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Live sport on SN this weekendInside the NZR summit: Budge lifts lid on eight-hour discussion
Sport Nation • September 25th, 2026 2:30 pm
Blues CEO Karl Budge | Photo: Photosport
Blues chief executive Karl Budge has provided insight into the conversations held at the heavily discussed New Zealand Rugby summit on Thursday.
Key stakeholders from around the country travelled to NZR headquarters in Wellington to consider three new-look proposals.
Approximately 80 attendees discussed the options: replacing Super Rugby and the NPC with a new national competition, expanding Super Rugby to seven New Zealand teams, and keeping the current system but merging unions and franchises.
"I came away pretty buoyed and really encouraged by the level of unity and selflessness that was in the room yesterday," Budge told Sport Nation Mornings.
"We come together at all levels of the sport and look at how we can make sure that what we're doing still fits the purpose and setting ourselves up to thrive moving forward.
"And so that's really what yesterday was about. It was coming together."
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"They broke us down into individual tables and the tables stayed throughout the course of the day, but the NZR executives rotated through them, and we went to a dedicated session on each of the different layers of the sport and where we can improve.
"We were really buoyed by some of the stats that were coming out. We know we've got to refine and keep improving the game and keep improving how we're delivering it."
He urged rugby fans not to startled by the report's numbers.
"While I appreciate that those headline numbers all sound very daunting, to be sitting in a scenario where we've got well over $100 million in reserves sitting in the bank and a path to try and cut five per cent expenditure (is comforting).
"I don't know too many businesses over the last five years that haven't had to look for 5 per cent and 10 per cent efficiencies throughout their business, so it's a very normal process.
"I realise it's built up to probably be something else, but the reality is, it is quite normal."
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Despite some panic around the rugby environment, Budge suggests that Thursday's meetings were about "refinement," rather than change.
"I think what we're really looking at here is refinement. I think when we talk about decisions, I think there's potentially a skew that means change, and that's probably not quite as extreme as what it might somewhat read.
"We always have to be looking at how we can refine and where we can engage better. I don't want to talk about other unions or teams, but I certainly know at the Blues, refinement for us is about winning back our fans and our market.
"It's about delivering an entertainment experience that people talk about and want to get along to. We've got to constantly improve."
And Budge believes the refinement won't be as extreme as what some may expect.
"There'll be some further thoughts populated, coming off some of the questions and discussions that we had over the course of yesterday, and then we'll have a look again and go, 'there's some merit in those', or let's debate those, then probably look at what those refinements could actually look like in practise across the competitions and then make some decisions."
Listen to the full interview below:
