Foundation rugby league countries England, Australia, and New Zealand are receiving timely good news that augurs well for the game’s future.
Starting with England, at its annual general meeting in Hull, a Rugby Football League (RFL) Governance Review prepared by eminent sports lawyer and RFL Interim Chairman Maurice Watkins, concluded that the sport’s system of governance was a model for other sports to follow.
Notably, a sport that is governed by a single unified leadership body with a majority of independent directors at the helm.
Some excellent facets to come out of RFL report include broadcast rights for the 2012-2016 period, and covering Super League, World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, Championships and Northern Rail Cup, totalled a the sum of £135 million.
These rights were concluded with Sky, the BBC and Premier Sport.
Internationals were not included but it has already been released that the recent England v Exiles series brought in an extra £1.5 million.
In addition to the broadcast revenues, it has been reported that the RFL has received significant levels of government funding for its work in both the development of elite athletes and increasing participation in the sport.
During the current funding cycle (1st April 2009 to 31st March 2013) the RFL will have received in excess of £27 million for this work. These funds are being used to deliver a number of programmes and capital costs, such as £3 million between 2009 and 2013 for the improvement of facilities at community rugby league clubs.
The RFL has also increased its turnover to an all-time high of £27.04 million in 2011 and recorded a pre-tax profit for the 10th successive year. This represents an 18.5 per cent increase on 2010 and allowed the RFL to increase hand-outs to clubs and other member organisations to a record £9.18 million.
There are hiccups, such as Bradford Bulls administration problems and the on-going competitive concern of the London Broncos, but already a group of prominent local Asian business people in Bradford want to buy the club and Odsal stadium.
London Broncos also secured a major national sponsor that could lead to a longer term agreement.
New Zealand, via the ownership of the New Zealand Warriors, also announced ground-breaking and exciting news for the code.
After the club’s board meeting, a busy press conference was told the Warriors would become “the best single sporting franchise in Australasia”, including a new elite academy aimed at fostering young talent and a new secondary schools championship in Auckland.
Other highlights included the formation of a Warriors Charitable Trust; the upgrading of training, sports science, medical, talent identification, IT and other team support facilities; improved membership offers to fans outside Auckland and in Australia; a significant involvement in grass roots rugby league; increased Vodafone Warriors merchandise range and the establishment of the club’s first Warriors shop; a commitment to Mt Smart Stadium increasing capacity between 40-60,000 plus an adjacent smaller stadium for local club rugby league and putting the ‘NZ’ in the Warriors by taking NRL ‘home’ matches to other regions of New Zealand including Dunedin, Christchurch and Hamilton in the South Island.
In Australia, the rumour mill over the new TV media broadcast deal is in overdrive.
Despite the split in opinion and agendas of reporting between the Fairfax media group and News Ltd, both organisations are now mentioning on a frequent basis a deal for the Australian rugby league Commission in the region of $1.15 billion dollars.
The broadcast deal aside, the NRL scene on-field is fantastic, TV ratings across the board are breaking records, new and old sponsors are aligning themselves to the game, and grassroots developments are being recognised.
For example, Learn Earn Legend! Ambassador Preston Campbell will join in London international sporting stars and officials from around the world at the Beyond Sport Federation Awards with the Australian Rugby League Commission a finalist for the prestigious International Governing Body of the Year Award.
The strengthening of the game in these traditional powerhouses of rugby league is timely for a sport that is experiencing encouraging growth in other regions. More so than ever, the leadership and economic strength of the game in Australia, New Zealand and England can have far-reaching effect for peripheral nations such as Wales, France, Serbia, Italy, the Pacific, and beyond.
Wales already has over 7,000 players at all levels playing the sport, France is looking at launching a professional summer competition involving soccer clubs Lens and Nantes, the former likely to host the France v Wales international in October.
The Pacific sees Fiji’s Vodafone expand rapidly with the league featuring regularly in the media, and Tonga’s domestic scene going from strength to strength. Jamaica play Canada this weekend in Toronto, and Lebanon make their debut tour to Canada as well.
Who would have thought?
