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Graham Henry's plan to rest his All Black stars could lead to court action against the New Zealand Rugby Union if television ratings for this year's Super 14 fall.
South African TV network Supersport has told the Weekend Herald it is prepared to take action to recoup any losses should viewer numbers drop when the competition starts in two weeks.
And the Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Ltd has said it will take on the NZRU for it.
Supersport chief executive Imtiaz Patel said the 1.7 million-subscriber network was disappointed the top 22 All Blacks, including Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw, would not play in the first seven rounds.
He believed the NZRU was contracted to play its best players, and said Supersport would watch the ratings closely. It would monitor ratings for the entire competition, not just in the games featuring New Zealand teams without top players.
In 2004, News Ltd signed a $660 million contract with the Sanzar alliance of New Zealand, Australian and South African unions for the rights to Super 14.
It sells the games on to regional networks such as Supersport.
The deal is due to be renegotiated after the 2010 season.
A News Ltd spokesman said the company would seek compensation from the NZRU if Supersport or one of the other rights holders - the Murdoch-controlled Fox Sports in Australia, BSkyB in Britain and Sky in New Zealand - notified it of lost ratings and revenue.
Fox Sports and BSkyB would not comment when asked if they too would take action should their ratings drop.
Sky sport director Kevin Cameron said the company supported the NZRU's decision to rest top players and give the All Blacks the best chance to win the World Cup as that would only strengthen interest in the Super 14 in 2008.
He believed ratings were unlikely to drop, and pointed out that there had been no drop when the World Cup All Blacks were missing from the national provincial championship in 2003.
But Mr Cameron did not altogether rule out seeking compensation, saying: "If there is a dramatic drop in viewership for any of our events, we sit down with the people we did the deals with and talk them through."
NZRU chief executive Chris Moller refused to comment.
But a spokesman said the matter had been sorted out soon after Henry's plan was confirmed in September, and the union did not believe it would have to pay compensation.
Mr Patel disagreed, saying Supersport - the only one of the networks not controlled by Murdoch - viewed it as an issue.
He tried to persuade the NZRU to change its mind in a telephone call late last year but said it was "adamant" the players would be rested.
"I said, 'Come on guys, I don't believe common sense can't prevail here', but that was it.
"I was told the whole of New Zealand was behind the idea."
Mr Patel would not say how much Supersport paid for its rights or say how it would calculate any compensation demand.
He said the NZRU's unilateral decision signalled problems for the Sanzar alliance because it set a precedent that the member unions could go their own way whenever an issue close to their heart arose.
He understood the South African union was unhappy with the NZRU's stance.
But on a lighter note, he saw benefits for South Africa from the absence of the top All Blacks.
"Tongue in cheek, this might be our best chance of winning it."
