What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

NRL Digital Arm

Messages
13,793
Not sure if this is the right section, so to Mods/Admin, feel free to move it if need be.

The following was published today by the Sydney Morning Herald (of all places it was in the business section of the printed paper)-

ARLC chairman Peter V'landys backs NRL digital arm
Zoe Samios
March 2, 2020 — 12.00am

The head of the National Rugby League's governing body says the sport will continue to grow its digital arm, cooling speculation the organisation may roll back the department or sell it to commercial partners.

Peter V'landys, ARL Commission chairman, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the NRL remains committed to its digital division and is focused on improving its offerings to promote the game and grow its fan base.

"We are focused on improving and expanding the digital services that we provide – enabling and supporting the game and the businesses of the game’s partners," Mr V'landys said. "Our digital network can help us grow our fan base, improve our engagement with fans and ensure our game is sustainable and growing."

NRL Digital Network officially launched in 2018 after the organisation took control of its digital assets from Telstra, an arrangement formed under the terms of its $1 billion broadcasting rights deal with Nine Entertainment Co and Foxtel.

The deal was a significant change in strategy for the sport, and involved the NRL and its clubs investing money in digital rather than outsourcing it to media partners. The AFL has a similar arrangement in place through its division, AFL Media.

Sources close to the NRL who spoke on the condition of anonymity say the NRL has been facing pressure from Foxtel, which is controlled by News Corp, and Nine, which is the owner of this masthead, over its digital operations. The media companies paid significant amounts for the broadcast rights and argue the NRL's digital network is in direct competition with their own digital offerings.

The two broadcasters are in the third year of a five-year $1.8 billion deal, but chairman V'landys has promised a "better result" for the sport in the next negotiations.

Last week Mr V'landys dined with Fox Corp executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch in the US, and met with Google, Facebook and Amazon, fanning speculation that talks over the next broadcast rights deal have informally begun.

Nine has publicly spoken about its preference to have all broadcasting rights to a sport, including digital rights, as is the case in its deal with Tennis Australia for the Australian Open tournament. The NRL has previously had a fractious relationship with News Corp, with its papers at times critical of boss Todd Greenberg.


At face value the NRL Digital Network looks like a website, NRL.com. However, the division is far more complex, made up of five parts including NRL.com, and sites and apps for the competition's 16 teams.

It employs 80 staff, including a product and technology arm with designers, developers and engineers who ensure the digital products work for fans. It has a media services division which handles game archives and images taken at matches, digital marketing and social media, and a data and insights team.

It also controversially employs journalists who cover matches and interview players and coaches.

National Rugby League's chief digital officer Alex Alderson, who runs the division, said it is the "cheerleader for the live game".

"It is a significant investment that the game has made but we are seeing the benefits of that," Mr Alderson said of the project, which is currently being injected with $150 million over seven years.


The NRL.com editorial team is small but Mr Alderson said it is one of the more important parts of the operation.

“NRL.com is a critical part of what digital does ... it’s a critical part of the overall business," Mr Alderson said. "The journalists who work for us have all signed up to an editorial framework. We really emphasise fairness, accuracy, balance. What’s imperative for us is that fans trust us so that guide is what we do.”

As of the end of 2019, NRL Digital Network has 1.4 million registered user accounts, well ahead of the 2022 target of 800,000. It has more than 2.8 million weekly average users a week and its biggest audience are under-18s. Club and state websites and applications also grew 30 per cent last year.

An audit from November last year shows the digital business is quite the success story. It could double in value in the next two years to just under $1 billion, based on revenue from direct advertising, sponsorship, sales and broadcast.

Mr Alderson said the network remains focused on working with Foxtel and Nine to strike the right balance.

"The largest opportunity among many that presents is to talk to them about tuning into the live game," he said. "That’s the lifeblood of the sport and the economics of the sport. Helping the audience engage with the live matches quickly and as easily as they can when it's on is a big part of why we exist. That involves a range of work and collaboration with both Nine and Foxtel to get that right.”

Hope that Mr V'landys holds firm against Nine and Fox on this one
 

Diesel

Coach
Messages
19,918
Sounds positive as long as Nine/Fox/Telstra don’t try to take it off their hands
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
31,835
Does NRL digital cover watchnrl.com, the offical overseas streaming site/app? I’d be f**king devastated if that got removed or taken over by Nine
 

Mr Angry

Not a Referee
Messages
51,764
lol

One the worst sites. nrl.com.

How do they get paid?

Really, the most over paid, wannabes ever.

Shyte service.
 

Last Week

Bench
Messages
3,642
This was John Grants baby. But, I thought he was all that was wrong with the game? Him and Dave Smith.
 

wazdog

Juniors
Messages
377
Does NRL digital cover watchnrl.com, the offical overseas streaming site/app? I’d be f**king devastated if that got removed or taken over by Nine

Pretty certain it does. Watch NRL is a partnership between the NRL, Fox Sports and Fox Sports StreamCo.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Be interesting to see if they eventually go to their own live streaming service for games. I suspect with fox users switching increasingly to Kayo that news ltd won’t want it to happen.
 

