GoGWS, the big mystery is why Foxtel would allow 4 live FTA games of AFL per weekend. Where is the incentive for people to subscribe to Foxsports/Fox Footy. I hear they are disappointed with take up numbers of Fox Footy. Why would you subscribe when you have 4 FTA games. Who would want to watch anymore? Especially given the length of AFL games.

In contrast league fans have only 1 live FTA games hence Foxsports have a better chance at attracting more subscribers. Should that be the way to go? Just an observation.

Nice try Cattery, the ófficial’ NRL fb page has over 475 thousand followers!!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/nationalrugbyleague

So where is this conclusive evidence about merchandise? On an AFL website. Nothing was released to suggest otherwise. Link?

Von Neumann, there are those out there that think because we don’t have FTA Saturday night NRL, all those ‘potential’ eyes are going to tune into AFL. Well given the ratings for FTA AFL in QLD, NSW, that ain’t happening so far, so it really is a media beatup.

Boy, that song “We’re in the money”sounds great. More so when we are a code with half the running costs of our rival. Wait til the TV deal really kicks in-more promotion, more crowds, it’s only the beginning.

Hamish, your indicator for AFL popularity is soley based on crowd numbers. The NRL facebook page outdoes the AFL, TV ratings outnumber AFL, Sales of Merchandise outdoes the AFL etc etc.

One thing AFL supporters never understand is that there is as many people out there who follow the NRL as AFL but not necessarily attend games hence why the AFL thought Sydney would fall decades ago. There are tones of people out there who are as tied to their team as anyone but have never even been to an NRL game.Hence, the 2 AFL games I have attended (one in WA & one at the MCG) always surprised me as the ‘bogan’ element was eyecatching. The bogan element in league don’t seem to have the money to attend the NRL to such an extent 🙂

If that’s Nine’s thinking, to please the Southern States, then big mistake as the population of NSW & QLD is bigger than the combined other States, so don’t by into that.

Channekl Nine is still and always will be full of AFL loving lackies.

Example, The Sunrise program, and this illustrates 7’s better management, alternates between league & AFL on their sports news. i actually watch this program, not because of AFL, but because I understand 7 have a product to promote but they still have NRL as a lead sports item every 2nd half hour during the Sunrise program.

Nine? Well their Today program in the two times watching last week/on weekend led with AFL each time. On their FB page I “have put 9 on notice, i will give them a second chance, but so far they are failing. Ah back to non -9 programs other than AFL. Added, Wide World of Sports do not even have the decency to advertise that NRL is on GEM for other states. Turn on 7mate, 7two heaps of AFL promotion and directing punters to digital TV for AFL fix in Northern markets.

i dont know why the love affair with AFL but hording league rights with 9? Nine is a fragmented organisation.

Especially when our digital/mobile rights aren’t finalised yet. Vlad made sure that wasn’t mentioned by AFL Tele lackey Neil Cordy.

We still have half the running costs of AFL, 2 less teams, less advertising opportunities, and yet nearly the same amount of money!!

GoGWS, just because the AFL has 4 FTA live games on over a weekend doesn’t mean it’s all great. The quality of AFL is crap compared to NRL. The GWS lost by how many today? GWS attracted how many converts today? More people watching AFL live on FTA will mean more people turn off in the long run because the code cannot sustain 18 teams especially in areas not wanted. The ratings in Northern states already allude to this.

Another thing that newsltd waived was another 50 million the NRL was to pay it over the next 5 years. Waived, gone!

Wow Pete4,you blame the media for portraying soccer in this country in a negative light yet you are glad to trumpet their summation of rugby league and its so-called ‘atrocities’ Go figure. I’m sure all these ‘atrocities’ have & had occured in most football codes. If we dissect the media’s portrayal of these incidents we could find that these occur regularly in daily life. I feel sorry for Nate Miles, because like most hotels, bathrooms are located right near the front door of a room and I too have locked myself out thinking I entered the toilet only to find a quick slamming room door. Luckily it wasn’t early morning and I wasn’t busting but the Telegraph’s portrayal woulds have you think Miles had his stencil out and was doing ‘shit’ art because that’s what league players do.

Again, don’t whinge about ‘soccer’ stereotypes when you are quick to accept league ones.

GoGWS, you forget media rights haven’t been factored in.The cash component for the AFL TV part of the deal by my reckoning is $965 million, the NRL is $925 million by the way. So given the NRL has 2 less clubs, half the running cost, player payments of the AFL it looks great for the NRL.

I watched Manly v Broncos tonight and in the 1st half their was by my remembering, 1 ad (Coles), yes 1 ad. So looking at this, the NRL deal is a miracle and one can understand why Nine can only deal with 1 live game. Give them a break.

Never heard it. Must be a union thing.

I don’t mind guys with Filipino mums or dads representing their country of heritage. If it helps kick start the game there then great. Even after union has been in a nation for decades you still see this happen, so for league to use the same methods then all good. Lebanon is the great (& successful) example of this. The Cedars completed a match v Canada in Toronto recently too (attracted 2500 in the rain as well) and featured on Canadian TV. Who would have imagined? Love the name Volcanoes 🙂

Well Gleeso, this is the deal to attract league fans to the ground. A portion of fans that don’t have foxtel, and those who may not see their team on FTA all that often.

