankings, but we've still got a way to go to get to the top five or six. We understand that and want to provide an all-island pathway."

Of course, those sorts of dreams aren't cheap, especially since the player drain on Fiji is immense from almost every other rugby market.

While it's fairly well known that the team receives funding from the Australian government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Evans revealed that they receive considerably more from NZ Rugby.

"The Drua's been a massive success, it's hard financially for any start-up but they've done a great job," said NZ Rugby's head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum.

"If you understand the broadcast penetration they're getting in the islands, it's pretty phenomenal. They need to be congratulated from [the] board level down for that.

"The Drua are licensed to NZ Rugby, we took the initiative to bring a team from Fiji in and we're really proud of that, and how we've provided funding for them. We're really grateful for the support they've received from DFAT … but for us, this is about an investment in the competition and supporting rugby in the Pacific."

Evans is confident that one day the Drua can stand on their own financially.

"Those three sources (the Drua also receive external funding from World Rugby) used to be a higher percentage, but our local revenues have grown and we hope will continue to grow. But it's going to be a little while before, we'll be able to become completely independent.

"And I wonder whether there's an interesting trade-off here because you can see the goal of being completely non-dependent on external funding, and that's very admirable in lots of ways, but you going to have to sacrifice some growth - and we want to grow."

The wages offered for Drua players are comparable to those given to Super Rugby Pacific players in New Zealand, and Evans points out that the lure of overseas contracts doesn't always mean a quick buck given the relatively low cost of living in Fiji.

However, it will always be a challenge when other offers come in, but that comes with inherent problems for young players.

"Australia and New Zealand high schools, Japan, France. The NRL a little bit, but not much. At the 15, 16 you take away from their family, their English isn't great in many circumstances, certainly with Japan. Some of the schools do a really good job, they try really, really hard."

The Drua host the Crusaders in Suva next weekend, in what will likely be another big crowd and a huge TV audience.

But while a win on the field will be the first priority, the bigger goal of building a sustainable system of professionalism in Fiji sits somewhere on the endless Pacific horizon.

Evans is confident that it's worth striving for.

"You will never persuade me that it would not be a massive improvement, collectively, if we get a pathway on the islands to professionalism rather than having other countries extract the players."

© Scoop Media

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