Mr Angry

Not a Referee
Messages
51,764
I watched some nrl.com stream during the trials.

A survey kept popping up on the right side of my screen, asked a few questions, but there was no way for me to say ok or submit, my only choice was to close it.

They are probably wondering we they got f**k all feedback.

It is a sad website, always has been.
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

First Grade
Messages
9,124
I watched some nrl.com stream during the trials.

A survey kept popping up on the right side of my screen, asked a few questions, but there was no way for me to say ok or submit, my only choice was to close it.

They are probably wondering we they got f**k all feedback.

It is a sad website, always has been.

The articles are basically the same, but the video department is DEFINITELY improving
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

First Grade
Messages
9,124
Not sure if this is the right section, so to Mods/Admin, feel free to move it if need be.

The following was published today by the Sydney Morning Herald (of all places it was in the business section of the printed paper)-

Hope that Mr V'landys holds firm against Nine and Fox on this one

I have always been suspicious about articles claiming Vlad wants to get rid of the Digital department....

For one thing, there are 7 other Commissioners who were there for the creation. Vlad isnt a dictator, he would need all of them to agree to tear the f*cker apart which I just dont see happening.

It seems more like the media groups who were against this wanted to put the idea out there hoping that Vlad might take it up and do what they want. He would be paid with massive amounts of good press from them, so i would understand the strategy and the appeal on his part
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Last year digital revenue was $24mill. Costs to run unknown. I suppose if someone offered significantly more than this you’d be silly not to consider it.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
An audit from November last year shows the digital business is quite the success story. It could double in value in the next two years to just under $1 billion, based on revenue from direct advertising, sponsorship, sales and broadcast.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/com...ys-backs-nrl-digital-arm-20200221-p5436u.html

Whose going to spend a $billion on a $24mill annual revenue with significantly less profit margin? Let’s be generous and say it makes $10mill profit a year, that’s a lot of years to get a return lol.
 

tri_colours

Juniors
Messages
1,812
Whose going to spend a $billion on a $24mill annual revenue with significantly less profit margin? Let’s be generous and say it makes $10mill profit a year, that’s a lot of years to get a return lol.

We all know why your so bitterly against it PR, Understandable, the article must be very embarrassing. LoL
 
Last edited:

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
We all know why your so bitterly against it PR, Understandable, the article must be very embarrassing. LoL

nice avoidance of the topic, can you explain how something of that level of revenue/profit can have a value of $1billion?
 

tri_colours

Juniors
Messages
1,812
I wasn't avoiding anything. I would assume this auditor has better credentials and could give a better evaluation than some one sitting in front of a computer.
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
I wasn't avoiding anything. I would assume this auditor has better credentials and could give a better evaluation than some one sitting in front of a computer.

take a punt, how would you see a service bringing in the amount digital does being worth $1billion? Short of dropping fox and putting games on digital it can’t possibly. If you can think of anyway it can be I’m all ears.
The actual article in the smh says it “could” be worth $1billion “eventually” lol
 

tri_colours

Juniors
Messages
1,812
take a punt, how would you see a service bringing in the amount digital does being worth $1billion? Short of dropping fox and putting games on digital it can’t possibly. If you can think of anyway it can be I’m all ears.
The actual article in the smh says it “could” be worth $1billion “eventually” lol

It has uses in a number of areas and there is little doubt it could be adapted for more. the time frame mentioned was 2 years, not some time in the future or eventually. And if yearly revenue contiunues to double the way it has who knows.

You've basically answered your own question . At the next right negotiation a fox competitor, like this could force it into paying extra .

Something like this could also be relevant -

https://www.cmo.com.au/article/671541/digital-story-behind-hisense-nrl-sponsorship-agreement/

Who knows,
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

First Grade
Messages
9,124
take a punt, how would you see a service bringing in the amount digital does being worth $1billion? Short of dropping fox and putting games on digital it can’t possibly. If you can think of anyway it can be I’m all ears.
The actual article in the smh says it “could” be worth $1billion “eventually” lol

Ok, ill have a crack...

Valuing a company is pretty tough. A good place to start is a regular dividend-paying company. Their value is about 20x their annual profit. So that rule would put NRL Digital at about $200mil. Except that is for an established company that isnt expecting above-trend growth.

NRL Digital has only been around for what, 5 years? And they are already profitable which is incredible for a tech company. They have massive growth potential (i am pretty sure i remember DSmith a few years ago putting the number of people with at least a passing interest in NRL at 7 million).

Then we consider that digital providers have a massive marginal profit for additional users. Since the content is already made, 100% of the money for one additional coster goes to profits. So as NRL Digital becomes more popular, costs wont go up.

Finally, NRL Digital will have a much easier time monetizing their content than, for example, an online newspaper. Beyond the advertising revenue, they can also advertise their own products for free (with individual costumer info, this will be huge for ticketing and merch sales). And this isnt even mentioning that NRL could take their game broadcasting inhouse and go for total vertical integration (thanks to fox customers are already used to paying to watch football, so they wont be shocked when the NRL is charging for the streaming service)

So yeh, based on current trends, recent performance and all of the potential infront of them, i think $1bil would be a fair calculation....
 

Latest posts

Top