Has Sonny Bill signed with the Wolfpack?

He has other business interests in Toronto , other than living on the largesse of his past business.The expectations and hopes for this hemp product enterprise is but a new one.He is also working on a 3 year deal with Netflix which involves SBW. Remember it was a guy by the name of Perez(who is still involved) who started the Wolfpack up in the first place, and there are other local investors involved. Judging by the amount of Canadian media publicity the club has been receiving in the past and now ,either his ego and or passion or both have been stroked well. He has deals with an airline and hotels to handle visitors and his and overseas players. Perez is behind a consortium pushing for an Ottawa team, to start off in a similar fashion to the Wolfpack. Additionally another group are pushing for a NY franchise.and an agreement could come as early as December with the RFL. My view FWIW ,whilst pushing a certain product is but one aspect for the Wolfpack, the long term view is a Canadian/Yank N/E rl comp. Why telegraph your long term punches, if you're still in the sparring room?

LOL

Look, I understand this is all very exciting times for those with an interest in Rugby League that stretches beyond the NRL. And the games administrators in the relevant regions would be as nuts as Argyle to not panda to his advances. The one alarm bell they may have is his using of the Wolfpack as a vehicle to promote his range of hemp products. How much importance does he place on this strategy and does his commitment to the Wolfpack extend beyond this products success (or lack of)? The one point you raise that you may wish to revisit is your assessment of Argyle. The jury is out on whether he’s an idiot. An assessment of the landscape and how he’s investing suggests he’s doing a pretty good job of fitting the bill. Having the ability to pull a crust out of mining doesn’t say anything about his credentials as a sport administrator. All it’s done is given him a platform to dip his toe into this world, which is a very different one from the one that he’s come from. You’ve asked whether the market has to be big; well if you’re throwing comparatively big dollars in and you’re attempting to operate a sustainable business model then yes, I would suggest it has to be. Or at least there has to be some evidence of some seriously unlocked potential, which personally I don’t see (do 7k crowd averages equate to paying player salaries that run into the millions while representing 4 times their market worth?). It’s a different ballgame if this is Argyle’s ‘play thing’ which is a pursuit many in his pay bracket take pleasure in eg. owning a professional sports team and ‘basking’ in the status and prestige that supposedly comes with that while turning a blind eye to the losses. The concern with this from a rugby league standpoint is how much status and prestige is associated with owning a team in Canada? There are very few professional clubs across all sports that actually run in the black. Will his love run as deep as some of those who invest in soccer clubs with long histories? Put simply, if I were a Wolfpack fan- I’d feel more comfortable about my new team’s longevity if a more sustainable approach was being taken while introducing the team to the top tier, evidenced by headlining strategies that didn’t reek of burning Loonies.

Rob9.The $10m actually includes a share in the ownership of the club, of which the majority shareholder Argyle is prepared to water down his majority holding to bring him on board. And apparently part of the deal will provide SBW a starring role in a Netflix series which the Wolfpack hope will run over 3 seasons. Additionally a new rl Ottawa franchise set up by the former Wolfpack founder Perez has been given conditional approval.Obviously to start in the Pommy lower divisions. And a Pommy promoter is in the throes of establishing a New York City rl franchise again in the lower divisions as a starter. Where this all leads who knows, but I do suggest when the initial decision to enter the Wolfpack in the English lower division initially, everyone laughed.Yet they averaged 7k plus in their early days, despite imported players(which Canadian sports do have in their majors also) and media coverage not only in Canada but even on a couple of occasions in NY. I have recently googled about the possible signing of SBW to check on media reports.What I have gleaned even then was coverage across Canada,BBC News naturally and many South England outlets,Irish Times,South West Guardian Wales, across the Pacific Islands and NZ,Bendigo Advertiser,Murray Valley Standard, hell even the Hepburn Advocate. From a publicity perspective even before a ball point is put to paper, has put the name Toronto Wolfpack in front of many eyes. Again the effect who knows. The market .No doubt the North American consumer market is a big one and naturally not big for rugby league.Does it have to be ?Argyle is not an idiot he made a lot of money in WA and has businesses in Toronto. The aim I suggest is for these guys to create a niche, which certainly Toronto Wolfpack seems to be doing in that city ,as already most of their home games in 2020 are already sold out. The trouble with rugby league over the last century ,they have been either too placid , or introverted to push expansion, yes there have been barriers at times on a couple of occasions, when they tried to do so.Thus it has been marking time. To get wealthy entrepreneurs the likes of Argyle (who has a ru background) prepared to put their dollars in setting up an expansion rl franchise ,promoting it massively ,is something the RFL/ESL should be thankful for.Because as sure as Thurston can kick a Steeden, the RFL/ESL have shown they are incapable of doing so. should be something the code

