Super Rugby Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley has called on the game to start doing business with its fans, rather than itself, after the competition's longer term future was assured following a commitment from New Zealand Rugby.
And the SRP boss appears to have a stronger mandate than ever to implement some of the changes he has been pursuing, after NZR opted not to pursue a domestic-only model that was understood to have had the support of the country's powerful provincial unions.
While NZR's position is subject to final sign-off, the governing body will instead consolidate its high-performance pathways into its five Super Rugby bases as a means of finding the savings, along with other measures, they need to avoid financial wipeout.
And with NZR now set to zero in on the National Provincial Championship, Mesley is poised to be at the helm of a "supercharged" Super Rugby competition, as put by NZR chief of rugby Mike Collins, with some long-craved changes now a very live possibility.
"It's really exciting. Since the Super Rugby Pacific Company board was set up, we've been really trying hard to put fans at the centre of our strategy and we think we've done a reasonable job of that," Mesley told ESPN of his reaction to Thursday's news.
"But there's no doubt that to go further, to go harder requires further change and that's sort of what needs to be defined from now. So great to hear the commitment out of NZR and supported through statements issued as well by RA, that we're now in that phase where we can get together and really define what those changes are. And as I think as you heard from those guys, nothing's off the table, which is great.
"So we now have to get together and really define that sort of work stream and work fast to unlock some of the key things that will, I think, excite fans, bring more fans into the competition, and ultimately unlock value for the code."
After years of resistance, the proposition of cross-border player movement that doesn't affect a player's Test-match eligibility may finally be a reality. While NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster on Thursday noted there was still much to be discussed before that became a reality, the change of position was welcomed by Mesley.
The widely held belief is that such a shift could help improve the collective performances of Australia's four teams who, despite signs of improvement, are yet to figure at the business end of the latest iteration of Super Rugby.
Asked whether then that would be at the top of his list with the new mandate, Mesley agreed there was still a lot of water to flow under the bridge before it became a reality.
"I don't know [if that's the No. 1 focus] to be honest, I t think we really need to understand what that would unlock," Mesley told ESPN. "I think we all inherently think that would create a lot of interest, potentially improve jeopardy, and fuel a lot of the conversations that we know fuel other leagues about player movement. So I think it would have to be up there, but I think we really have to investigate what value that would bring to fans and then our ecosystem, I think that's the point, right?
"The question now, as do all of these questions that are on the table, need to be answered by what will excite fans, what will get them engaging with the competition, what will unlock more value and doing the work to work through what are the biggest opportunities, and equally how hard are they to unlock.
"And some of those, like player eligibility, centralising contracts at the competition level etc are really hard, but might be really valuable. And that's the work that now needs to be undertaken to put the list together, scale them and work through the decision-making framework from there.
"As you've heard, the investors in our clubs are anxious to get on and get this done. So we know we've got their support and there's already been some initial really good conversations with everyone around the table, the clubs, the club investors, the players, the associations, the unions and the competition. So there's good alignment about the burning platform, the intention's really there and now the work starts to further define what those opportunities are."
Bringing down international borders and a competition-wide salary cap - something that would likely go hand-in-hand with the player eligibility change - may also make the competition more attractive to potential private investment.
The Blues and Hurricanes currently exist in a hybrid model of ownership to which private investment contributes, while the Waratahs were recently the subject of an approach, and then the Western Force are going the other way, with Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest preparing to hand back the club after years of financial support.
"Yeah, definitely. There's already a lot of private investment in the competition," Mesley told ESPN when asked if more private money could come into SRP.
"So yeah, we think that this will unlock further private investment and assuage some of the concerns of our great current investors. Again, what does that mean? Who has what decision-making authority? Who owns what? Potentially all need to be fleshed out.
"But I think it's a pretty monumental position to go, 'we've got the backing now' and there's great intent by our shareholders of the competition, the two unions, to really lean into being fan-centric. And in being fan-centric, we're also saying more investable as a competition at a club level and potentially at a league level, which is exciting."
Ultimately, if SRP is to truly again resonate with not just the rusted-on rugby public but also the broader sporting markets in Australia and New Zealand - the Drua are already a huge hit in Fiji - then the competition needs greater jeopardy. And Mesley is quietly optimistic that will transpire in what could be a "bold" new era for the tournament.
"One of our Achilles heels is jeopardy at a league level; we've seen massive improvement in some of our jeopardy scores - more matches that are closer, less blowouts, those sorts of things.
"I'd like to see different champions every year. We've had that over the last couple of years, but I'd love to see some Aussie teams hosting finals, hosting big finals. I'd love to see the Highlanders hosting finals, hosting big finals.
"So looking at mechanisms that help us create a competition that has a lot of unexpected outcomes would certainly be something that would drive further fan engagement. So yeah, we have to look at what are the mechanisms to do that, player movement being one of them, salary caps being another. And one of the discussions we've been having a lot is it's not just about Aussie teams winning.
"It's also about making sure that we are attractive in the big markets in which we participate. And clearly, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland are our three biggest markets. So as we think about jeopardy, we've also then got to think about how we're appealing and how we're present in those big markets as well."