I hate to dash the hopes of fans of the Central Coast Bears concept, but I simply can’t standby and watch a potential fizzer of a decision take effect. The Central Coast Bears should not be admitted to the NRL for these many compelling reasons:
• It’s only a 45-minute drive from northern Sydney (e.g Hornsby).
• It’s preaching to the converted. This is already rugby league territory; it won’t generate new television viewers and it’s not an attempt to win new hearts, minds and wallets to the NRL.
• NSW/ACT already has 11 of the 16 NRL teams. Does NSW need another?
• The Central Coast population is small. Gosford is 170,000 and the greater Central Coast is 300,000. That would make it the second smallest NRL footprint after North Queensland. The Bears can’t claim any of northern Sydney otherwise it’s an admission that this is not expansion.
• The AFL just expanded into two big NRL population areas – western Sydney and the Gold Coast. So the NRL counters by expanding into a small area in its own backyard?
• Queensland has one NRL team per 1,500,000 people. The CC Bears would drop the NSW/ACT ratio to 633,000 people per team.
• Queensland deserves a team before NSW because it’s growing faster and, critically, they have much higher average crowd figures than NSW teams. The Cowboys, Broncos and Titans always figure near the top of the averages. Always.
I want the NRL to be a success. It has to get its finances in order to stem the tide of stars going to other sports.
The way to correct NRL finances is to increase revenue without spreading it over too many teams. TV revenue is the lifeblood of any sports league.
If I could I would force an NRL team to move to Adelaide and create a new one in Perth. SA and WA have a combined population of 4.3 million hearts, minds and wallets to convert to RL.
Only blinkered small-minded people would oppose this move. The NRL is a great product; once people are exposed to it they will enjoy it. The NRL simply needs to work out how the AFL manages expansion, tweak the recipe and march into Perth and Adelaide.
It then becomes truly national, has a national footprint and the TV dollars will roll in even more. That’s what national advertisers look for – the big five capital markets.
Sorry Gosford, you are too small. You’ve got a nice stadium and some passionate fans, but the items above truly trump your bid.
Jason from Sydney
Guest
later this year the NRL will look into expansion whether to expand or not. My suggestion is to expand to 20 teams from the current 16 teams. The four new teams I would suggest would be (1)Central Coast Bears, (2)Perth, (3)Sunshine Coast and (4)Toowoomba or a 2nd Brisbane.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
Mr Ribot was right.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
In a perfect world half of Sydney's NRL teams would be relegated to the NSW Cup. There's too much supply down there and not enough demand. The arrogance of Sydney's fans is holding the game back.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
What Mr Citigroup is reporting is nothing new - it has been the case for twenty years! The TV stations rarely get back in direct advertising revenue what they put in. That's all correct. Yet they still clamour after it. Why? Ah, well, to understand that, you need a far better understanding of the TV industry than what Mr Citigroup is displaying! Anyway, I note that even Mr Citigroup predicts actual growth in value of $123 mill (taking it up to beyond $900 mill). So if the ultra conservative Mr Citigroup is predicting a fee of beyond $900 million, the one thing we know for sure, that we can predict with absolute certainty is that the fee will not be South of $800 million!
Fez's are cool
Guest
Heres another news story saying AFL was overpaid last time, and are unlikely to get a pay rise from TV, as it costs more to broadcast than it generates in revenue : - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/citigroup-warns-1bn-rights-may-be-too-high/story-e6frg8zx-1226027693030 Good read, eh AFL trolls?