The crescendo to all this will be the 2013 rugby league World Cup.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
A hell of a lot more than that,with your cynical over simplification by limiting it to just one aspect AR. the projects included in the award: The all stars : One of the country's most powerful examples of practical reconciliation. Learn ,Earn Legend Encouraging indigenous youth to stay at school,get a job. Rugby League reads OneSightONe Community Yes Tackling Domestic Violence and which Karen Willis of the Rape Crisis centre stated to John Brady the code's media director" If you knew what I had to deal with up and down the best neighbourhoods of Sydney...things that nobody wants to report.... at least the media and the public takes an interes,t when it involves rugby league players"she said. Indeed well done NRL/ARLC for all the projercts involved..
Australian Rules
Guest
Yes, they won it for a program initiaitve called "Let's Tackle Domestic Violence". Well done ARL.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
20,000 in Perth. Has the Force got a bigger crowd this season?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
He's back,can't let go. If you are going to harp on about BS on a rl site D Maaga ,check out some rl ones at times.Every code promotes,you spend you time trying to demote(rl). BTW I also attended a ru playing private school and was required to attend 1st Xv games against other Associated schools,despite the fact I had finished playing.Didn't have to pay to watch,just had to watch.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
The French rugby clubs aren't as popular as rugby union fans like to claim. The NRL has a higher average. http://www.statbunker.com/rugby/btb/index.php?PL=competition&CompID=327&statType=home_Att http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/summary.html The FFR have been given every concession in the world since the 1930s, from having a rival sport that was bigger and more popular banned, to getting its hand on that sport's assets and never having to pay them compensation. Rugby league was taken out of the curriculum in French schools while rugby union remained. So how come rugby union is only drawing an average of 13,000 to its main rugby union competition? Imagine how much smaller that figure would be if rugby union wasn't given an unfair advantage by the Vichy regime that involved systemic privilege for it and discrimination against rugby league until the 2000s?
D Maaga
Guest
Casual Poster, australia ia a huge place and rugby league is only popular in two states. renegade i wonder how you feel when some super rugby and nrls games gets more fans than rugby league internationals in australia. yes, the waratahs who represent a state in australia sometimes gets more crowds than the kangaroos represent the whole of australia. league fan i wonder how you feel been proving wrong that some school rugby games in nsw and qld got crowds of over 4000. good luck calling someone a liar next time. matt_s, nothing wrong with the game of rugby league like mr taylor said its the fans who are more obsess and making up bs like the best sport in the world when it isn't makes a mockery of a great sport like rugby league. in the end its just a sport some are big and some arent so big. i enjoy rugby knowing its not as big as soccer and will never be. can you guys said the same thing in regards to league and rugby?
Matt_S
Roar Pro
Still doesn't stop you coming on a league thread. Union too boring hey?
Matt_S
Roar Pro
An update: The Australian Rugby League won the Sport Federation or Governing Body of the Year award in London http://www.beyondsport.org/the-awards/awards2012/entries/winners.php
clipper
Guest
Matt_S - I've said as much - many, many times, but it causes a massive meltdown by the league people who disagree with basically what you've said - Rugby and league are divided along economic and class lines - it's nice to see you agree with me.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
Crosscoder, the unionites like to point out the regionalism of rugby league but it's ironic union is mostly divided on regions, areas and economic lines. They point out the likes of Wales but it is a SOuth Wales game. North Wales has little interest in union. They point out Argentina, but union has class lines there. Ditto South Africa. They point out Ireland, but it is the game of presbyterian Irish i.e implants from England. They point out Italy, sorry, rich Northern italians. They point out Scotland...ah Borders, Edinburgh. They point out France and say, hey look 80,000 in Paris for a club game. Don't mention giveways, freebies...next week back to 8,000 expat South Western Frenchies living in Paris in a 12,000 capacity stadium. Union is as regional and smoke & mirrors only fools the unionites themselves. They point to the USA but surprise surprise the growth are in bastions of social division..universities. Their own reports uncover the obvious.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Matt_S.And that is why I respond and defend the code,which has TBH deficiencies.However when any news on the International front happens in a positive way,the anti rl possee rides into town, all guns blazing. There are no bigger critics of rugby league than its fans at times and with good reason,but some of the trolls would make Olympic Champions. Must be born out of discomfort or complete dislike for the code.. No no! Matt, Perth will never work,the crowds that have been fairly consistent mean zilch.A waste of space.16,000 is a hatfull.There I said it.Rugby league will never stand a chance in Perth.Its a 2 state game,and played in a couple of UK counties and the poor parts of Auckland I mean Rebecca wilson said it's a waste of time,so it must be the case.. The game should revert to Newtown,and Gelebe and contemplate its navel. .
