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Back in the 1980s, Manly godfather Ken Arthurson was the Chairman of the Australian Rugby League as well as the NSWRL.
Imagine the outcry if we had a club boss also running the game today.
We probably would not have a Melbourne Storm, a Wests Tigers, a St George Illawarra or teams in North Queensland or New Zealand.
Let’s fast forward through media chum David Gallop’s decade as CEO, and focus on his successor Dave Smith, discussing what will be a pass mark when we examine his card in three years.
As an avid consumer of rugby league I want the game’s boss to be a strategic thinker and hire people who will make him and the game look good. He doesn’t need to know how to spell Minichiello, or how many grand finals St George had won in a row.
I like the fact that journos have to earn their keep now as they don’t have the speed dial for the man in charge of our $3 billion corporation.
A number of the classes have been in the process now for two years and the first major subject on Dave Smith’s report card will be the next TV and radio rights deal.
Some will use the crude numbers to judge growth, so let’s start Dave’s objectives here.
1. NRL TV rights agreement – In Aug, 2012 ARLC Chairman John Grant announced to the media the five-year deal with Nine and Fox Sports is worth $1.025 billion, comprising $925 million in cash and a further $100m in advertising.
I would like to see another free-to-air broadcaster added and given stand-alone Test and City versus Country weekend matches and/or State of Origin matches. Also the New Zealand rights should include commentary from Andrew Voss if Nine continue to shun him.
2. Mobile, online rights – This is a massive growth market not only for business development but also for advertisers. The AFL deal is mind-blowing and there is no reason why Dave cannot do even better.
3. Radio rights deal – We should be able to turn the radio on anywhere in Australia and New Zealand and hear every match live. We have some top class callers like Andrew Voss, Graeme Hughes and David Morrow who would love to call matches to frustrated fans who currently miss out.
4. Ensure financial sustainability for clubs – The saying that “it starts at the front office” is very true and Dave Smith already should be applauded for “assisting” some clubs with genuine business expertise at both board and operational level.
5. An NRL-owned stadium – Why rent when you can buy? The NRL will have the cash to fund the purchase of their own Stadium which can be built for rugby league and make the experience more affordable for fans.
6. Don’t lose market share to the AFL – This is a tough one to measure and it depends on the objectives set, but clearly bums on seats, TV ratings and the rights deal are biggies.
7. Grow rugby league among 17 year olds and under – Obviously a crucial objective as they are the future and so many kids drop out of the game before they reach 18. The NRL must first understand why and address each issue but the major impediments are their parents cannot afford the huge insurance costs and their clubs are going broke.
Also the influx of players from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands literally ‘frighten’ many kids away as they are often much bigger. Soccer and AFL become attractive by default.
8. Grow the female fan-base – The NRL are doing a great job here and the crack down on domestic violence must remain aggressive.
9. Introduce rugby league to more schools – Many schools, both private and public, would consider league for their students if given a reason. The NRL should them justify it.
10. Assist clubs in attracting and signing members – This is an area where the AFL leaves the NRL for dead. Find out the “secret” and copy it, as it cannot be that hard.
Remember that an extra 5,000 members at $200 is $1million. AFL club Collingwood boasted 80,793 paid members this year.
11. Assist clubs how to be self-sufficient without relying on poker machines – Pokies have created a ‘false economy’ and laziness with many clubs and they need to create new revenue streams.
12. Put a cap on players who do not play their initial junior league in Australia – The NRL is looking more like American sport every month and they need to ensure that there is always a place for kids from dairy farms. The original fabric of the game is disappearing.
13. Provide a third-party level playing field for all clubs – A handful of clubs have a distinct advantage over others with the use of third party payments to players. This can be as much as $1m a year as some clubs are disadvantaged because of their location.
This needs to be recognised by the NRL and those clubs compensated.
14. All rep player payments to go to the RLPA for management and distribution – Player representative payments should be negotiated by the RLPA and all monies should be paid directly to them so they can distribute appropriately.
15. The Integrity Unit – Currently this group is 100 per cent reactive and they do not have a mechanism that monitors all rugby league bookmaker activity and have sufficient in-house “expertise” on hand to advise of any red flags before the event. I find this staggering, given there is a lot of money at stake.
16. Own their own stats – The NRL has tried renting from third parties without success and I find it stunning that they do not own their statistical data. Not only must they have their own stats but they must be made available to the fans for free.
Stats are an indirect way of promoting the game and they create discussion points which is what fans should be encouraged to do. Give the fans intel and they will deliver mind share.
17. Product fees – This is a relatively new revenue stream for the NRL which should be passed back to the clubs as they have provided the product. The NRL needs to negotiate a win/win product fee strategy based gross profit with Australian bookies and importantly be proactive working with the Federal Government stopping off shore wagering who pay no taxes or product Fees.
18. Live betting – Currently NRL fans can only do this via the phone but if they were able to also do it via the internet the revenues would double and so to would the taxes and product fees.
This draconian law has not been updated in line with modern technology and the NRL should join all sports in lobbying Canberra for change.
19. Expansion – I would like to see the NRL introduce two more teams and move the NRL competition into two conferences ensuring key rivals and derbies play each other twice.
It would be important that the two groups are equal so ‘massaging’ would have to be done to ensure popular clashes are not missed like Storm versus Warriors or Cowboys versus Broncos.
20. NRL Central to house all video refs – Why do video refs have to travel to each game?
The answer is they don’t. It is a massive waste of human resources and costs. We have the technology to have three Video refs available for every game at NRL Central.
The consensus wins. We also have the technology for video refs to ‘tip’ offside passes. Let’s not be too hard on our refs though. Howlers appear in all sports – did you see the Wanderers in the Asian Champions League?
21. Increase the attractiveness for travelling to a match – This becomes much easier if the NRL own the stadium but clearly they need to make it affordable for families and crack down on outrageous food and drink prices.
22. Referees academy – Create a referees academy so ex-players can graduate. We are losing many young players in their early 20s who cannot find a new career path.
23. Coaching academy – Create a coaching academy so distinctive skills like organising, passing and tactical kicking are not lost. Only a handful of players actually are ready and know what to do and how to execute. Does anyone teach it these days?
There it is and I should probably stop as Dave Smith only has another three years before his report card is marked.
Let’s all hope that he graduates and gets a distinction with a big gold star on his forehead.
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