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18th club, whose next?

Nuke

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
5,357
Ooh, I don't mind that one at all! Even including the black fingerprints / fur patterns in the bottom red chevron.
 

Red&BlackBear

First Grade
Messages
5,425
Better get used to it. That one there is my design, but I'm told it is very close to what they were tweaking to be their final design.
It’ll be a mix of the IP logo and Bears proposed logo. Just so happens your logo is fairly close to it. Which is pretty cool. Some synergy in what the expectation should be. Even if it’s coincidental. I’m expecting elements of yours added to it. “Someone” sent it to Norths side. Credit was given, real name and all.
 
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Matt_CBY

Juniors
Messages
1,485
It’ll be a mix of the IP logo and Bears proposed logo. Just so happens your logo is fairly close to it. Which is pretty cool. Some synergy in what the expectation should be. Even if it’s coincidental. I’m expecting elements of yours added to it. “Someone” sent it to Norths side. Credit was given, real name and all.
What was the bears proposed logo?
 

Nuke

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
5,357
It’ll be a mix of the IP logo and Bears proposed logo. Just so happens your logo is fairly close to it. Which is pretty cool. Some synergy in what the expectation should be. Even if it’s coincidental. I’m expecting elements of yours added to it. “Someone” sent it to Norths side. Credit was given, real name and all.
That's both sides then! I know the few variations I sent to the WA side were also forwarded onto Peter Cumins too.
 

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
33,552

League Unlimited News

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
8,675

EXPANSION CONCERNS

The NRL’s expansion plans are not going as smoothly as anticipated.

There was an independent commission meeting last week to look at the initial bids and proposals from the organisations wanting to become the 18th, 19th and 20th teams.

We’re reliably informed that outside of PNG, the other bids have fallen short – even the Western Bears. They have much work to do to convince the commission they deserve a license.

No team will get a start until the NRL has rock-solid evidence they will be financially viable.
 

Vlad59

Bench
Messages
4,048

EXPANSION CONCERNS

The NRL’s expansion plans are not going as smoothly as anticipated.

There was an independent commission meeting last week to look at the initial bids and proposals from the organisations wanting to become the 18th, 19th and 20th teams.

We’re reliably informed that outside of PNG, the other bids have fallen short – even the Western Bears. They have much work to do to convince the commission they deserve a license.

No team will get a start until the NRL has rock-solid evidence they will be financially viable.
That’s a massive blob of news
 

Gobsmacked

Bench
Messages
3,120

EXPANSION CONCERNS

The NRL’s expansion plans are not going as smoothly as anticipated.

There was an independent commission meeting last week to look at the initial bids and proposals from the organisations wanting to become the 18th, 19th and 20th teams.

We’re reliably informed that outside of PNG, the other bids have fallen short – even the Western Bears. They have much work to do to convince the commission they deserve a license.

No team will get a start until the NRL has rock-solid evidence they will be financially viable.
Singleton cleans ash tray...
Looks like a mad scramble to secure a backer..
 

Matt_CBY

Juniors
Messages
1,485

EXPANSION CONCERNS

The NRL’s expansion plans are not going as smoothly as anticipated.

There was an independent commission meeting last week to look at the initial bids and proposals from the organisations wanting to become the 18th, 19th and 20th teams.

We’re reliably informed that outside of PNG, the other bids have fallen short – even the Western Bears. They have much work to do to convince the commission they deserve a license.

No team will get a start until the NRL has rock-solid evidence they will be financially viable.
Written by Buzz Rothfield. Latest credibility check on him return a score in the minuses.
 

Red&BlackBear

First Grade
Messages
5,425
Nice article. What about:

NRL hunts for more revenue and assets, but will expansion fees be part of the financial mix?

Rugby league has had a big 2024, but a vital off-season looms for the code’s business plans – including expansion – ahead of a new broadcast rights deal and asset purchases in the next two years.

3 min read
October 4, 2024 - 5:06PM
The Australian Business Network

Sunday evening’s NRL grand final may be just as important from a financial perspective as another event for rugby league later this month.

The Australian Rugby League Commission governing body could announce the Western Bears consortium as the NRL’s newest team within two weeks of the season-decider between the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers.

There are also moves for a new team from Papua New Guinea underway, backed by $600m in sports diplomacy funding from the Albanese government, and the NRL aims to eventually add another club in Australia or New Zealand for what would then be a 20-team competition.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian about rugby league’s financial situation, ARLC chief executive Andrew Abdo said he was keen for the code to charge expansion fees for the new teams, and that the league is aiming to have $300m in net assets.

But even more importantly will be negotiating a new broadcast deal to kick in after the league’s current arrangement with Nine Entertainment and Foxtel expires at the end of 2027.

