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At 11.30am today, on February 10, 2012, rugby league and the NRL in Australia and New Zealand changed forever.
A board of eight respected rugby league community members, otherwise known as the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), assumed office and will took control from the ARL and News Limited.
It has been a long time coming for the game, and it has been done to suit all parties involved in the game to prevent a second Super League war from breaking out.
But what does this mean? And where to now?
The people to take control are Chairmen John Grant, Catherine Harris, Ian Elliot, Peter Gregg, Gary Pemberton, Jeremy Sutcliffe, Wayne Pearce, Dr. Chris Sarra and NRL CEO David Gallop.
Gallop will remain CEO of the competition for at least four seasons. The first order of business, in my mind, has to be the brand of rugby league in Australia.
Since 1998 the competition has been known as the ‘National Rugby League’ and has sold that brand tirelessly.
But over that period of time the name ‘NRL’ has been tarnished by many off field indiscretions ranging from player versus coach fights, drunken brawls, captains tackling patrons on pool tables and even the unthinkable, rape allegations.
It has not been an easy time on field either, with salary cap scandals showing the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs had played over the Salary Cap by $1,000,000 and from 2005-2010, the Melbourne Storm had been playing over the $4.2 million threshold, culminating at $3.2 million over the salary cap.
With these black marks against the game, I think the game should be re-branded, regrouped and given a fresh breath of life from the ALRC.
The next issue to tackle is the less publicised television rights deal to be done with New Zealand.
After the success of the Warriors in 2011, the New Zealand Kiwis’ World Cup victory in 2008 and their 2009 Four Nations victory, the Australian Rugby League Commission have to get serious and look at the potential for this country.
The current deal in place is a $14 million a season Sky Sports deal with each Warriors match played delayed on TV network, Prime.
This gives access to live NRL for every match of the season on Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3, while Free to Air viewers only have the chance to view their club play on delayed coverage.
This deal is set to expire before the start of the season, and realistically the deal can not be finalised fairly before then so it is likely that the current deal will roll over for one more season.
But that should not stop the negotiations and in my view, the Independent Commission should be pushing for live NRL coverage on their free to air stations Prime, TV One and as well as Sky Sports.
At minimum the New Zealand public should have the right to view live Warriors and international coverage on free to air stations, that includes the Australia versus New Zealand ANZAC International, this year at Eden Park in Auckland.
The benefits the game would reap in New Zealand would be enormous and this could also mean a second top flight team based in Wellington could become a reality sooner rather than later.
The third thing that must be taken care of is the Australian television rights deal. Currently Channel Nine has rights to two matches on a Friday night.
Foxtel airs a ‘super Saturday’ broadcast with three matches through a Saturday evening followed by a Foxtel broadcast on Sunday in the early afternoon, before another Nine delayed broadcast late Sunday afternoon with the games being rounded out on a Monday night on Foxtel.
The three Channel Nine matches are broadcast through New South Wales, ACT and Queensland live, but all other states are receiving delayed coverage. The Foxtel matches are LIVE nationwide.
The next deal has to be done differently for the game to prosper across the country. Not only does the price tag have to be raised but the coverage has to be improved – and the coverage is far more important for the game.
The Independent Commission have to look at the pros and cons of each station, then decide what can bring in more fans, as opposed to dollars.
If Nine offer the most money, but refuse to air live rugby league across Australia, then in the long term that would not be the most beneficial.
If Channel Seven or Channel Ten were willing to pay a little less but provide live matches nationwide, in the long term this could benefit the game in more ways than one.
Not only will it bring more fans into the game but it will open up many more possibilities of club expansions for the future.
That in itself could potentially bring more money to the game over a period of up to five years before another rights deal needs to be struck. This is not about beating the AFL and their fantastic deal, this is about expanding and improving rugby league.
My ideal TV rights deal for the next period of our game would be a Thursday night match on Ten, one Friday night match on Seven, the super Saturday fixtures to remain on Foxtel, with a Sunday afternoon game and a Sunday evening game both being broadcast from Seven, ending the weekend with a Foxtel Monday night football broadcast.
Finally, expansion must be dealt with. The first type of expansion needs to be the establishment of a women’s rugby league competition.
This competition would host six clubs to begin with: two from Queensland, two from New South Wales, one from ACT and a Victorian club. Not only is the interest there but this could be used as a third game to be played before main fixtures.
On Saturdays, each venue could host a NRL fixture, a U20 fixture and a women’s league fixture with teams being doubled up with clubs from their home states.This would create a brand new stream of revenue, grass roots sign ups and all round enjoyment.
After this is sorted out, the NRL can look at making inroads into having two more expansion clubs. Not only will the TV rights deal help assess what areas to head to, but it will also be the cocoon from which these butterflies will be born.
If a truly nationwide deal is struck, Wellington and Perth could be very real possibilities by 2016, but if the current deal continues or is updated, then Brisbane Bombers and the Central Coast Bears can both be admitted in 2015.
This is hinging all on how the new Australian Rugby League Commission deals with broadcasting rights. There are many places the Australian Rugby League Commission can take our game with great leadership.
They have to be addressing each matter in a systematic and timely manner to determine what truly will be the best for rugby league.
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