The chief executive of Bay of Plenty Rugby believes Tauranga will continue to be overlooked for Super Rugby games until the option of an international class venue is explored.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Mike Rogers made the comments to SunLive after it was this week revealed the Chiefs will no longer venture to ASB Baypark due to a new seven year franchise licence.

Baypark will not host any Super Rugby matches next season.

The new Chiefs Rugby Club Limited Partnership licence, granted this week by New Zealand Rugby, will operate until 2020.

It includes the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, which is moving from the Hurricanes to the Chiefs in 2014 and will host two Chiefs matches in Taranaki next season.

As a result Mount Maunganui's ASB Baypark is left in the cold with only Rotorua's International Stadium picking up a pre-season match against the Blues on February 14, 2014, for the Bay region.

'From our point of view any rugby content being played in the region is great. But the venue is a significant barrier at the moment in terms of Tauranga hosting the Chiefs, All Blacks or any top level national or international sporting events,” says Mike.

'It needs to be a venue that stacks up when going against venues around the country like Waikato Stadium.”

He says this will only become possible if there is a strong will from Tauranga City Council and the community to create a venue to support these sporting fixtures.

In the past Baypark has hosted one Super Rugby match per season with the Blues and Brumbies visiting the region in the last two years.

Instead New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium hosts two Chiefs matches in 2014, against the Blues on May 9 and the Warratahs on May 31. Two matches will be played there in 2015.

Waikato Stadium will continue to host a minimum of five home matches per year, with six Super Rugby matches allocated in 2014. Match allocation beyond 2015 will be made on a year-by-year basis.

Mike says the rugby union has no involvement in deciding where games are played throughout the season, with all communication going between the Chiefs franchise and Baypark management - Bay Leisure and Events Limited.

But any Super Rubgy game being played in the region is an added bonus with the Chiefs returning to Rotorua after a number of years away, says Mike.

The Bay, along with the other Chiefs Rugby Club Limited Partnership unions of Counties Manukau, King Country, Taranaki, Thames Valley and Waikato hold 50 per cent of the shares in the Chiefs Rugby Club and private investors from Taranaki, Waikato and elsewhere hold the other half.

The shareholders have invested $3.3million into the new entity.

"We are very pleased the Chiefs can now face the future with renewed confidence and build on the impressive on-field success the franchise has enjoyed of late," says New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew.

"The new arrangement injects fresh thinking and new capital to put the Chiefs on a sound commercial footing. We are also impressed with the calibre of the private investors who have decided to back the team.

"All this augers well for the long term financial well-being of the Chiefs."

Steve says both the NZRU and Chiefs have carefully weighed up the involvement of Taranaki Rugby in this and are mindful of some fans' loyalty to the Hurricanes, as well as some fans' unease in Waikato.

"However, on balance, and supported by fan research, we found this new arrangement would be broadly supported by fans in both regions."

Chiefs' chief executive Andrew Flexman says this is an exciting new era for the Chiefs Rugby Club, and the franchise is privileged to have the backing of a diverse and committed group of investors, who wish to share in the growth of the organisation.

The announcement completes the process begun in December 2011, with licences now awarded to run four of the five Super Rugby franchises.

"Our aim all along was to build a stronger foundation for the professional game in this country, while ensuring it maintained its ability to feed a winning All Blacks team, so we are very pleased with the progress we have made in rolling out the new operating model," says Steve.

Capital investment breakdown:

Provincial Unions: Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union 11.55% Waikato Rugby Union 11.55% Bay of Plenty Rugby Union 11.55% Taranaki Rugby Football Union 11.55% Thames Valley Rugby Football Union 1.9% King Country Rugby Football Union 1.9%

Private Investors: Waikato Syndicate 24.93%