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NRL CEO David Gallop speaking during the official launch of the NRL season at Casula Powerhouse in Sydney, Wednesday, March 2, 2011. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins).
NRL boss David Gallop made a stunning statement on Peter Switzer’s Sky Business program last night. “We provided 77 of the top 100 shows on Pay TV last year”. That’s heavy artillery to fire when the rugby league TV rights are up for grabs later in the year to commence in 2014.
Gallop wouldn’t put a figure on it, as compared to the AFL’s record-breaking $1.25 billion, but he did make a point of adding that the NRL’s bid will be better known “once the restructuring of rugby league is complete.”
That’s the sticking point.
The long-awaited, and now long-overdue, Independent Commission to run the sport, promised at the end of last year, is still in the melting pot as the decision-makers – News Ltd and the ARL – remain territorial over finalising the eight Commissioners.
It will be the Commissioners, and Gallop, who will be the negotiators, and they’d better get their act together quick smart or the television stations will eat them for breakfast.
The AFL enjoys the extra clout of being a truly national sport, with 600,000 club members, while rugby league is basically NSW, Queensland, and the ACT, with a smattering in Victoria through the Melbourne Storm, and a total registration of 170,000.
Daylight.
That’s where the 77 of the top 100 will kick in as a major plus, and next Wednesday night’s Origin 2 will be in the top five programs of 2011, according to Gallop.
Expansion?
Gallop mentioned Perth as a possibility, even though it was a failure last time “through no fault of its own, they were the victim of circumstances going on in the whole game.
“They weren’t in an ideal stadium then, but they will be (at NIB Stadium) if they were to come back into the comp. I think Perth has a lot going for it.
“So has South-East Queensland got a lot going for it, and there are guys in Central Queensland that are keen and that’s a massive industrial area that’s only going to get bigger.
“And there’s a heartland area in Gosford that already has a stadium. They are all going to be in the mix if we make the decision at some point in the next few years”.
That doesn’t sound confident for Gosford, which would herald the return of the North Sydney Bears as the Central Coast Bears.
There would be thousands of rugby league fans north of the Harbour Bridge who would welcome the end of the Bears’ hibernation as a stand alone club that began 12 years ago.
With only two clubs north of the Bridge – Manly and Newcastle – 150 clicks apart, Gosford would be ideal, with a young population and sporting the spectacular Bluetongue Stadium, seating a tick over 20,000.
So bring back the Bears.
But first things first.
Lock away the eight Independent Commissioners far sooner than later, and buckle up for the battle with television moguls for a billion and some change.