That’s all very romantic but again, it doesn’t stack up in the real world. What do you think all of these achievements mean to Canadians?? I’d suggest not a lot. The Wolfpack would have been better advised investing in making a Rugby League player out of Colin Kaepernick. Jacko, you’re demonstrating as much business acumen as this cowboy in Toronto. Yes, $10m isn’t a lot compared to what North American ‘stars’ earn.... in big North American sports (you left the last part out). Guess what dictates that? The market! The market for Rugby League in North America (let alone Canada) is not a big one. May be this will put things into perspective for you; do you know what the salary cap is for the CFL- the biggest domestic league in the country next to the NHL? Just over $5m.

My comments are based around what SBW has done in his career and what that brings to the table rather than the $$ he is on....He brings something that cannot be bought....You cant buy WC winners medals because its about the country not about the pay check. You can sort-of buy a NRL premiership but theoretically its got a salary cap that everyone can spend equally.....Super rugby titles cant be bought as the Caps are very stringent so to land SBW at Toronto is landing a man with a history very few.....if any...could equal or better....Brad Thorn is the only other guy who comes close from a Union/League perspective but SBW is extremely unique in his 2 WC wins...His 2 Super rugby titles...His 2 NRL titles plus he has been to the Olympics unfortunately getting injured in the group stage....he has a career based on succeeding and with Netflix being part of the deal there is a good chance that Toronto could make money from him rather than the other way around....but regardless of any of that $10 mil is not a lot for US/Canada sporting stars to earn and I think what they get will be beyond what money can buy as sports people with his record just dont exist...

Jacko, your comparison is void of any sort of logical analysis. Firstly, what would you consider a big annual salary in professional soccer? I think we can agree it would run into the 100’s of millions. In rugby (league and union), it sits at around $1.5m to $2m. The Wolfpack are reportedly paying around 3 times more than that. So if an A League club (assuming we’re in a parallel universe and they had the ability to) paid billions of dollars for the best soccer player in the world (which is effectively the equivalent of what’s going on here), then yes- it would be a bad deal on their behalf. That’s even before you introduce scale and the landscape realities which is what makes this a really bad deal. Soccer has a following and a substantial profile in Australia. Rugby League in Canada does not. It’s effectively an untested and an incredibly under developed market. And suddenly smashing salary records by multiples in such an environment passes as sound business acumen? Me thinks not... Revisit my Baseball hypothetical (which again, is scratchy but has far more relevance than what you’ve brought to the table); assume A-Rod comes out of retirement and hits the Blue Sox roster on the same money being thrown around for SBW. As a side note, this would be a smarter deal than what we’re talking about because the salary isn’t well above and beyond the maximum that the industry has set over time and baseball has considerably more traction in Australia than Rugby League does in Canada. Anyway, despite these more favourable conditions would this represent a wise investment- no. Simply because I highly doubt there’s that sort of potential value to be found in such a minor market. You got to laugh at people’s perception (particularly in Rugby League circles) that if you throw money at something it results in more money or suddenly unlocks mountains of previously unseen potential. It’s just not how things work in the real world.