The NRL now has the money to help clubs subsidise ticket prices (we already see slashed memberships by the Titans plus free ones to school kids), the NRL has money to help clubs improve facilities via going to govt and saying here’s 10 million, please add 50 million to this and create employment, opportunities etc for local areas/clubs such as the AFL have done.

I’m excited by this deal. Not perfect (as mentioned nite GF) but future league supporters can now be created in the Southern States (helping a club like the Storm) via better FTA coverage via GEM, a fixed 20 rounds of footy (membership surge here we come), the last 6 rounds of the best of the best games slugging it out for finals footy etc etc etc

Probably watching 3 competitive (most of time) games of NRL on FTA is better than 3 out of 4 (most of the time in 2012) live AFL games which end up being blowout scores. Even AFL fans in Southern States are turning TV’s off with so many blowouts in AFL.

Gyngell said also he will hope the halo affect NRL brings will improve Nine’s bottom line. Doesn’t this also apply to AFL?

You feel a lot of these league personalities opinions are based on what side of the media fence they lay-newsltd or anti newsltd. Matthew Johns is an anomaly as he works for newsltd but still hates Nine, even though they are in partnership for the NRL. I bet Hadley would be spitting chips if he hadn’t suddenly become a nine media darling. Wait til they dump him perhaps.

Go GWS, I think you AFL people are like union people, you think it is through some divine right or intervention that your sport receives favored outcomes. The crux is AFL is very well connected, a favored game of the private school elite no less, and this is very evident in TV deals. I think most AFL people in media put their love of the sport first before their employer.

But overall, when AFL is on our tv’s in pluralistic sporting/football markets, ratings are very ordinary. Actually, given the mega publicity, hide the scandals away coverage it receives, down right pathetic.

In Victoria etc, societies with where AFL has the most protected football environments in the world it is good. But that environment is shrinking. That is why AFL hope to one day have its own media entity, because this protection cannot last forever. Writing is on the wall.

But but, this is a NATIONAL stadium and rugby league is a minority sport?

I’m happy with the status quo as I have fox. But I also like the fixed schedule and we now have secure FTA live/near live coverage of NRL in the Southern States, guaranteed.

This deal ensures the NRL fans need to get off their butts and attend games and now we got the cash we can stimulate improvement of facilities to attract these fans.

I don’t like the the nite GF but ch. 9 paid for it. We have 2 less teams, half the overheads of our rival code and this will give us the cash to be strong and independent and start to take back influence & control of our game faster than we had hoped. It’s good times ahead.

Don’t wish for too much over exposure on FTA. We ain’t used to it and we ain’t of the Southern mentality. Balance will ensure the game goes just right. Sporting bodies around the world may actually shake their heads and wonder how we got such a great deal for little live FTA and imagine what it would be if we did. But that’s not a reality with the way our game is played. I heard American football was very league like in the 40-50’s but accommodated TV to an extent we see the game today, a game that is a novelty outside America in large. Not knocking NFL but we are used to games like league here in Oz, for example.

I just want nine to respect the game more. Listening to fans of the other code, they have similar gripes with 7 about coverage but you cannot fault 7 in its promotion of that code. From Sunrise program to advertising ads en masse on all its channels is impressive. The really heartening stuff is that TV ratings and interest in their game is not matching the tens of millions of contra advertising pumped into NSW/QLD. But I’m more confident of our product 🙂

Boomshanka, we would all like to see live games but TV stations are in the art of business. Unfortunately our game is fast and not many natural ad breaks. We have to accept this. Possibly they will tweak the laws of the game or extend things like scrum breaks, who knows.

Lets just put our heads around this deal, we have doubled our money for the same things. Live sport is a premium and ch 9 haven’t even demanded this given the points above. They can’t, it wouldn’t be economical for them.

I don’t believe in over exposure. We still get 3 games on FTA live or near live. Look at our rival code. We see ads for it during prime, we see it factored into XFactor advertising, bombard bombard bombard but what about TV ratings in the north? Dismal. People start to dislike this. We are not Victorians. We have been brought up on choice.

Has anyone thought that with all this TV money, the NRL will be in a position to strengthen the game, improve facilities, increase crowds etc to a point where it can start to dictate terms like a rival code has achieved?

You know, I think over exposure can be bad for sports. Look at the ratings for our rival code in the Northern states. They have had fantastic coverage of their sport backed by mega contra advertising and ratings are, frankly, deplorable.. I think we should learn to appreciate balance and if we want a wall to wall fix then go for foxsports.

Well Brian, compare memberships and the Storm are out in front, facebook followers ahead of the Rebels. If the Rebels don’t have the consistent success of the Storm their averages will drop further. There is definately more brand awareness of the Storm than Rebels in Victoria. Add the Storm now get FTA coverage via GEM in Victoria this will only put the Storm further in Front.

I can tell you’re a unionite given you spew the same outdated stereotypes about league. You’d be surprised how many Vic born people attend Storm games unlike the UK, NZ, expat northerners, South Africans who make up most Rebels games 🙂

Excuse me Anthony but the weather swept right into the Eastern Suburbs. The weather was relatively tame around homebush and beyond. We got a torrential pour around Allianz and it ruined a 25,000 plus crowd for a lower of the table clash.

The late finish would not have been condusive to the papers reporting of the game for the AFL.

Unbelievable, following the tweets, the stadium is in driving rain & gale force winds yet a few km away at the AFL, they have no rain. Some times I think league is cursed.

20,000 in Perth. Has the Force got a bigger crowd this season?