pHyR3
Juniors
- Messages
- 955
Just letting you know this is going to be a very long post.
The NRL needs to sort out quite a few things at the moment. The biggest in my opinion is the amount of power Ch 9 has over scheduling. It is holding back crowds which are crucial for the game to flourish and attain far more legitimacy.
TV
The current deal is pegged at $1.2 billion including Fox, Ch 9, digital and NZ deals.
I think that instead of going for as much money as possible (which is what gallop did and was something the game needed to compete with SL and union) the NRL should go for a modest amount of around $1.2-1.3 billion with 18 teams. So in reality, it would be cheaper since more footy is being broadcast and it's 5 years on so inflation would up the price anyway.
BUT, the NRL would take back significant power from the broadcasters allowing far better scheduling. Scheduling should involve 2 Friday night games, 3 Saturday games. 1 at 2-3pm, 1 at around 5 and 1 at 7:30pm. 4 Sunday games, 1-2pm, 3pm, 5:00pm and 7:00pm. NO MONDAY NIGHT GAMES. Crowds must be put above all else, this is what the AFL has done and now they can start to focus on TV deals since crowds are fine.
Also, I think that instead of giving certain games to certain channels. Every game should be live (obviously) and simulcast across Fox and a FTA channel, maybe even split up the FTA with 4 games to nine and 5 games to seven/ten (or whatever works). What simulcasting does is it offers people who have foxtel to watch every game on foxtel in HD and also with all that iQ stuff im guessing. Also, double the chance of casual viewers of flicking onto the game and watching.
The second and more important thing it does, is it creates competition between networks. This means any more BS ray warren on 9, boom everyones watching digital foxtel stream or on foxtel. So the quality of broadcasting would probably increase and become more professional. Also, it means that neither channel has a monopoly over the broadcast so they have to advertise the crap out of it if they want good ratings. Same should be done for radio, i quite like triple M over ABC grandstand (which is still good).
I understand that the deal would take a big hit if this happened, and if we sold out the game and expanded we could probably get $1.6 billion or so. But, playing to the consumer's is so much more important right now. If we do that, in the long term the crowds and viewers will flock to NRL and consequently so will sponsors and broadcast deals and we can get maybe $2 billion in 10-15 years.
Crowds
Crowds is a lot more difficult to fix, but there are a few major issues that need to be sorted.
First i've already covered is the scheduling.
second is prices. The NRL needs to create some kind of standard or guideline for GA prices to never exceed $25 incl. booking fee. Create similar limits for reserved (im not on what is reasonable as i always go GA). Again, limit prices of food items and drinks.
Next, begin the shift to bigger stadiums. Parra should play out of Parramatta, Tigers, Dogs out of ANZ, Souths and Roosters out of Allianz, Penrith at Sportingbet, Sharks at shark park, manly at brookie (with solid upgrades). Not sure where dragons should go, but they can decide on that themselves i guess.
Provide direct trains to ANZ (done) and also a direct train OUT of ANZ. Not sure if this is done, but some direct buses to and from Allianz would be great too.
Expansion
I'll keep this short. Perth, new Bris team. 18 teams. Source players from perth, PNG, Fiji, NZ and union.
maybe look into divisions. saw some good articles on theroar.com.au about it.
Scheduling
Origin creates a VERY obvious lull in the season. To counter this there needs to be a 5 week break in the season for SOO with 1 week breaks in between.
During this time numerous internationals can be played in Aus, NZ, the islands and even uk/europe. NZ vs England is a must. Also, U20s SOO, U20s Aus vs NZ, Fiji, PNG, Tonga, France, Samoa, RSA etc. should all play during this time. No need for a full comp, but just numerous friendlies for ELO rankings as is often done in union.
Also put a transfer window for clubs to trade players and generate more interest.
This break removes the lull and instead creates a bit of a mini offseason in terms of people not getting their footy fix and generates immense excitement over the run home, who will make the 8, the 4 and minor premiership.
Limit the competition to either 17 rounds with no byes so every team plays each other once, OR around 20 rounds with teams playing teams in their division twice. 17 games messes up the number of home and away games teams get. With 20 rounds this means 180 games (192 at the moment) and will probably increase crowd avgs as there is less NRL out there.
Misc.
Scrap, all stars. Scrap City Country.
Fix the reffing too (easier said than done).
