Billionaire Andrew Forrest is still sweating on whether the Australian Rugby Union will approve his new competition.
Billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest wants his new competition to feature such amazing entertainment so that fans won't even care if their team lose.
Forrest launched the Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship earlier this week, with the six-team, 10-round competition to kick off in August next year.
The competition will run after the Super Rugby season, and Forrest wants to attract the best players in the world.
On the field, the competition will feature a series of rule changes designed to encourage high-scoring, free-flowing rugby.
A try could be worth more than the regular five points.
Each game-day experience could also feature a rugby sevens game and a women's rugby game.
Music will also be part of the entertainment, with Forrest's team in the process of coming up with a whole range of entertainment aspects that will add to the experience for fans.
"We will be taking the cues from American college (football), where you'll have a bigger audience turnout than what we get in the AFL grand final," Forrest said.
"And there can be even more people in the car parks than there are in the stadiums.
"It doesn't matter if your team wins or loses. You'll have an afternoon which is one to remember.
"At this stage, we have a sport where half the stadium is unhappy because their team lost. I want to change that completely."
Wallabies winger Dane Haylett-Petty said the entertainment factor was something the players would embrace.
"You see American sport, they lead the way in that," Haylett-Petty said.
"It's not just about the game. It's a whole event.
"Other countries do that a lot better than Australia, or what Super Rugby has done. I think it's a step in the right direction."
The success of Forrest's competition could hinge on whether the Australian Rugby Union endorse it.
If the ARU don't, then any Australian players who feature in it are set to be made ineligible for Wallabies selection.
That would result in most of Australia's top players shunning the competition.
But if the ARU embrace the concept, the competition will help lure back Australia's best players from overseas, as well as a glut of top-line international talent.
