PRICHARD: In the end, there was plenty of Murdoch money to go around

Well you are the guy who has come to comment on my post, not the other way around. I'm guessing you agree with those figures since you haven't tried to challenge them. My original points were to illustrate how the NRL has dropped off due to poor management - not to belittle the code as a whole Crosscoder, despite what you may think. Unless of course you believe Rupert didn't throw Smith off the top balcony? It's simple maths. Since the last deal the AFL has increased its TV revenue by 65 percent. The NRL has increased its TV revenue by 60 percent. That's not great when your major competitor is driving away from you at a significant rate. You kind of come across as the sheriff of the NRL forums, having to defend against all these comments for some strange reason. The very fact you have commented this much probably means you agree with a lot of what I have said, but feel the need to spin it from another angle. Unfortunately you just can't provide the maths to backup your argument. Anyway, it's been nice chatting nonetheless. BTW - I live in Sydney.

MF It is indeed good money and is needed not only to placate NRL clubs,some of whom are not exactly money managers,but grassroots development. .However my concerns still revolve around the 6pm Friday game,and the 5 day turnarounds. Expansion IMO would assist in alleviating these genuine concerns.

Rick.I'm not going to waste any more time tooing and froing with an AFL fan ,with a D measuring contest. Suffice to say I have shown since the debacle of the Gallop years,the gap between the two codes as to TV digital revenue has closed .The latest deal for the NRL still not fully complete shows thus. The 2nd point whilst one acknowledges the NRL admin ,gets it wrong on occasions,"billy goats" ,so does your code's admin.I gave examples. I wish now to concentrate my efforts on commenting on rl tabs with people who follow the code,not people from the south , whose sole purpose is to promote by intrusion their"look at me" code.

Out of curiosity, I tried this - although it's a bit complicated because of the high value three SOOs and Kangaroos games have - so I'm not really sure how to account for that - also, will the NRL season be reduced to 25 rounds? (AFL is effectively 22 rounds). So the AFL is getting $2.508B over 6 years or $418M per annum, There are 22 x 9 = 198 home and away games plus 9 finals = 207 games 418M/207 games = $2.02M per game NRL is getting (approx) $1.9B over 5 years or $380M per annum There will be 25 x 8 = 200 home and away games plus finals = 209 games 380M/209 games = $1.82M per game AFL telecasts go for 3 hours NRL telecasts go for 2 hours AFL has match day squad of 22 NRL has a match day squad of 17 so NRL money looks pretty good when viewed that way all in all, they are massive deals and all that remains is for the broadcasters to stump up the money when it's due

Do people think that the 6pm timeslot will be an opportunity for the NRL to have more double headers on Friday nights?

I just went back to double check the 2012 deal, and realised the digital rights were not part of the 1.025 billion deal. Telstra paid 100 million on top of this. The AFL 2012 deal included the digital rights. That means the 2012 NRL deal was around 1.125 billion pa excluding the NZ rights. Correct me if I'm wrong there, so that means the rights were 225 million pa for the last NRL deal. Let me know if those numbers are not correct.

Not sure where you got the $414 mill for the AFL from, but if you can provide the maths as evidence, that would be great. Not sure where you got the $390-400 mill for the NRL either, other than adding in the NZ TV rights, which u don't know. Considering we are trying to keep it factual, you might want to show us where you got those numbers from. AFL is 418 mill vs NRL 360 million is my understanding at present per year. The NRL's combined TV rights (including NZ) was around 1.125, which puts you at 225 million a year. Correct me if I'm wrong there though. I'm guessing you are going to get around 100 mill for the NZ TV rights, which would put you at around $380 mill a year. If so, you have fallen off the pace. That's my entire point. The AFL also has greater FTA coverage, which it didn't have to sell off to save-face like the NRL did. It still has its day GF, which it will most certainly move to a day-night GF for extra revenue one suspects. Origin is the main area that is keeping the price high, but I believe it's going to hurt the NRL moving forward. You can either agree with that or not, but that's how it looks when you start reading between the lines.

Semantics!!! Facts Rick just facts,please don't deflect Another example. In 2013 the 5 year deal for the NRL: est @ $220m pa the 5 year deal for the AGFL best $250m pa In 2015 6 year AFL est $414m pa 5 year NRL $390-400m pa I notice a trend via the differences. You had no qualms calling the NRL run by billy goats.These "billy goats " sorted out the ASADA problem quickly enough,hence the reason for my input..To the point the former head of ASADA("Andruiska" ) in this country described the NRL,s action and due process as being professional by comparison to that of the AFL.Not my words. You left yourself open by bagging the NRL admin generally nothing to do with Tv rights , expect a response by spelling the flaws in your code's admin,citing two examples.If you had not made comments about the admin,I would not have responded. No padding although it appears brief compared to your short story.I reiterate the fact's were all there when Essendon/Little/the Admin etc were going at it to and fro.It's still under a cloud.Whereas the "billy goats" of the NRL have now a clear passage,as do their players involved as well as the long suffering fans.Vlad certainly got out at the right time. As for under " pressure "both codes were under pressure to clear then decks.

I thought I replied to this yesterday but it must've gotten lost. See my problem with watching at the local is that I'll end up talking to my mates and miss most of the game, then I'll run into a mate I haven't seen for years and we'll end up at the bar doing shots until midnight and I have to get up at five. Then the missus has got attitude, I've got a sore head and my wallet is much lighter. Much better for my relationship, my health and finances if I just stay home. In other words, no, I don't have any control. And the radio isn't so bad.

