NRL set for massive windfall in new TV deal

We all know they(NRL) didn't mention $800m on the last deal.And it came in at over $1bn. Why the hell would the NRL leak a figure,they not only have little to gain if it comes under,and secondly their ties with News journos are hardly close Rothfield,Wilson. There was speculation on the last TV deals for both AFL & NRL GoGWS.People laughed at the NRL getting more than $800m. Think News journos may be closer to the action if Foxtel and 10 involved than Foxtel /9. From my experience with the NRL admin,they keep their cards close to their5 chest and learning like the Gallop era is rare.

Why not use some of the 70% increase to increase the number of players under the primary salary cap from 25 to 30. This will help to alleviate the "player burnout" situation by enabling coaches to rest players during the year, The alternative is to reduce the number of games, but reducing the number of games will reduce the advertising minutes/dollars and thus the overall amount paid by whoever gets the rights.

Interesting to see if the deal actually comes in at 1.7bn. Not sure if the NRL is behind leaking that number or if they'd be disappointed with the leak before they've inked the deal. I would have thought it is better to finalise the deal and make an official announcement before details are splashed on the back pages. Apart from the money it does seems like a better deal for the fans.

Lol dead right

Keep it Friday to Sunday but saturday day games are silly as thats when people play sport

Any Easts directors work for Foxtel?

Jasper the players are part of the clubs, paying their salaries is the responsibility of the club. Treating them as separate entities is where your logic is going wrong. The clubs effectively get their players and, for most non-Bennett clubs, a significant portion of their coaching staff paid for by the NRL grant - by far their biggest single operating costs. With that out of the equation the clubs can use their merch sales, gates and sponsors to cover their other expenses and hopefully keep their balance sheets in the black.

Think there will be a bit of contra involved if the $1.7bn deal comes to fruition. Understand whilst no firm discussion involved on expansion,there is a clause allowing for such an event,leaving the door open for negotiations . Monday nights is dead in the water form a crowd perspective. Thursday nights is the unknown as it is likely part of the deal. With TV revenue of $340m pa including any contras,and clubs should they get $12m pa =$192. That still leaves a hell of a lot $148m pa for admin and( bear in mind additional NRL admin revenue for sponsorship,SOO and NRL),grassroots,referees,insurance,Men of league,etc When one considers Gallop negotiated nine his words" the best sporting deal in this country" $500 over 6 years,which was absolutely smashed a short time later by the AFL $780m over 5 years ,it is obvious the code had wasted under resourced years.These are part of his admin's legacy.And thankfully those days are over,red rover.

I'm surprised there's no talk of how this can or will fund an insurance scheme for a career ending injury like Alex McKinnon suffered.

you mean channel 10

I reduce the fixed draw back to the first 15 rounds.

I disagree... I watch the better games regardless of when they are on as i have Foxtel. But for those who don't - it would be better if the premier matches were on FTA. The whole point of a fixed draw was for more fans to attend games.... as i said back when the debate was being had - 6 weeks is plenty of time to plan to attend a match.

Interesting... Good cash for the game but what about attracting the fans to the games? Can the NRL take a bit of a hit money wise (they can make it up in ticket sales) and have more day games? Schedule for fans... Friday Night (7:30pm) Saturday (1pm) Saturday (3pm) Saturday (5pm) Saturday (7pm) Sunday (12pm) Sunday (2pm) Sunday (4pm)

I agree with that. Those might be poor games to you but both those clubs have fans who want to see their team on tv.

hear hear. I am sick of reading all that Daily Telegraph rubbish about Dave Smith. He is doing the job we wanted him to do and doing it well. If we still had gallop, we would be accepting 500k and thinking we had done well.

Choice between SD on Nine and HD on Foxsports, I know who wins every time. I will especially enjoy the silence in the Nine commentary when they go off for one of the many ads during the game. I might actually also see some replays all in glorious HD.

You will get used to a fixed draw. Just relax and watch some other teams. In the long run a fixed draw is better for the game and its supporters than letting Nine pick the games every five weeks.

This deal will just about cement average salaries in the NRL as the highest average salaries of any football league in Australia (and perhaps even of any sport).

You could have a broadcasting round that consists of: Thursday 7pm (Nine) Friday 7:45pm (Nine) Saturday 3pm (Fox) Saturday 5:30pm (Fox) Saturday 7:30pm (Fox) Sunday 2pm (Fox) Sunday 4pm (Nine)* Sunday 6:30pm (Fox) *If expansion was to occur, then the ninth game could be played at Sunday 4pm on Nine. Have two games on at the same time catering to both the Sydney and Brisbane markets, just like they do with Friday nights. The second game might be viewed live on channel GEM. The Sunday 6:30pm timeslot, could be a success provided Perth comes in and if the NRL and Fox take advantage of four or five public holiday Mondays across the country. Example, Melbourne has a labour day public holiday in early March. Have Melbourne Storm host a game on a Sunday night, public holiday eve.

Both those clubs deserve FTA coverage but it needs to be better match-ups.... The Cowboys Raiders game last week would've been a better choice for Friday night than the Tigers-storm.