‘Dirty’ stars fume at NRL mismanagement - and they’re looking at Todd Greenberg:
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/f4f0915487f83a8c230bbb47e87c9433
Also, a few articles from the Daily Telegraph,
The NRL had its books open, but clubs and players didn’t want to read them
NRL clubs who chose to study headquarters’ finances in a desperate search for funds after the coronavirus pandemic would have a) found no hidden funds, and b) could have examined the books earlier, given they demanded access to NRL financial records some time ago.
Clubs and the Rugby League Players Association protest about a lack of transparency, yet a simple addition of Rugby League Central’s expenses, as detailed on page 125 of the annual report, dated October 31, 2019, would have shown a total expenditure of $182m.
Admittedly, this is an excessive amount, particularly considering the belt-tightening that now envelopes the entire code.
But, as the NRL’s chief financial officer Tony Crawford points out, annual expenses (excluding broadcast contra) were $498m against a plan of $476m, which is a $22m increase. This compares to actual revenue (excluding contra) of $529m, against a plan of $501m, an increase of $28m. So, as Crawford says, “On a surplus view, the NRL outperformed the plan by $6m”.
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There is always devil in the detail, which can be interpreted to suit agendas. For example, the numbers in the statutory accounts in the NRL annual report are higher because they include broadcast contra, but this was not included in the plan numbers.
However, given the turnover of CEOs at NRL clubs, with only half of them in the same job from five years ago, it’s not surprising few have bothered to interpret how much RL Central spends, even apart from considerations about raising their own club revenue. (NRL clubs contribute 29 per cent to the total game revenue pie; AFL clubs 50 per cent).
Another way of looking at the $182m of total NRL expenses in last year’s profit and loss account, or “$500,000 a day” as the Herald has reported it, is to separate operating expenses from costs associated with raising revenue.
As Crawford points out, total NRL operating expenses were $79m and revenue servicing costs, or "cost of goods sold", as accountants term it, was $103m.
Add the two figures – the operating costs of football, referees, welfare, community, integrity, insurance, interest, depreciation etc of $79m, with costs directly correlated to raising revenue of $103m, and it equals $182m.
If you are a club official interested only in how much NRL CEO Todd Greenberg spends on hire cars, or the cost of the diamond ring to Barb Smith, the wife of 400-plus-game player Cameron Smith, you must drill down into the administration expenses.
Call them head office corporate costs, or overheads, if you like, but the annual report shows the total to be $20.342m. This includes the expenses of running the ARL Commission, executive, media, finance, IT, HR, facilities, buildings, government and legal.
The report doesn’t itemise whether Greenberg caught a taxi or called a hire car, or whether Barb’s ring cost $5000 or $15,000 but, Crawford says, administration expenses represent "only 4 per cent of revenue".
So, according to that logic, 96 per cent of expenditure was on everything else. The annual report details this as monies distributed to clubs ($228m), states and affiliates ($48m), development ($40m), running the football department ($25m) and community and player welfare ($17m).
There is another big cost - “event game sponsorship” ($103m), which, as indicated above, is the cost of raising revenue.
Monies spent on the NRL’s digital department, for example, are included in this figure, while the revenue raised from this division is included in broadcast revenue.
NRL clubs asking ARLC chair Peter V’landys to search the books at headquarters to find additional funds to pay their bills could have accessed all this information if they were diligent in detecting any over-spending.
The Herald understands clubs were granted access to accounts on a quarterly basis, although V’landys suspects this was changed to half-yearly meetings.
Calls by the RLPA for greater transparency are risible, given the annual report was published last year and it took this old ex-school teacher only the recent weekend of the coronavirus lockdown to interpret NRL accounts.
Yet the blame game over “where did the [2018-22] $1.8 billion broadcasting money go?” continues, despite only one-and-a-quarter years of the contract being outlaid.
Whether you prefer the NRL “wastes” $182m a year, or spends a sober $20.342m on administration, V’landys says, “the coronavirus crisis has highlighted that the cost structure of the game as a whole is not sustainable and the ARLC will lead by example in significantly reducing its spending on the administration of the game”.
T
he big winners out of $40m survival package
After a fortnight of doom and gloom, NRL clubs have been given a lifeline that has insiders finally confident that all 16 teams will survive the financial bomb detonated by the Coronavirus.
Allaying fears of imminent financial collapse, NRL clubs now claim they can survive another six months — just in time, they pray, for the footy to start.
A $2.5 million payment from the NRL to all 16 clubs on Monday has turned their concern into hope — even optimism — that they can hang on financially until September.
It appears the clubs are at least safe in the short-term.
“It’s now a matter of holding on,” one NRL CEO said.
With prudent spending and continuing cost cuts, officials are adamant they can end fears that several clubs may be pushed into insolvency.
The NRL’s $2.5 million gift covers the club’s monthly grant ($1.185 million) over four months minus player payments, about $900,000 a month.
“It’s the gap clubs now have to run the rest of their business,” another chief executive said.
Carefully spending will be the order of the day.
“It gives us a $2.5 million buffer,” one club CEO said.
“If clubs are diligent, and if they continue ways of stopping expense, whether that’s stopping services that are no longer required, trying to reduce costs, then the money can last, probably closer to six months.
“We are all thinking and hoping the money can last until the resumption of the season.
“Every club is different. Some have money in the bank. But we at least all know now what we are dealing with. We now know what we can go back to our boards and ask for.”
The financial boost comes from existing broadcast money and cash the NRL had in reserve.
“It’s a good result, all clubs are happy,” one CEO said. “It gives us a chance to recover and keep going. It will keep everybody alive for four to six months.”
Clubs are still worried that the money will run out if the competition doesn’t get up and running this year.
They fear one or two clubs could go under.
“There isn’t any additional broadcast money and the NRL’s cash reserves are diminishing significantly,’’ one official said.
“The money is there for now but if there isn’t any footy this season, things will get dire.
“How will clubs raise revenue? There won’t be anything left.
“We just have to play this year — it could mean life or death for some clubs.
“If there’s no money left then there’s no money left. We’re OK for now but let’s all pray the footy is back this year.”
