If this announcement causes the price to crash, then the market has rocks in its head. How can this be a surprise to anyone?
I was reading about some of the Rugby initiatives being contemplated, on the RugbyPass website, last night. You are absolutely right, this is demonstrating, if nothing else, the importance of a strong 'distribution channel' - a strong partner. It's revealing the lie that technology (streaming, DTC etc) short circuits that need.
It's a big part of what attracted me to SKT (apart from the price). Though I don't follow the game, it looked to me like SKT had a presence in a (small) market, in terms of brand, place in customer's mind and presence, all tied with strong national sentiments/pride - that potentially made it very valuable. You don't always need to have global scale, to benefit from scale.
In these times, when NZers bunker down (as all nations are), and look inward, these traits, I suspect, may really shine.
By the way
@mistaTea, I really value having an insightful, knowledgable and smart commentator here, who is on the ground on NZ. Thank you very much.
May we all get through these trying times, stronger and better for it. I have little doubt we will.
(20min delay)