Rugby: Super 15 ball almost in broadcasters' court

Super 15 will take a step closer to fruition this Tuesday when Sanzar sends all its relevant broadcast partners a document detailing its plans to restructure.

This will be the first step in a process that could take months or just weeks to conclude.

The broadcast partners are obliged to make some response within 60 days which could see them make an offer for the rights or push the rugby bosses into making some changes to their proposal.

It will be a fascinating period. The global economy, while still some way off forging a recovery, appears at least to be getting no worse.

A frisson of optimism is gathering that the sports broadcast market remains buoyant.

Despite the world having descended into chaos and despite the fact one of the young pretenders in the field - Setanta - is in serious financial strife, there is confidence among the Sanzar partners that their Super 15 proposal is going to be well received and ultimately, well paid.

In 2004, the extension from Super 12 to Super 14 netted the alliance an initial US$323 million in a five-year deal.

More cash flowed in when overseas rights were sold and the partnership was delighted with a deal which it said was actually more lucrative than the original $555 million contract signed in 1995.

What is also keeping Sanzar optimistic is their belief they are offering something new. While there will only be one new side - and again there has been a refusal to move into new geographic zones - the executives in each country are hopeful that the conference format will drive a top dollar offer.

All the research shows that fans want more local derbies - big clashes against their fiercest rivals. That's what the new Super 15 will be offering.

The document sent out on Tuesday will detail a competition that will start in late February each year (except for 2011 and subsequent World Cup years where it will have to be pulled forward) with a series of conference clashes where the five teams in each conference play only each other.

After that, the plan is that each team will play four of the five teams in each of the other two conferences.

These eight games will be a mix of home and away fixtures before the tournament returns to a conference format again with another round of domestic challenges with the venues swapped from the first round.

This will mean a total of 16 round-robin games where there will be a conference winner from each of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and three other qualifiers - the three next teams with the highest total number of points.

A six-team finals series will begin after a total break during the June test window with a conclusion reached in early August.

As part of the proposal, the opening Tri Nations games will always be played in South Africa to ensure they are finished their fixtures in time for Springboks to be released back for the bulk of the Currie Cup.

Separate to all this will be the New Zealand Rugby Union's attempts to sell the broadcast rights to a new provincial rugby competition.