If Sonny Bill ends up with a big windfall from this, good luck to him. However, and maybe I'm showing a lack of imagination regarding his true worth and I certainly acknowledge total ignorance regarding the club's finances, but any sporting organisation paying well over the odds for a player should set alarm bells ringing regarding the future solvency of that organisation. Sonny Bill might be well advised to get as much of his contract up front and in cash as he can - his employers may not be around for the whole contract term, and any part of his contract that is in equity may be worth very little.

The NRL and Super League don’t need to battle each other to be the biggest rugby league competition on the planet, they need to battle it out to be the biggest rugby competition in the planet.

Again not quite correct clipper.And you appear to be a tad bitter, about the news. I'm sure if business people were prepared to spend up big on your code to start up clubs overseas, you'd be shouting the house down. Whilst Argyle is the main shareholder in the Wolfpack, he has other local people on board as owners.This club in its infancy was supposedly going to get few to attend ,no media following (both incorrect),yet their last match in the lower tier got 9,000. They are getting plenty of Canadian media coverage even prior to the SBW pre announcement news. The businessmen behind this club are also involved in a new product, which will use the Wolfpack brand for promotion. I guess the Suns wouldn't exist without the subsidies either.Neither the Swans in the early years with out the Craig Kimberlys and Willesees also with egos Nor some NRL clubs. Most people may know about AFL in Sydney using your example, but most wouldn't care either. Ironically there are now business people wanting to start up franchises for RL Lower tiers in the UK,to begin in place like Ottawa. New York, and Valencia Spain.

Rob how much would an A-League club pay to get a 2 x WC winner...2 x EPL medal winner and have that same player also win 2 winners medals from a different sport?......Think about that and what it would do for the sport in Aus before running down the deal....Then add in the Netflix deal, which could be paying for the whole contract and it all becomes value for money rather than a cost...

It's a billionaire with an ego - there's a few in the EPL also who get no return on their money. I guess it's like GWS - they wouldn't exist without subsidies, but at least people in Sydney know AFL - most in Canada wouldn't know the difference between Rugby and league, and most wouldn't care about either.

I did read where the Toronto bosses have been inundated with calls from NRL players and managers so its created a reaction already and players are already willing to leave the NRL to play OS for the right kind of club

Codehopper, what a quaint little expression . I think it dates back to 1908 , ahh ! those were the days.

The owners and management know who he is, and that is that really matters .

And they are showing our inward looking NRL Management a thing or two as well. Forget tribal, forget Sydney think Global.

And on what basis to you make that conclusion ? Sonny is worth whatever value Toronto can extract from him and the Netflix thing could be huge.

They will know who he is by the 3rd installment on Netflix and be avid fans by the end of season one. There is a lot more going on over there than the simple signing of a Rugby League player. Superb to watch and I wish them every success. If just 1 percent of this passes on to the established SL clubs it will be brilliant.

From a business standpoint, this deal makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It’s effectively torching money. At best, they’re paying overs by about $7m. Assuming you’re paying Sonny $3m for his onfield worth, do they really expect to get $7m of value in terms of promotion from this signing? I highly doubt it. A really rough equivalent is the Australia Baseball League’s Sydney Blue Sox signing a veteran MLB star on a multi million $ deal. Yea there’s some buzz in the media and yea you get a few more through the gate early on to see what the fuss is all about. But is the ‘splash effect’ really worth millions of $ for a niche sport with a minuscule following on the sporting landscape? Even that’s not a great analogy because Australia has a more significant baseball scene and the sport is far more visible than Rugby League is in Canada. Not to mention the fact that there will be more Australians familiar an MLB equivalent than there are Canadians who have heard of SBW. Good on them for having a crack, it’s just a brainless crack. All for goin after a marquee player but why pay 3 times more than you’d need to? A $3m deal would have had the capacity to pull a big name with an almost identical impact. The best part being that you’d still have $7m in the bank for the sustainable and strategic promotion of your club. It’ll be interesting to see where the Wolfpack are in 2 years and whether they will have received $10m worth of onfield and promotional value from this play.

Beyond excited to see Sonny Bill with the Wolfpack! TWP have been cracking more and more into the crowded Canadian sports landscape and this move has opened up so many more eyes about League over here!