Do you ever consider that Foxtel were actually seriously threatened with loss of fumbleball - have we ever done the same so that creates market tension and that creates higher value. Not just lip service but actually you’re going lose it and this is what you have to pay to keep it.
Secondly, and more importantly, did you ever also consider that maybe just maybe our game is severely undervalued and that V’Landys massively f***** up. I know that doesn’t correlate with the messiah/cult of personality thing that V’Landys apologists seem to have conjured in their heads but the difference is humongous and nowhere near reflective of the position of both of our games (or what should be) in the marketplace.
If their deal was 5-10% more then you could say fair enough (begrudgingly), based on their national profile and longer games, but it’s more than 40% (actually nearly 50% more if it is over $600 million. That’s therefore not just reflective of how well fumbleball have done (that’s depressing) but also much more about how badly V’Landys has done in this. This is even with adding a side and giving broadcasters what they want.
This is surely beyond the pale of anybody who is a V’Landys supporter - how anybody can defend him now is beyond me. F*** me if Gallop or Greenberg presided over this they wouldn’t get another job.