A new team like the Perth-based Bears, formed from the old North Sydney Bears that exited the NRL in 1999 via an ill-fated merger with Manly-Warringah, will help generate more revenue in two ways, Abdo says.

One is via more revenue in the code’s next TV deal from providing broadcasters more content.
“We are the most watched sport in Australia and we are delivering value for our partners. We have bold ambitions for the future and we need to get the right value for our rights,” Abdo says.
“So we think we have a lot going for us and adding another team does add another fixture [each week] and another fixture in a new market adds commercial value.”

The second facet, Abdo hopes, is from charging the new teams an expansion fee to enter the competition, which happens in other competitions around the world.

Which may prove more complicated.

Penrith Panthers captain Nathan Cleary, left, and Melbourne Storm capital Harry Grant ahead of this weekend’s NRL grand final
Abdo says in any business case for expansion “you want to create value … and be strategic about what markets you go to.

“In terms of a licence fee you would think these days it is commonplace in sport and appropriate. Ultimately though you want clubs that are well funded and have created a strong connection with the community. But it is essentially a fee for our IP (intellectual property).”

The consortium behind the Bears, including business figures from Perth and Sydney, have been told they will be required to spend $30m on the team, including local development and infrastructure.

But it is not clear if documents provided to the consortium set out the need to pay a fee of potentially tens of millions to join the NRL. It is a matter likely to be thrashed out in meetings just after Sunday’s grand final. Existing NRL clubs would likely want a slice of any expansion fee, and some of the $600m from the PNG team funding.

When the Brisbane-based Dolphins were announced as the NRL’s newest team in late 2021 (it entered the competition in 2023), the NRL did not charge an expansion fee but there was a requirement to spend $2m annually on men’s and women’s pathways and participation.
Expansion fees are common in other codes: the A-League’s newest club, Auckland FC, paid $20m to join that competition.

Meanwhile, the NRL – which had $250m in net assets a year ago – is strengthening its balance sheet by buying assets such as the three hotels it now owns and keeping some of its holding in cash and other liquid investments.

“We want to get to $300m assets at the end of the [broadcast] cycle [in 2027],” Abdo says. “That means commercial assets, cash and deposits that we make good returns from on fairly low risk strategies.”

Abdo says the NRL’s revenue this year will be between the $700m it achieved last year and $750m.

Additional revenue will come from the income-generating assets, the expansion of the women’s side of the game and then overseas from the US, where the NRL will host two matches in Las Vegas again next March, and the UK.

When asked if the ARLC would consider buying the mostly UK-based Super League, Abdo says:
“We will work with them to promote the growth of the game, potentially we might look at NRL playing matches in the UK or something more formal”.

 

Red&BlackBear

First Grade
Messages
5,425
Last week an article said that clubs think the Perth bid stacks up and png doesn’t

Journos just make up bs

They need the 3 extra teams to help with a big tv deal

I’m guessing this was a Rothfield article
yes written by rothfield of panthers and Storm aren’t giving him any time of the day this week fame.
 

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
33,552
“Abdo says the NRL’s revenue this year will be between the $700m it achieved last year and $750m.”

Up to 50 million increase from non broadcast revenue

But disappointed they are keeping more money in cash and not property as with rate cuts early next year they will miss out on getting some good property now particular in the office sector which is showing huge distress and sales of 20 percent or more below peak values
 

Red&BlackBear

First Grade
Messages
5,425
Long article spread across 2 posts. Part 1


The media storm behind the NRL’s next billion-dollar play

Peter V’landys and his chief executive Andrew Abdo want a mammoth broadcast deal to shore up the code’s future. Will they bring an NFL-style model to Australia?
Zoe Samios and Sam Buckingham-Jones
Oct 4, 2024 – 5.00am

Once the dust settles on this weekend’s grand final, rugby league bosses Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo will hit fast-forward on plans to secure a multibillion-dollar broadcast deal.

There are more than two years left on the NRL’s existing agreement with Foxtel and Nine Entertainment – but the pair do not want to waste time.

The NRL’s audiences are bigger than ever and the addition of two new clubs into the competition by the end of the decade has put them in a strong position. Or at least that’s the hope.

People familiar with the matter but not authorised to speak publicly said negotiations could start within weeks, as soon as the NRL’s expansion plans are locked in. V’landys, who is the Australian Rugby League Commission chairman, is a deal maker and there is every chance a record agreement can be achieved. But this next round of negotiations will not be easy.

Traditional media has never been in a tougher position. Australia’s advertising market is weak and companies including Nine and Foxtel are trying to balance this with fast-growing costs – this was the key reason for the departure of Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby last month.

