With the GWS Giants having finally made their AFL debut while the Gold Coast Titans are on the verge of collapse, talk of rugby league taking care of its nurseries in the face of an advancing and cashed up AFL has become increasingly shrill.
However, while the two codes do battle over the hearts, minds and wallets of Western Sydney and South-East Queensland, a rugby league nursery rich in players, punters and potentially pocket is being ignored – its birthplace.
Currently IMG sports media owns the exclusive rights to the NRL outside of Australia and New Zealand, having signed a three-year deal in 2010.
While IMG have been successful in getting the game shown on televisions in Italy, the Middle East and USA, the UK have not seen a game of regular season NRL since 2009 when Setanta UK, which owned the rights at the time, went bust.
Sky Sports UK still shows State of Origin and the grand final and Premier Sport broadcasts six games per round.
A 2009 estimate by the UK office of statistics stated there were around 120,000 Australians living in the UK.
Because while there will always be a relatively small but constant stream of Australians and Kiwis living in the motherland looking to get their weekly fix of NRL, the UK is possibly the only other country in the entire world with a legitimate league competition and, therefore, legitimate local league fans.
These fans would be particularly interested in the Australian game at the moment with plenty of Englishmen making waves in the NRL.
Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis and James Graham have all made the transition from Super League to NRL, while Burgess’s brothers Luke and George are also signed to Souths.
Meanwhile, Jack Reed, Gareth Widdop and Chris Heighington have all made the decision to represent England and as many as 40 other NRL players are in English coach Steve McNamara’s sights as future Lions based on either their heritage or place of birth.
Just as Australian interest in the English Premier League spikes whenever Aussies are performing well over there – there was a period in the mid-90s where Leeds United featuring Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka got more ink than the entire NSL – so too are the Poms interested in their own making good in the world’s toughest league competition.
Perhaps, then, the greatest sticking point in getting the NRL on the box in England is the five-year contract Super League signed with Sky Sports in 2011.
The ARLC has been given a clear mandate on their upcoming five-year deal – get a billion or don’t come home. Super League on the other hand signed their deal for an estimated £90million, which was a record deal and one hailed by Rugby Football League chairman Richard Lewis as being, “a tremendous outcome for the sport of rugby league”.
If the local game is only getting £90million (roughly AU$140million) over five years, the NRL broadcast rights would be significantly less.
Nevertheless, Panthers boss Phil Gould recently criticised the ARLC for their deal on gambling revenue, claiming the model the NRL are signed up to has cost them as much as $15 million a year.
“The NRL should have been looking at this as a new revenue stream… Retrospectively, it’s cost the game tens of millions of dollars not to be involved and whilst it opens opportunities for the future, we’ve missed the boat through a lack of action,” Gould said in The Age.
If the NRL TV rights are worth even half what the Super League rights fetched, that’s another $15 million a year boat being missed.
More importantly, it’s a golden opportunity to grow the game which is being ignored.
This post has been updated and edited following information provided by the NRL.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
It piqued the NRL's interest - one could argue that's a good outcome - we are all now better informed.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Yes Jo, it IS a LORF, penned by a League supporter to have a nice giggle, I'm glad he had the desired effect for you!
me, I like football
Guest
Renegade, of course rugby league is bigger. But this is about Australia’s two respective competitions the AFL and NRL. There is as much appetite for the AFL in the UK as the NRL, even if interest is being mainly driven by expats
Nathan of Perth
Guest
"…..i’ll walk around with the AFL logo on my forehead." Can you just do that anyway? The result could be hilarious :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
You actually got tapped on the shoulder by the NRL media dept? Eep.
cos789
Guest
What a stupid article. Ignores a few facts like NRL being available on Premier Sport. No ESL/Championship/Championship 1 equivelant. No World Club Challenge, Exiles, true test matches or World Cups. Go to any English RL forum and they all talk about the NRL - BECAUSE THEY WATCH IT! Never let the truth get in the way of a good ole Victorian bashing RL story though.
