Does anybody know in advance whether there will be any screenings of the Rugby (Union) World Cup in Kunming this year? Are there any Kiwi, Aussie or English bars that are considering showing the games?
Thanks anyone:)
crikey, you're planning ahead a bit... it's in September! Kunming doesn't turn on the TV for sport until the match has started, even if a Chinese person has made it to a grand slam final for the first time...
more seriously, i think Ganesh, Chapter One and Lazy Bones are likely your best options, but i'd wait until around September 1st before raising it with the staff/owners of those establishments. oh, and that's assuming it's screened at all on CCTV5. if it isn't (who knows?), Lazy Bones starts to edge ahead, as they have the required tech magic...
Star Sports was the tradtional broadcaster for the RWC (1999,2003 and 2007) via satellite for the mainland.
CCTV 5 has never broadcast the any IRB sanctioned event including the RWC.
I spoke to the owner of Ganesh two months and asked him the same question he asked me and he told me that the holder of the broadcasting rights for sporting events often change. So unless they can be sure of who holds the rights by the time the RWC comes around in September there's no point in subscribing for the service.
Star sports holds the broadcast rights for the annual A5N tournament. A recent check of their website reveals that they are not covering the Six nations tournament and there is no rugby scheduled for broadcast for the next 30 days.
Conclusion unless you can ascertain what satellite service has purchased the rights then it's inadvisable to purchase a satellite. The previously mentioned bars may or may not be able to tell more than this but bear in mind there are few rugby aficionados in Kunming so unless that changes between now and september there's no a big incentive in bars seeting up especially for the event.
The IRB offers a downable service online (delayed by 24 hours) where you can view the whole event, each match possibly a similar deal you can get from another online provider like myP2P.
If I were a betting man I would put my money on Star Sports picking up the rights to the RWC broadcast as in the past. I would speak to Pearce at the Ganesh that's your best bet.
Hedgepig and Tiger
Thank you very both very much for your replies. You're right, I'm getting in very early - I'm not even in Kunming yet! I guess I was wondering whether rugby had been shown in the past or if a bar had shown the six nations, say in the past. Thanks again for the detailed answers - sounds promising - I'd hate to miss seeing the All Blacks regain the World Cup on home soil
