More than a team: what Moana Pasifika changed about fan engagement in sport

Moana Pasifika's decision to disband at the end of the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season hits hard.

In a statement, the club described it as a “difficult and heartbreaking decision”, citing the financial, operational, and strategic realities facing the franchise and professional rugby in New Zealand. While the franchise may no longer be viable within the current system, its impact on how fans engage with Super Rugby Pacific, particularly through culturally grounded digital storytelling, has been profound.

For a long time, Super Rugby has operated within a fairly traditional model of how teams show up, in content, storytelling, and fan engagement. Moana Pasifika disrupted that. Their content felt culturally grounded, community-led, and genuinely reflective of the audiences they represented. In doing so, they pushed the broader competition to evolve, encouraging other teams to be more creative, more human, and more willing to move beyond safe, traditional formats.

What made Moana Pasifika distinct wasn’t just innovation; it was what that innovation meant. Their digital presence felt made for Pasifika communities, not just about them. Language, humour, identity, aiga, all of it sat naturally in how the team showed up.

In 2025, Moana Pasifika recorded over 116m content views across the season and added more than 150k followers, more than all NZ Super Rugby clubs combined. They led the competition in engagement rate and were among the fastest-growing teams in Australasia across TikTok and Instagram. More numbers reflected something deeper than reach or impressions; it was about recognition and belonging.

Without Moana Pasifika, we don’t just lose a team, we lose one of the few high-performance sport environments where Pasifika identity was consistently centred in both performance and storytelling.

What’s also worth noting is the strength of the audience. In 2025 alone, Moana Pasifika saw a 369% increase in average home attendance, pointing to a highly engaged and mobilised fan base. That support has also travelled, with a visible impact in opposition fixtures. This was never just about results on the field.

There are also pathway implications. At AUT School of Sport and Recreation, we currently have 3 Maori & Pasifika students working with Moana Pasifika across marketing & commerical, gaining experience in environments where their perspectives are not only included, but valued. The loss of that space matters, particularly in an industry where representation behind the scenes is just as important as representation on it.

I won’t speak to the financial or operational realities behind this decision, but from a marketing, digital, and fan engagement perspective, Moana Pasifika has left a lasting mark far beyond Super Rugby.

My thoughts are with the players, staff, and wider Moana Pasifika community - many of whom have shaped something far bigger than a team, as they navigate what comes next 🩵🤍🧡