This year, the NRL negotiated a television deal worth $1.025 billion, consisting of $925 million in cash and a further $100 million in advertising. The deal provided three free-to-air games a week on Channel Nine.
Fans’ cries for a fixed schedule were partially heard, with the first 20 rounds scheduled in advance and the last six rounds to be scheduled at round 16.
There are plenty of positives that have come out of this agreement but until the schedule is released a few clubs may not see the good news, if there is any at all.
Players with an increased pay packet won’t mind what time they play or where they play as long as they get paid. Sure there will be players who love playing for the fans but that is not always the primary focus, results are.
The clubs though must be concerned – free-to-air TV coverage can be the difference between millions in sponsorship, gate receipts and general exposure.
Already teams are putting up their hand to ensure they are afforded free-to-air exposure as much as possible and preferably in the time slot of a Friday night live match.
Brisbane Broncos shouldn’t be too concerned as the season that has just passed afforded them 18 matches on Friday night, out of a possible 24 matches throughout the season.
To aid the Broncos even further, only one match occurred on a Saturday and a Monday, the other four remaining matches were on Sundays.
This is the sort of exposure other teams dream of.
I understand why Brisbane Broncos are afforded these time slots over the other 15 teams. With an average of viewing of 470,000 per match and roughly 20% of all viewings throughout the eight matches, why wouldn’t you make Brisbane Broncos your team for others to watch?
Teams want this sort of exposure, though to earn it you need to produce consistent football that attracts fans through the gates and makes people want to turn on the television and watch. And be in a populous region.
Second to the Broncos, Newcastle Knights, St George Illawarra Dragons and Canterbury Bulldogs received a total of nine free-to-air Friday Night Live matches. The Bulldogs had an average attendance rate of 23,572, Knights 20,919 and Dragons 16,426, compared to the Broncos average attendance of 33,377.
I make comparisons to these teams as they only received nine free-to-air Friday night live matches. Five other teams played six or more Friday night matches, these teams were the Storm, Rabbits, Tigers, Manly and Titans.
Out of these nine teams, only five were in the top eight at the end of season.
The other three teams were Cowboys, Raiders and Sharks who played four, three and one matches respectively on Friday night. Out of the eight matches collectively by Cowboys, Raiders and Sharks four of these matches occurred against Brisbane Broncos.
All of these teams finished above the Brisbane Broncos but none of these seven teams inside the top eight none had a larger viewing or higher attendance rate.
Melbourne Storm and Manly are two teams who have produced the most consistent football over the past five seasons, but the key difference here is neither team have averaged above 20,000 fans and at stages throughout their dominance attendances have dipped as low as 10,000.
With all these statistics weighing in favour of the Broncos, there are a few questions that remain. With Channel 9/ Foxtel paying $1.025 billion for TV rights why shouldn’t they be able to decide who plays at what time?
What can the other NRL clubs do to achieve the same results as the Broncos both on-field and off-field? Does a balance need to be afforded between all clubs?
Should Broncos suffer for what has been a successful 25 years of history?
Out of the other 15 teams, 10 have a longer history if you include joint clubs. The other five clubs, the Storm, Cowboys, Warriors, Titans and Knights have had less time to achieve the results the Broncos have, except for Knights who, like the Broncos, have now been established for 25 years.
The NRL is a brand, an image that looks to make money to provide the fans with the entertainment value required to grow the game even further.
As easy as fans can say it is not fair the Broncos played 18 out of 24 games on Friday night, it has to be realised this is not only a sport, form of entertainment and job for many, but a business that will continually look to grow and only make decisions based on evidence to suggest what will make the business grow and develop further.
elliot
Guest
the problem with the unfairness of the tv scheduling is that the nrl wanted to get a billion dollars for it regardless of what they had to sacrifice. the fact that channel nine only shows 3 live games a week and that sunday games are played in an evening is a joke. who wants to take there kids to a game of football and get back after 10:00 pm on a night before school. and thats before you throw in the thursday night and monday night games.
