It's understood SANZAR, Super Rugby's governing body, has finalised a new broadcast agreement which will almost double the ARU's $20 million television revenue.

Interim SANZAR chief executive Brendan Morris also confirmed expanding Super Rugby into the United States was on the radar, declaring it would be silly not to investigate breaking new ground in America.

An announcement on the broadcast deal is likely in the coming weeks with free-to-air coverage also on the agenda as rugby continues its fight for supporters against its cross-code rivals.

It falls well short of the AFL and NRL's billion-dollar contracts, but will still provide the biggest television rights windfall since the start of Super Rugby in 1996.

But it eases the ARU's financial strain and Morris says the World Cup, which starts on Friday, can be a launching pad for a new era.

"The World Cup is the showpiece event … we have to start making some noise now about the new competition structure and new teams," Morris said.

"They're reasonably close [with the TV rights deal]. Absolutely we're happy [with the financial return] and I think a few people will be surprised in the coming weeks.

"But there's a few things to be done. We're confident the new deal will set the game up for the next five years."

Morris is adamant a Japanese team will line-up in the expanded 2016 competition and has also opened the door for a United States team to join Super Rugby in the future.

The Wallabies arrived in England on Monday night Australian time to start their World Cup preparation after spending two weeks in the US.

Super Rugby is breaking new ground this year with teams from Japan, Argentina and a sixth South African franchise joining the competition.

"If you read the statistics, rugby is the fastest growing game in America at the moment, there's huge potential for us to look into those markets," Morris said.

"What is the evolution of Super Rugby beyond 2016? We're very open minded about new territories and the US and Canada are big markets so it would be silly not to explore the opportunity."

The Wallabies are second in the world rankings behind the All Blacks, but face a massive challenge to progress out of the pool stages.

They start their campaign against Fiji on September 24 before playing Uruguay and hosts England and Wales.

International success is one of the major driving forces in rugby union's popularity in Australia as it fights the NRL and AFL for crowds and television audiences.

"It's certainly dropped off [popularity in Australia] in the last couple of years and to say it's not concerning wouldn't be right," Morris said.

"But the other sports are facing challenges as well, there's so much competition for corporate dollars, bums on seats and viewership.

"We've got to come up with innovative ways to engage fans and get Super Rugby back to being a world leader in innovation. This is our chance to re-energise our fans, come up with some excitement and rebrand our competition."

Officials from the ARU, New Zealand Rugby Union and South Africa will meet with SANZAR bosses in London during the World Cup to plan for the competition's future.

Morris is on a 10-person shortlist to be the full-time SANZAR chief executive after Greg Peters resigned earlier this year, with interviews to be conducted over the coming weeks.