Administrators remain confident they can avoid a fire sale of the world's best-known provincial rugby competition, which has been plagued by confusion over the current format and doubt surrounding a strategic review.

ARU chief operating officer Rob Clarke said the union was in talks with "two or three" international brands over Christmas and expected to finalise a deal before the competition kicks off on February 23.

But Clarke also backed two newcomers to the rugby calendar - the new combined women's and men's Sydney Sevens and the Brisbane Global 10s - to breathe new life into a traditionally slow start to the season.

"The sevens, on the back of last year, is a really clear indicator that rugby is back on the map at the beginning of the year," he said.

"With the Global 10s coming on the map as well ... it's a real double whammy in that sense and one we're looking forward to."

The Sydney Sevens, in its second year at Allianz Stadium, will feature the women's world series for the first time  when it kicks off on February 3, giving locals a rare chance to watch Olympic champions the Pearls in action on home soil.

Clarke said tickets to the Saturday and Sunday sessions were on track to sell out in the next 10 days after the success of the men's only world series leg last year.

"We didn't have a lot of choice in the timing of [the event] because it needed to be paired with the Wellington sevens, but we did feel it was a way of bringing attention to rugby on the eve of the Super Rugby launch," Clarke said. "We thought it was a good injection of interest last year and we're certainly anticipating the same again this year."

The following weekend in Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium will play host to the inaugural Global 10s competition, featuring all five Australian Super Rugby teams plus French powerhouses Toulon and Japanese king pins the Wild Knights.

The concept, pitched by the same events group behind rugby league's Auckland Nines, is untested in Australia, but with the buy-in of the Super Rugby teams and the drawcards of big name overseas clubs, administrators predict it will work. Duco Events have forked out serious cash to ensure teams travel with their entire squads. This means high-profile players such as Israel Folau, Israel Dagg, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Samu Kerevi will lend their pulling power to ticket sales, while Super Rugby clubs will be able to continue pre-season training with minimal interruption.

Meanwhile, the hunt continues for a big corporate brand to back Super Rugby in Australia after insurer Asteron Life wound up their deal last year. The Melbourne Rebels are also still on the hunt for a naming-rights sponsor after playing the 2016 season without one, while the ARU failed to lock in a naming-rights sponsor for the blockbuster June Test series against an Eddie Jones-coached England. While the ARU's marquee brand, the Wallabies, continue to attract top global brands such as Qantas and BMW, industry whispers suggest rugby is on the nose and has an inflated sense of its market value in Australia's crowded sporting landscape.

Clarke conceded it was a "concern" that it was taking this long to secure a commercial partner for Super Rugby but insisted rugby could still command top dollar.

"Based on the conversations we're having, with the type of corporations we are talking to, Super Rugby is still an attractive proposition, but I think it needs to be clearly understood," he said.

"We've had some challenges on that side of things, with competition structures and teams, and I think getting clarity around where Super Rugby sits, who participates in it, and what the future direction will be, will all help build a product we can go to market with confidently and have the stats behind it to support it.

"But the two or three companies we're talking to are global brands, it's not as though we're being forced down to the local chicken shop or the motor repair mechanic. We're not in the territory and hopefully never will be."