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I apologise Clipper from the bottom of my wee heart.I should not make sweeping statements without providing a source. So here are the sources ,please enjoy: http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/rugby-not-as-popular-as-we-believe-1.1072089 then http://www.puttingrugbyfirst.com/downloads/Putting_Rugby_First_Executive%20Summary.pdf Read pages 4 and 5. I have no further comment,except to say they said it not moi.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
D Maaga, 16,000 pre-sold tickets to the Manly v Warriors game in Perth this Saturday. Not bad for a game with no NRL club there. Will beat anything the Force got this year. Suppose that will have you in meltdown. Better quickly go to the Pirates FB page and tell em the game doesn't exist there, it's all a mirage.
Matt_S
Guest
It's funny Crosscode, by Mr Taylor's reckoning AFL and union should halt immediate expansion and stick to where they are. AFL is desperate tpo expand internationally but at what cost? I hear Pt Adelaide, Lions, Swans, Giants, Suns, Nth Melbourne, Bulldogs, St Kilda etc are all struggling to various degrees. I hear the Top 14 is moving to bigger cities that have little affiliation with the game prior which have resulted in crowd increases, TV, sponsorship etc but famous clubs like Narbonne, Agen etc are struggling and can't compete. Yet it is the big cities the sponsors, TV want. Bit like Featherstone, Castleford etc. Great clubs, great history but if league wants to remain professional, these are the clubs big sponsorship, TV don't want. I'm afraid that is reality. All sports are expanding at the expense of tradition, just some don't like all sports to go along with the ride.
League fan
Guest
Renegade/ Crosscoder I am not sure why D Maaga spends so much time on RL sites, It is not just this site but he also use to comment on RL planet until he got kicked off. Does he actually really think we care what rugby does in Sri Lanka or Madagascar. Does he really think we are going to convert to union just because he has a counter argument of anything good RL does. I dont pretend to be a union fan so I would not write on a union site. You know RL is doing good when the insecure types come on and starting getting all defensive. I love the insecurity they have.
Matt_S
Guest
Yes D Maaga, look at all those spectators in school uniforms. I went to one of those private schools and I didn't get a choice whether I wanted to attend or not. We were all bused in & out. I don't think the spectators at the Canada game were driven their at virtual gun point. Don't tell me about union culture I know too well. same schools where a few priests get their rocks off too! Very protected and massaged culture.
NF
Guest
Crosscoder it's unfortunate there are trolls out there who love kicking rugby league down continually and expect us to bow down and respect there codes in particular rugby union with there sense of entitlement and arrogant towards us leaguies. They suffer a superiority complex to constantly kick and look down on RL just so they can feel better about themselves it's pathetic. For every small step league makes it get laugh and harassed at despite it being better than nothing at all. The detractors and critics out there should focus on the problems in there code because there no such thing as a perfect one that's for sure. In a ideal world CC where's RU is played so it's RL but too bad they will never happen it would of been nice to see both codes on equal level internationally but I know it will never happen realistically.
Renegade
Guest
"i’m happy if 4600 is a success in rugby league terms for international rugby league crowds CC. you get that and more for schools rugby games in places like sri lanka, queenslands, nsw, samoa, madacasgar, SA, ireland, tonga and fiji." Yet they get 3 men and a dog to Shute shield games and the waratahs (a team representing an entire state) get around the same crowds as a team representing the bankstown area in the NRL (see Bulldogs)......"school rugby games in Sri Lanka and Madagascar" hahaha oh stop kidding yourself mate, gotta laugh :) I wish we had more trolls on this thread - they certainly enlighten the RL section.
Casual Poster
Guest
And yet they feel so threaten by somthing thats supposed to be so small. And yet ping pong supporters don't do the same when union grows. Probably because they do realize union is so much smaller then there sport internationally and that they don't need to worry.
Casual Poster
Guest
Don't tell clipper that RU doesn't even make the top ten when it comes to world sports. I fear it might do him some harm. While RL might not be as big internationally, RU is nowhere near the international sport it makes out to be. And if Clipper feels threaten by any growth internationally by RL, then the Global reach of Rugby Union is a lot smaller then even I thought.