Good rule changes this season, keep this balance of the speed of the game in the future.
The NRL needs to sort out quite a few things at the moment. The biggest in my opinion is the amount of power Ch 9 has over scheduling. It is holding back crowds which are crucial for the game to flourish and attain far more legitimacy.
TV
The current deal is pegged at $1.2 billion including Fox, Ch 9, digital and NZ deals.
I think that instead of going for as much money as possible (which is what gallop did and was something the game needed to compete with SL and union) the NRL should go for a modest amount of around $1.2-1.3 billion with 18 teams. So in reality, it would be cheaper since more footy is being broadcast and it's 5 years on so inflation would up the price anyway.
BUT, the NRL would take back significant power from the broadcasters allowing far better scheduling. Scheduling should involve 2 Friday night games, 3 Saturday games. 1 at 2-3pm, 1 at around 5 and 1 at 7:30pm. 4 Sunday games, 1-2pm, 3pm, 5:00pm and 7:00pm. NO MONDAY NIGHT GAMES. Crowds must be put above all else, this is what the AFL has done and now they can start to focus on TV deals since crowds are fine.
Also, I think that instead of giving certain games to certain channels. Every game should be live (obviously) and simulcast across Fox and a FTA channel, maybe even split up the FTA with 4 games to nine and 5 games to seven/ten (or whatever works). What simulcasting does is it offers people who have foxtel to watch every game on foxtel in HD and also with all that iQ stuff im guessing. Also, double the chance of casual viewers of flicking onto the game and watching.
The second and more important thing it does, is it creates competition between networks. This means any more BS ray warren on 9, boom everyones watching digital foxtel stream or on foxtel. So the quality of broadcasting would probably increase and become more professional. Also, it means that neither channel has a monopoly over the broadcast so they have to advertise the crap out of it if they want good ratings. Same should be done for radio, i quite like triple M over ABC grandstand (which is still good).
I understand that the deal would take a big hit if this happened, and if we sold out the game and expanded we could probably get $1.6 billion or so. But, playing to the consumer's is so much more important right now. If we do that, in the long term the crowds and viewers will flock to NRL and consequently so will sponsors and broadcast deals and we can get maybe $2 billion in 10-15 years.
Crowds
Crowds is a lot more difficult to fix, but there are a few major issues that need to be sorted.
First i've already covered is the scheduling.
second is prices. The NRL needs to create some kind of standard or guideline for GA prices to never exceed $25 incl. booking fee. Create similar limits for reserved (im not on what is reasonable as i always go GA). Again, limit prices of food items and drinks.
Next, begin the shift to bigger stadiums. Parra should play out of Parramatta, Tigers, Dogs out of ANZ, Souths and Roosters out of Allianz, Penrith at Sportingbet, Sharks at shark park, manly at brookie (with solid upgrades). Not sure where dragons should go, but they can decide on that themselves i guess.
Provide direct trains to ANZ (done) and also a direct train OUT of ANZ. Not sure if this is done, but some direct buses to and from Allianz would be great too.
Expansion
I'll keep this short. Perth, new Bris team. 18 teams. Source players from perth, PNG, Fiji, NZ and union.
maybe look into divisions. saw some good articles on theroar.com.au about it.
Scheduling
Origin creates a VERY obvious lull in the season. To counter this there needs to be a 5 week break in the season for SOO with 1 week breaks in between.
During this time numerous internationals can be played in Aus, NZ, the islands and even uk/europe. NZ vs England is a must. Also, U20s SOO, U20s Aus vs NZ, Fiji, PNG, Tonga, France, Samoa, RSA etc. should all play during this time. No need for a full comp, but just numerous friendlies for ELO rankings as is often done in union.
Also put a transfer window for clubs to trade players and generate more interest.
This break removes the lull and instead creates a bit of a mini offseason in terms of people not getting their footy fix and generates immense excitement over the run home, who will make the 8, the 4 and minor premiership.
Limit the competition to either 17 rounds with no byes so every team plays each other once, OR around 20 rounds with teams playing teams in their division twice. 17 games messes up the number of home and away games teams get. With 20 rounds this means 180 games (192 at the moment) and will probably increase crowd avgs as there is less NRL out there.
Misc.
Scrap, all stars. Scrap City Country.
Fix the reffing too (easier said than done).
Good rule changes this season, keep this balance of the speed of the game in the future.
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