Ray heathwood
Guest
NHL admin and ground roots face a widening gap. Club loyalty from fans and long time player service is being ignored for the greed of Ch 9. There are other offers of sport entertainment . Moronic commentators, lack of consistency in refereeing, endless replays at the expense of continuous play detract from what was a suspenseful , enjoyable contest medium. Congratulations to those involved, you have lost the plot and fans. Go the Reds Ray heathwood
Confucius
Guest
They have all year to prepare the draw and since perhaps early July during negotiations they have known that they had to tie down dates. The 2 are not mutually exclusive...Unless they are fixing the draw to suit certain teams, they can plan each team to play each other once and some twice, set up byes for SOO, plan for regional games etc without having to lock in eaxact dates. So get the gun off your toe...The big Sydney teams and Broncos will always get friday nights in a fixed draw. Negotiations on the SOO deal have been going on for a while but they conveniently announce it in AFL draft week......
Cameron
Roar Guru
Only thing I got to pick on here is Sharks played one Friday night, but i'm clutching at straws. Besides that I completely agree with the NRL taking their sweet ___ time, ensuring the next set draw accommodates teams fairly.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Well I suggest you take the matter up with the experts ,actually preparing the draw.You know the ones,they are called the pros in their field who have been quite explicit in the complexities of the requirements 15th November:-. http://www.nrl.com/the-process-behind-the-draw-tabid/10874/newsid/70374/default.aspx You just shot yourself in the foot,by saying all year they had time to plan,then next comment, since AUGUST 21.Ever thought the clubs were asked to provide their preferences and comments beforehand,the SOO stadium has not yet been announced. Incompetence for wanting the best outcome LOL,to try and accommodate as best as possible , for all the clubs. If any club had a moan about the 2012 draw the Sharks would be well up there, with zero friday nights and more than their share of Mondays.They don't carry on . As Grant stated bullying to rush decisions ,is not the ARLC way.
Cassius
Guest
Can we use another term besides "fixed match scheduling" - it sounds creepy...
Confucius
Guest
They have had all year to plan the draw, they have known since Aug 21 that it was a fixed draw. I assume they need the time to "balance" the draw to favour certain teams eg Storm in 2006, Titans in 2011, stick it to Manly in 2012 etc. Sheer incompetence or worse. The season kicks off in 3 months...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Nothing to do with that Confucius. The Canadian profeessional group with the expertise appointed to set up the season schedule (and they have been involved wth the AFL and NFL),say it is the most complicated system ,they have been involved with. Time factors come into it with teams as far north as Townsville and Auckland,SOO and which teams are likely to have the most players(not easy this far ahead),demands of ch9 and Foxsports,demands of the clubs for better local games to maximise revenue and timeslots,at least one regional game per club each year and where,tests against NZ ( and the player effect),availability of grounds.these are just a few off the top of my noggin. AFAIK the draw will be announced this week.As GWS have made little or no impact in this city,the nonsensical notion they(the ARLC) will delay the announcement til the day the GW draft is announced is full of paranoia.The ARLC will announce it when it is ready,as Grant has stated they are not going to be bullied around by people, to rush to get things done. If the announcement eg falls on Christmas day then it will happen then, if it happens on Guy Fawkes Day so be it,GWS without Folau is the least of their worries now.If it falls on draft day(or tanking result(sic) day) so be it. $1bn plus dollars makes it even more so. So much for the usual flag waver's conspiracy theory.The new commission is actionary(sic) not reactionary.
Confucius
Guest
They have had months to plan the draw - the AFL can get theirs out by mid October and theirs is a fixed draw. I know the NRL wait for the AFL to release their draw so they can put NRL games against the AFL but I will bet they will release the draw around the AFL draft day to blunt the news of GWS getting early draft choices. (they acknowledge this by saying the sports market).