NF
Guest
Oh please Wookie what rating did you expect in WA/SA with such short notice for the NRL. When you consider the fact the NRL has being blacked out in the southern states, now answer me this what were the ratings before the Brisbane Lions & Sydney Swans come into QLD/NSW. I assume they be around to what to NRL in WA/SA.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Jo that game was simulcast on Fox, so a further 38k from NSW watched it on Fox - all up, the numbers are pretty good. The AFL received 5.3 mill in ratings on 5 city metro FTA and Fox for the opening round - I'm not sure what you know about these things - but I can assure you that's a very, very big number - the sort of number that would have everyone involved with the game rubbing their hands with glee.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
the guy is a rugby league follower and a supporter. I think the article was his way of trying to rally the commission that got interpreted as a pro-AFL piece. And so here we are.
Jo
Guest
GWS vs Swans ratings pulled 38,000 at ANZ and only 82,000 in Sydney on TV and 33,000 in Brisbane.. Sure NRL didn't get heaps in Perth or Adelaide, but the game was on at 9:00am in Perth... So for the game which the AFL hyped up for months, and being the first ever derby for Sydney, only 38,000 people in the biggest city in Aus went... and a mere 82,000 watched on TV.. Let alone Brisbane.. and these cities have established teams. Plus the NRL destroyed the AFL in TV ratings anyways despite this.
Jo
Guest
HAHAHA this whole article is a LORF! I think the author just wanted to beat on RL and the NRL and try elevate the AFL... Like who cares. But seriously, how can this guy make a claim that is so obviously untrue as the information clearly showing that the NRL has broadcasting rights, and has a large audience is right infront of his eyes.. Just gotta lol at that.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Some hard, cold, verifiable facts? That's no fun!! :)
micka
Guest
Paul said | April 4th 2012 @ 10:06am Only big in 3 states??? Vic, SA, WA, Tas, a large portion of Southern NSW and I would give my left prune if League is bigger than AFL in the NT. 3 states..... as oposed to the NATIONAL Rugby League with teams in 3 states (and one from NZ to make up the numbers) with one of those, i.e. Vic made up EXCUSLIVELY of people born and bred interstate.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
when you get upstaged by the VFL on ABC2 then you know you've got a long way to go (at least it was close, the WAFL flogged the NRL ratings in Perth and the NRL didnt even register in Adelaide)
Cameron
Guest
"and now with primetime veiwing available in Melb, watch the Storm take of." Paul, it may have only been their first game live into Melb, but the Storm's ratings in Melb last weekend were not something to cheer about.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Actually, when you combine AFL+aussie rules+Australian rules football, you do get about halfway to Rugby League, which isn't too bad.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
ueah I think its fox soccer plus The three year deal features 2 matches a week of AFL, plus an AFL highlights package. The NRL gets the same deal plus State of Origin. They also scrfeen 30 matches of the Aleague this season. The packages are nearly identical, one wonders if they got a package deal through Foxtel. "It is available on various cable and satellite TV providers in the US including DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Verizon Fios, DIsh Network and more."
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Renegade that's certainly a gap - no two ways about it! There might be a problem with using the term Australian Rules Football, but I accept aussie rules would be on a hiding to nothing. However, I re-did the AFL vs NRL search index, and got the identical results, which is still kind of interesting.
Renegade
Guest
LOL you should be a comedian....funny stuff. If the AFL has even 5% of the interest that Rugby League has in the UK.....i'll walk around with the AFL logo on my forehead. http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=0-20&q=Australian%20Rules%20Football%2CRugby%20League&geo=GB&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q
peeeko
Roar Guru
Very true wookie, their are a few others as well. Me and a mate from Melbourne get into work early every Friday and have the afl running on one screen and league on another. I got to watch the dragons game live last week while my friends in Sydney had to wait for the delayed telecast. I think fox soccer channel in the USA also shows a league, nrl and afl each week but only 1/2 games of each