Big Mick lining up for the Panthers!
A Letter to John Grant
Dear John Grant,
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on securing the immediate future of the NRL with a $1b television rights deal between incumbents Fox & Nine.
Understanding that you would be receiving many e-mails regarding on the potential spending of the TV rights deal, please find below some initiatives I believe will improve the NRL on & off the football field.
International adoption program:
Improving the international product through NRL clubs each being allocated a developing nation. Allocated based on number of juniors & number of participants in countries competition.
2 players in that country developed by NRL club are exempt from salary cap as long as player remains playing for that country and does not divert to Australian to play SOO. If that is done, cap penalty would be salary charged at 150% for cap purposes.
Benefit would be to improve international game as well as expanding NRL player base to cater for further expansion of the game to other areas including Perth, Adelaide & Wellington.
Improvement of salary cap compensation:
On top of the salary cap increasing to potentially $5-6m, there is potential to expand concessions outside of the cap:
o Payments made to rookies temporarily promoted to NRL to replace a player transferred to long term injury list.
o Payments made to marquee players for marketing & promotional purposes allowing NRL to top up contracts to high profile players.
o Living expenses & relocation expenses for players moving out of usual home for period of time.
o Introduction of veteran list NRL clubs can nominate up to 4 players per year to be included on veteran list (10 year player for club). No restriction on total number however allocated per player (i.e. 1 player 100% dispensation, 2 players 50% dispensation etc).
Restructuring of Representative schedule:
During the State of Origin series, there is a 4-week knock-out mid-season competition. This competition would be under the banner of a new sponsor with prize money of $250k to be distributed to the players.
The games would not be played in traditional areas. Some games to be played in potential expansion areas, in the country and also internationally to expose the game to new boundaries.
To go along with the final game of the Origin Series the final of the knock out competition would be held on the Friday night. On the Saturday there would be the NYC Origin game. Then the finale would be the Origin game on Sunday, creating a festival like atmosphere.
New media opportunities:
Implementing initiatives championed by the NFL, there are a number of opportunities to explore.
Firstly, the creation of NRL Films, a strong investment which would offer additional programming opportunities to TV stations, offering greater exposure to the NRL players & coaches as well as greater online media opportunities.
New TV programs would include:
o Hard Knocks A program which goes inside one teams pre-season preparation over 6 weeks. Unprecedented access to coaches, players & allowing public to see new side to players.
o NRL Total Access A daily NRL program for 1 hour discussing the days issues, the teams, profiling players & giving opportunities to former players to train broadcast skills.
Creating a better Game Day experience for NRL fans
Supporters of the game have long felt that value for money at the football does now no longer exist. This is primarily due to cost of tickets + food but there is also a lack of value for money in the football product.
A National Reserve Grade competition would bring in additional viewers & an appropriate pathway for players that do not progress directly from NYC.
The Reserve Grade & Toyota Cup would be played prior to the NRL game allowing fans to experience 3 games once again.
A new ticket package that would offer families 50% off admittance as well as food packages as a pre-purchase which could be purchased in advance of the game at a cheaper rate than when purchased at the game.
For every away fixture the first 5,000 season ticket holders of the away team will be able to apply for free admittance boosting membership incentive, attendance and concession sales.
Apologies for the length of the e-mail Mr Grant, however, it was necessary to provide enough detail that an image for the initiatives could be created. I certainly hope you take some of the initiatives on board in moving the game to the position where it should be domestically and Internationally.
Kindest Regards,
Michael
745 words OWC