V’landys defends broadcast deal discounts
ARLC chairman Peter V'landys says broadcast negotiations have been tough. Picture: Nikki Short
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has agreed to discounts for Foxtel and Nine for what remains of their existing deals to help prop up the broadcasters suffering from having no live football to televise during the pandemic.
“If you’re in a partnership with somebody and they are making significant losses out of you, what are you going to do — send them broke?” he said.
V’landys set the scene for historic new agreements with the Nine Network and Foxtel by defending the discount deals.
He has also given fresh hope to the parties interested in setting up a second NRL team in Brisbane by insisting that expansion will be back on the agenda once the game regains some sense of normality.
The NRL is expected to announce fresh terms with the Nine Network and Foxtel in the coming days, after V’landys spent recent weeks locked in tense talks with the rival broadcasters.
It is understood that Nine has agreed to revised terms on its existing deal until the end of 2022, while Foxtel is expected to extend its current agreement, potentially until the end of 2027.
Combined, the two deals are expected to be worth upwards of $1.7bn, despite the discounts that were given to the broadcasters to compensate for the impact of the coronavirus lockdowns.
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The deals will also mean that the salary cap is likely to remain at $9.9m for each club, and heavy player pay cuts in the future have been ruled out.
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic there were fears that the salary cap could be cut by 40 per cent to just $5.9m next year.
Some have questioned why the NRL would agree to revise the terms of their existing deals with the two broadcasters, given that contracts are already in place until the end of 2022. But V’landys insists that the alternative did not bear thinking about.
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One organisation would have been better off ripping up the contract and us suing them,” V’landys said. “How do you make up that revenue?
“What I found in negotiations with these situations is it is easy (for the critics) to sit on the sideline and take shots. When they are in the game, they say ‘I didn’t realise it was that hard’.
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I am unhappy with the deal. They are unhappy with the deal. Which basically means it is a good deal for all parties,” he said. “I take pride in where we got to with Channel 9.
“There were times when the broadcast deal seemed too difficult — it seemed insurmountable. It just shows you (what can happen) if you persevere.”
Foxtel is expected to retain the right to broadcast all eight games each week as part of their new agreement, while Nine will continue to televise three games until the end of 2022. The free-to-air rights are up for grabs beyond that.
V’landys remains confident that a contract extension will be struck with Nine. But until that happens, the Seven and Ten networks have the opportunity to step in and grab the rights.
“The broadcast (talks) have probably been the hardest in my eyes,” V’landys said.
“Both organisations are going through the hardest economic conditions. You have two partners that are bleeding. We are bleeding. It is how much of the Band-Aid we share each. It was a tough, tough negotiation.
“We had to get a balance where it was good for the game — but it wasn’t going to send the broadcasters over the gap either.
“Even though it was a tough negotiation, what I liked about it was that it was done in good faith,” V’landys added.
The game was debating the prospect of adding a second NRL team in Brisbane when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The talk was put on the backburner, but V’landys hasn’t ruled it out , insisting the expansion discussion will resume at some point.
That will be music to the ears of the groups who have already expressed an interest in backing a second Brisbane franchise.
Redcliffe, Brisbane Easts and the Bombers consortium have all gone public with their plans to lobby the NRL for the right to set up another top-flight team in southeast Queensland.
“Once we get to some sense of normality we will look at all those things again,” V’landys said.
“It is going to be hard but if there is a demand there — and who is to say with this opportunity to get the game on first that you don’t pick up all these new fans.
“It (the Brisbane expansion push) hasn’t been taken off the agenda. I still believe if we do things right, the second team in Brisbane has to be thought about at some stage.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...s/news-story/b44fbf0c6f8fe0e5d3a1826808a9d534