LM040183
Guest
It goes around in circles though. Other clubs will not have a chance to gain new fans because everytime a kid turns on a telly to watch footy, he sees the Broncos or the Dragons week after week. They don't even get a chance to see other teams unless they play the Channel 9 pets, or unless Mum and Dad take them to see a local team (if they have one) at extortionate prices. So we have a whole generation of kids growing up thinking the Channel 9 pets are the teams to follow and everyone else are just alsorans. Take Ben Barba for example. He exploded into the game's most popular player this year on the back of his team getting plenty of free to air time. Guys like Dugan, Jennings, Hurrell etc could be in the same boat except they aren't given the chance.
Lost Earthling
Guest
The Broncos vs Manly Game was part of a double header with the Bulldogs vs Titans. I was also there and would say there was no more then 28700 at that game. There were a few patches of Manly fans throughout the crown but maybe 3300 in total.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Released six hours ago on the Penrith panthers website was a brief statement given by Nathan McGuirk in regards to the fixed match scheduling. “It is an enormous logistical exercise as we match the requests of 16 individual clubs against our contractual obligations, ground availability and the sports market in general,” NRL General Manager of Football Operations, Mr Nathan McGuirk said. “There are 192 individual events to schedule across venues that involve multiple hirers as well as the importance of providing feature Premiership matches and representative games such as State of Origin. "This is the first time the season will be scheduled in advance and it will give clubs and fans more certainty. “20 rounds will be scheduled when the draw is released and the remaining six will be scheduled after round 16. “We are very conscious of the expectation that is building around the draw and believe we will be in a position to release it later this week.” http://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news-display/2013-NRL-Draw-set-for-release-this-week/65817
Die Hard NRL Fan
Guest
Many of the above comments seem to refer to the TV rights deal and the amount of control Nine and Fox have been afforded. People need to remember that both Nine and Fox had the last say on the table due to contract agreements from the previous deal. Now with new deal these rights are gone and will with the next deal allow the NRL to have more control and power to dictate when and who will play games and on what forms of TV.
oikee
Guest
It is funny you should say that Crosscoder. Where i use to work in Brisbane a decade ago, we had a Rabbit fan, a Dogs fan, Rooster supporter and Raiders fans, plus my Dad and Brother are Storm supporters. Then their was 2-3 Broncos supporters as well. So the Broncos even have to out compete against supporters in Brisbane who like Sydney teams and raiders even Melbourne, not to mention the Kiwis fans. The Broncos dont have it all their own way even in Brisbane. They have to fight for every set of eyeballs and fans.
oikee
Guest
No worries Mals, i did not check what the Brumbies record was, or is, my mistake. Apoligise to the Brumbies.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Well they were from your side of the fence,a couple of them from WA.Can't blame some rl geese. The same argument about freebies was used criticising the storm.
Cameron
Roar Guru
So the discussion started by Oikee, you see no relevance when you're more than happy to add to the discussion. Perhaps you should go back and read how this section of commenting led to your summary of catching fish. I am a fan of the Brisbane Broncos and proud of it. You say are we going to start talking about socio-economic factors hmm. Quiet sure you first made reference to populus. And what membership should be at due to population size. Seems like in fishing terms 'i've got a big one' applies very much to you and your maligned view.
Mantis
Roar Guru
Cheers
millane
Guest
maybe these folk who said it was a waste of time hang around those who claim sydney swans crowds are what they are only because of free tickets
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
It could well have .But it didn't include a title which was meaningless to many people.BTW the West Coast Pirates are not in the NRL ATM.So it is really hypothetical. I doubt the code will be trying to gain traction from the WCE they are far too strong.Nor will they try to grab a high profile player.Just do the hard yards. And the GWS colours, had nothing to do with capturing followers of Tigers rl club,one could well argue Funny I was told by many of your mob,that few from the East Coast (such as the miners)would be interested in an NRL club there,that it would be too hard..Matter of fact a couple of you called it a waste of time. Now you tell me,the West coast will induce these miners.I am a tad confused mate.it is either one or the other. If anything I suggest a name like the Perth Diggers or Western Diggers would have been a name more conducive, to make that assessment.That would be tribal. league types ??? A League,Football League? You mean rugby league.You all know? We are tribal.It's a scoop.Better advise our merchandise people.Pro football codes are tribal.