My local

Ahh...so we are going to play on semantics now Crosscoder. Okay then. The last two deals are the ones just signed and the one before it, not the one Gallop was involved in. There is no improvement when we compare these last two deals as I have suggested. End of discussion here, and you know it. "A NRL lobby group who pushes govt to extract funding for new stadiums/infrastructure.Never happened in the past by rugby league officialdom.New stadiums to be built in Sydney and NTH Qld" I think you will find you're a long way off the pace here when it comes to ripping off state governments and infrastructure spending. The AFL are king here, not saying this is a good thing, you mentioning it though is pretty funny nonetheless. This has nothing to do with the TV rights deal either. "Perhaps try the area of racism,where the NRL is well ahead on dealing with the issue" I'm not exactly sure how this has come up when we are talking about TV rights also, but good on you for padding your argument with a subjective opinion there that can in no way be backed up with any credible data. Good job champ! "and sorted out the ASADA dramas,and where oh where is Essendon placed at this stage 12 months later?The Indians still running around the reservation,wondering what the big chiefs will be doing next." ...again has nothing to do with anything me are discussing; however, I can use it to strengthen my argument even further about the weak nature of both the NRL and some of the clubs within. The AFL handed down quite stiff penalties to the EFC, and has nothing to do with them the fact this investigation is still going on. Many blame ASADA, many blame the EFC, but not many the AFL with regards to the length of the investigation. Think about it logically for a second. What has the AFL got to do with James Hird appealing (he hates the AFL), along with the EFC, resulting in the investigation being stalled by nearly a year? What has the AFL got to do with WADA deciding to appeal the independent tribunal finding, which in all likelihood will result in the same outcome? You're padding your argument here, because you know I'm right on every count of my original points. The NRL and the CFC essentially laid down to pressure. They didn't have the resources like the EFC has to fight the charges, so they took a guilty plea, despite many still believing they are innocent. Some call that a smart decision, some call it weak. I call it a bit of both, but if they were innocent, we will never know now will we?

Aren't both games 80 minutes?, but there is far more stoppages and breaks in AFL so the broadcast goes for significantly longer.

Perhaps try the area of racism,where the NRL is well ahead on dealing with the issue.Judging by the fans' treatment of Goodes and the slow head office response.The comments of Eddie and the Dipper in the past are hardly helping the problem. You asked the question," remind me where the NRL has closed the gap?".I quite easily showed you where by drawing comparisons of the deal circa Gallopp and the AFL.to those of today.The current deal is very close when all comes out. Can't be any clearer,just remove the blinkers.Mathematician not needed.

"Compare the deal Ricky circa Gallop $500m over 6 years compared to AFL $780m over 5 years,with today’s situation.If one cannot understand the monetary disparity then and now,sorry I can’t rustle up a Math’s tutor." That's not their last deal. Sorry I can't rustle up an English tutor.

Compare the deal Ricky circa Gallop $500m over 6 years compared to AFL $780m over 5 years,with today's situation.If one cannot understand the monetary disparity then and now,sorry I can't rustle up a Math's tutor. A NRL lobby group who pushes govt to extract funding for new stadiums/infrastructure.Never happened in the past by rugby league officialdom.New stadiums to be built in Sydney and NTH Qld. A competent admin who handled ASADA with aplomb and followed the rules,against one which was a mish mash of claim and counterclaim and still ongoing. .Next question!!!

The one big advantage that league has over AFL is its global interest. Its limited but it is there and there is massive potential here. The Poms have struggled for over a century against Rugby Union's cast iron grip on the media, something that has severely undermined Leagues growth in the foundation country. But digital streaming could change all that. NZ is starting to embrace League like never before. The Nines is a wonderful event and more teams are staging games across the country. Their No1 Nation tag will do them no harm. The British government has stood up and backed a 2022 world Cup in England. A move that has been neigh unheard of in the past. More nations are gaining an interest in the sport including the USA and Russia. Fledgling yes but a heck of a lot more significant presence that AFL and with massive potential. Origin itself is huge and is something that has considerable interest overseas whilst a dedicated NRL channel could see increased interest in Superleague and the Challenge Cup. With all the problems of poor administration, under funding and media control fading into the background, I think that many an AFL fan may be wary of this waking giant.

given the vitriol in Newscorp media against the NRL leadership in recent weeks, can you imagine what would have happened if fox had lost the deal ? The Daily Telegraph would have been demanding Grant to be publicly flogged.

With the way the media is going this may be the last pay tv deal for both codes in this country.. Rupert has done his best to slow down the inevitable but the ability to watch what you want when you want on a faster internet connection for a 5th of the price will eventually outweigh his media and government influence... For all the knocking of dave smith by news (which became unbearable and astoundingly obvious via terrible journalism, eg rottingfield & that woman who's daddy made her a journalist) he did a remarkable job setting up this deal & if only they let him stick it out I believe it would have been better. He knew that the way television is being delivered is changing at a remarkable rate and in 7 years I very much doubt Foxtel will be able to validate any channels except it's sports ones.. He was starting to set nrl up so that pay tv needed nrl more then the nrl needed it. The code that takes the risk and ventures on to its own media platform first I believe will win in the future. Hopefully the "help" news has promised will stop them from tearing the game apart through their media outlets when rupert has a tantrum again. He has a lot of money, but so do Google, Netflix and Optus I'd dare say.

Who cares Dick. You are a partisan Victorian Rules fanboy. Please go back to talking to your fellow captive mates on the other thread. There you can furiously agree, nod in unison and exalt in the perceived power of Gilligan and the citadel game of Victorian Rules.

Remind me again where the NRL has closed the gap?