The 1996 season of the rugby union competition, the Super 12, was the inaugural season and was won by the Auckland Blues. It was a notable season because it was the first of professional rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere (the Northern Hemisphere had their first season a few months earlier due to the seasonal differences). The season was also the first of 10 under the deal between SANZAR and News Corporation which gave all broadcasting rights to News Limited for the Super 12, Tri-Nations, all in-bound tours and test matches and in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as well as provincial competition matches.