The Albanese government is also considering a gambling advertising ban during major sporting events, which would cost sports and media partners millions of dollars. To make matters more complicated, Foxtel – the owner of Fox Sports and Kayo Sports – is up for sale, and Nine doesn’t have a permanent chief executive (Matt Stanton is the interim CEO).

The AFL made history in 2022 when it signed a $4.5 billion media rights deal with Seven West Media and Foxtel over seven years. This was a 36 per cent increase on the adjusted broadcast agreement made during the pandemic.

With more matches to sell when the new clubs start, as well as new timeslots and new markets, the NRL will want a record windfall. Media rights are critical to sports administrators – about 70 per cent of the NRL’s revenue comes from this deal.

For all of V’landys’ NRL achievements – steering the sport through the pandemic and launching the season in the United States – he will be judged on the size of the next agreement. To achieve a substantial increase in the current climate, V’landys and Abdo will have to think differently.

“Naturally, we would expect any future NRL media rights deal would reflect the strong growth the code has experienced in recent seasons and the passionate following fans have for the game,” Abdo says. “The [ARLC] is focused on securing the best possible broadcast deal for the game’s stakeholders and that will involve a detailed analysis on what we take to the market.”

The NRL’s 17 clubs – which believe they were undercut last negotiations – want the final sign-off on any deal as a condition of continuing to compete for the premiership. No matter what way you cut it, it will be complicated.

“The next NRL broadcast deal is the trickiest sports rights deal in Australia in living memory,” says sports and media lawyer Lachlan Gepp, who previously worked for the NRL and Sportsbet.

“The ARL Commission will be laser-focused on surpassing the value of the AFL deal, but I can’t see that happening under a traditional broadcast model. The money just isn’t there.”

The last time V’landys was forced to the negotiating table, NRL players weren’t even on the field. It was early 2020 and the number of people infected with COVID-19 was increasing by the day. It was a terrible situation. The absence of competition was going to send the NRL broke and put its media partners Nine and Foxtel into a bad financial state.

But in the hours before the start of the season, V’landys – who had recently sacked chief executive Todd Greenberg – struck what many thought was gold: an extended deal with Foxtel until 2027 (the terms were not disclosed).

Nine, the owner of The Australian Financial Review, negotiated a discount for the remaining part of its contract before signing a deal worth $650 million in 2021 and Foxtel ended up injecting more cash into the game when the Dolphins joined the competition in 2023.

Media and rugby league sources claim the total agreement, which expires in 2027, is worth a little over $1.7 billion when including rights in New Zealand.

But by the time 2022 came around, it was clear that the NRL may not have got what it thought it deserved. A $4.5 billion deal struck by the AFL with Foxtel and Seven West Media raised eyebrows – it left many NRL clubs and media executives believing Foxtel got itself the better deal back in 2020.

Former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks was probably thinking that, too. By the time Nine was ready to negotiate an extension in late 2021, the company had launched its own paywalled sports service, Stan Sport.

People with direct knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said Marks told V’landys doing an early deal with Foxtel was a mistake – Nine could have bid for the entire product and used it across all of its services.

V’landys would later say the AFL deal wasn’t a concern and that he needed to do the deal to stop Foxtel from going broke. “If Foxtel coughs, all the codes catch a cold,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2022.

Some media executives didn’t agree, suggested the comments proved he was too close to News Corp. “He did the wrong deal,” said one on condition of anonymity over concerns of retribution. “Hindsight is a brilliant thing.”

V’landys and News Corp executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch know each other well. Fox Corp, which is run by Murdoch, was a significant promoter of the push into Las Vegas early this year and News Corp is the majority owner of the ASX-listed Brisbane Broncos. News Corp tabloid The Daily Telegraph frequently places V’landys among its most powerful people in the country (the Financial Review also placed V’landys on a power list last month). V’landys argues the relationship comes with benefits for the NRL.

The NRL has more than two years until its existing broadcast deals expire, which begs the question of why now.

The most obvious answer is the NRL is in a strong position. In 2023, the NRL reported revenue of $701 million, an increase of 18 per cent and an operating surplus of $58.2 million, up 7 per cent.

Viewership has increased too, which makes it more appealing to advertisers and broadcasters. The NRL says that free-to-air television viewers climbed 3.7 per cent in the regular season and subscription TV audiences, including those on Kayo Sports, climbed 8.1 per cent. Flagship season events like the State of Origin and Magic Round were also up year-on-year.

“Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo have the game humming,” says former Nine chief executive David Gyngell. “They need to get paid for it.”

There are signs traditional media partners will be played against the new in this negotiation – V’landys said in an interview last month he wanted a meeting with billionaire David Ellison, the new owner of Paramount.
 
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