I also find it interesting that the NRL rights negotiations have literally just started and I've already seen multiple AFL fans trying to shoot down the optimism of NRL fans.
Serious question, does the NRL getting a large deal really impact the AFL that much? If anything the NRL leaving Kayo would be bad for the AFL.
NRL fans have every right to be optimistic. The new media rights deals will be huge and bigger than the AFL's. Whatever the media articles are about "oh maybe the NRL won't have that big a deal" have no idea what they're talking about.
I jumped into this thread to just point out the AFL obviously gets more revenue outside of media rights deals, and the AFL in many cases do not care where the revenue comes from in order to be able to spend it for the reason why it exists.
The NRL might have more money via its media rights, but it is competing with the AFL for how cheap they can make participation to increase its numbers. I said this earlier that NRL has done an outstanding job with touch/OzTag. They manage it well, and it keeps people engaged with the sport and its increase in participation genuinely contributed to the increased media engagement that leads to the new media deal.