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Opinion

Will the NRL ever have a prosperous future?

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Roar Guru
1st April, 2020
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In times like these, sport plays second fiddle to the health and economic tragedies of the time.

Still, I recognise the truth. In tough times, sport in Australia has often been a release to such tensions. That is why the current predicament facing rugby league and all professional sports is all the more frustrating.

The National Rugby League is Australia’s second most successful professional sporting league, yet during the current crisis, it has been shown to be anything but professional. Granted, it is not alone in this regard. Rugby union is in debt, and the financial powerhouse that is the Australian Football League has taken a loan to get through the turmoil. Yet, things should not be this grim in rugby league.

After roughly 13 years of joint ownership between the game and News Limited, the Australian Rugby League Commission was meant to right the wrongs of the past and lead the game into a new a prosperous future. Things started well with a five-year, $1 billion rights deal and despite issues at headquarters followed this up with a $1.8 billion deal. All sounded sweet, right?

ANZ Stadium empty

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Obviously, like sharks in the water, everyone started circling for their cut of the catch. It turns out the professional players get 29.5 per cent of the cut and whatever figure that turns out to be, and the clubs get 30 per cent above that. The administrators in headquarters also get compensated and then the funds get handed out to the NSWRL and the QRL. Eventually, when it is all said and done, the NRL gets knocked back from the banks for a $30 million loan to cover a cash shortfall.

Okay, fair enough, the NRL recently posted a $30 million profit, but still you can see the problem, right? As departing South Sydney chief Shane Richardson said in regards to the economic model of the game: “this isn’t sustainable,” which highlights a very important aspect moving forward.

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It does not matter if players and administrators take a 75 per cent pay cut to fall in line with falling revenue. If players still receive 29.5 per cent and clubs 30 per cent above that with head office taking a set percentage, then the game may have cut outlays, but it does not mean it is more economically viable.

I do not want to enter the blame game, but I hope out of this situation the game learns something important. Would it not be prudent in future that with every media rights deal that the first 25 per cent of the value is placed in a future fund and savings. Then, once that has been done, the rest of the spoils get divided up into the set percentages (that are shared equally) between the players, clubs, headquarters and development.

All in all, the game should cater to the fans and it should look after the players, but at the moment it is not about the fans, it’s not about the players, it’s about the game – it’s about survival. I just hope that moving forward, the sport makes the right decisions and that greed does not rule the day.

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