jamesb
Guest
I reckon in 2014 Perth and CC While in 2020 perhaps SE Qld and N.Z There you go, 20 NRL teams in 2020. Has a nice ring to it. Although SE Qld does have a major chance for 2013/14 But for mine Perth is a certainty. NRL needs a new market, and a new timeslot
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Their responsibility is grassroots development,no doubt the funds will be used for that.They will operate from a centralised head office at Moore Park next to the SFS.I would imagine they just can;t let the money sit in the bank,and just let it grow without doing something practical with it over time.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I tend to believe hearing is also a problem.Manning made the point about the $800m figure,not your Masters or Gould voodoo dolls. The anti syphoning legislation looks like ending up during May. Your last para,coming from your previous posts when you take every Masters comment as being negative ,except when it suits,makes the point rather hollow. Maybe you should give some people in the media that you have little time for,the possibilty they may in fact be close to the mark. Ignore the positive ones LOL.The Sydney media does its level best to genefluct to AFL at times. Kerry Stokes argued about the positive AFL ones in the C7 case. if you believed Mitchell,the NRL would be getting the smell of an oil rag,but live with his comments. A better chance of getting people to our game,than trying to flog a dead horse with the resultant Sydney Tv ratings for your game. Perhaps both codes need to get off their backsides.hey what.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Max The story about Jack's sons/AFL has been done to death by both the SMH and Telegraph.They must either be fast running out of ideas,or they are being paid to do so(shades of the Kerry Stokes C7 LOL) .You can only suck so much juice out of a lemon. Both these organisations continually and conveniently dismiss the fact, Jack's other son plays and prefers rugby league. They are succeeding in antagonising,if perchance that is the intention.
bilbo
Guest
All this speculation generally seems to have a common thread - AFL and NRL fans each think their deal will be higher than it probably will be. I guess the proof will be in the pudding as they say, but if the NRL gets anything close to parity with the AFL deal, it will be a big win for the NRL. The expense the AFL has already been to and will continue to go to with its expansion clubs is immense, and they would be hoping for a much larger pay off. If the deals are close, then I would expect that to be an endorsement of the game's television value - a clear and obvious reason for lower crowd figures and memberships.
db swannie
Guest
I agree that journos can spin figires to suit their agenda,but Manning has no agenda ...He reports on Business deals... & he states quite clearly that the figure is South of 800 mill.
Max
Guest
Just off the subject for a second. I notice The Suday Telegraph running Gary ( jimmy) Jack being used to promote A.F.L. by that paper again why do they keep doing this, surely it can be seen as antagonistic behaviour.
Fez's are cool
Guest
I will keep this short and simple for you; Because the primary product RL is selling is TV viewership and sponsorships. They are the main revenue streams. There is nothing to be gained in this regard in Gosford.
Fez's are cool
Guest
Well everyone has to pay for TV in the UK... TV licence for normal TV and more for pay tv... So, if you are have to pay, why not pay a bit more and get heaps more. It works in the UK with their media structure. That wouldn't work here for obvious reasons.
Redb
Roar Guru
Some posters dont read very well. I said: " You have no proof of $800M for AFL offer at all. Just speculation like $1B." err that means I dont beleive the countless articles and media types like Harold Mitchell about the $1B either. I'm already on record as saying I think the AFL will get circa $900M. Its too earyl to know until the anti-spihoing legislation is worked out and Foxtel can get more access or not to AFL games. That NRL people will seize a negative article/interview but ignore the positive ones and death ride the AFL TV rights result frankly makes me laugh. Maybe you lot should try and get people to your game.
Fez's are cool
Guest
Well said
Fez's are cool
Guest
What a load of bollocks. Soccer has always been a popular participation sport in NSW. The relationship between Soccer (soft participation sport) and Rugby League (tough spectator sport) has helped keep AFL out of NSW....
Fez's are cool
Guest
I agree, and they are in for a shock when the AFL gets something between $780m-$900m, and the NRL gets something in the same bracket.
oikee
Guest
The NRL needs to get there act together and shore up the Brisbane market, all you hear about up here lately is AFL news, 24/7. If you bring in another Brisbane team, you close that Market completely, forget other areas, shore up your main market. I keep saying Brisbane is a no brainer,. At the moment, all i am hearing about is AFL in a so-called rugby league heartland. It is silly to think rugby league in Brisbane can survive with a game every 2 weeks, it is not working, trust me, it is not working full-stop.
Fez's are cool
Guest
Just because you have a bid thats sorted, doesn't mean that the game should expand there. What if Blacktown put together a bid, got all the finances and everything sorted. By your logic, we must let them in becasue they are ready. Wherever RL expands, it has to make sense in terms of the game as a whole. That means expanding the national footprint, improving reveue (TV and advertising), and (most importantly) not have a significant negative impact on current clubs. Sure, the Bears bid is sorted, but that doesn't mean the NRL needs them. Why expand if it does nothing for the game as a whole? Thats why it should be some combination of whoever is ready from Perth / Brisbane / New Zealand / Sunshine Coast / Ipswich. Adelaide is too long term for concideration now, but they would be the next club to add to the list.