On both sides of the world fans are guessing and predicting with increasing confidence who will win the NRL and the Super League. Both fantastic achievements and then the big question looms…who really is the best in the world?
Of course, it’s the NRL Premiers…but wait – Saints beat them in February.
It has to be the NRL they win it all the time…but do they? The all-time tally currently stands at 14 wins each.
It should be easy to arrange a World Club Challenge every year in February which raises the profile of the sport and is a huge and growing commercial property making an additional contribution to the global rugby league pie.
How hard can it be? Set a date, find a venue (we have two already available in the host clubs), sell the tickets, the commercial and TV rights.
But this is rugby league and these major decisions end up in the wrong hands and because such and such doesn’t fancy it, it doesn’t happen then it gets hard to fit back in the program and years go by without the competition.
Let’s imagine another scenario where decisions were made for the good of the sport. Bear with me as we venture into wonderland.
Let’s assume that a global and valuable event that is commercially successful would be attractive to the sport in general, can the World Club Challenge be that without being in the ‘too hard’ tray?
Well, evidence of taking NRL games on the road to, let’s say Las Vegas, would seem to indicate that the concept is pretty attractive.
Then we have 28 previous iterations of events that will provide definitive empirical evidence to suggest that it does have some legs.
Finally, let’s apply some creative and joined-up thinking by creating this as a commercial joint venture between the NRL and SL.
Create a small company specifically to run this event and to generate the funds to share fairly between the participant clubs and the two leagues.
We know the costs in terms of finance. It’s two teams on long haul for the best part of two weeks but here’s my beer mat maths:
I reckon that with flights, hotels, food, insurance, match day costs and marketing, we are talking around £400k /AUS$765k to stage the game.
Main income sources will be gate receipts, broadcast, commercial and maybe local government support – if we only take gate receipts at £20/$40 per person (which is below average) and attract 15,000 people – we’ve already attracted £300k/AUD$575k.
Add in some hospitality, broadcast rights and a couple of decent sponsors and we are way into excess to re-invest in the project, to grow the project and to share with the rest of the clubs.
So, if it’s not the bucks/quids that are stopping us – what else do we have to overcome? The calendar would be the biggest challenge, but we are already taking time out of the NRL calendar to head over to Las Vegas.
Saints, and plenty previously, have taken the decision that in the long run, it’s worth disrupting their start to the season to take the challenge – so maybe then that argument is one that can be used if you just don’t fancy it.
Maybe it’s too busy and we just don’t have the time. Well by creating a joint venture between the NRL and SL plus the two competing clubs with a level of commitment to make it a success, maybe that is a part solution. Make it a valuable and important priority not a major pain in the backside.
What could it achieve? Well imagine a world where the New Zealand Warriors and the Catalans Dragons could participate or even host a World Club Challenge.
I’m not for one second heading back to the late 1990s and having all the teams cross the world but I can see four teams from four countries playing in well promoted, attractive fixtures that capture the imagination as a positive development.
We might have to consider the “qualification process” but it certainly would not be the first time that pragmatism has trumped competition in a sporting context – I bet Australia would love to be involved in the Ryder Cup if it was on offer.
The main question to answer is: does it add value? I would (obviously given that I’ve wasted my time to get this far…) suggest that it is a valuable addition to the calendar that can provide more income, more viewers, more profile and more sponsors to a sport that is seeking to grow its profile and commerciality.
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