The NRL is eyeing expansion as early as 2022 with ARLC chairman Peter V’landys revealing plans to fast-track the birth of a second Brisbane team to “dominate” the Queensland market.
The Sunday Mail can reveal V’landys will begin a full financial probe of the code’s finances in a bid to deliver a fourth Queensland side as part of a 17-team competition for the 2022 season.
The revelation will rock the Queensland sporting market with V’landys keen for the Broncos and a second Brisbane team to take a stranglehold over rival codes the AFL, rugby and football’s A-League in the Sunshine State.
There were fears the coronavirus pandemic had torpedoed the NRL’s planned expansion for 2023 but, ironically, the COVID-19 ordeal could expedite it.
The NRL finalised a revised broadcast deal on Thursday worth an estimated $280 million annually for the next three years and that has given V’landys the fiscal clarity to ramp-up his mission for a second Brisbane team.
In the new broadcast deal negotiated by V’landys with Channel 9 and Fox Sports, there is contractual scope for a 17th team to be added — and the ARLC boss wants a second Brisbane team sooner than expected.
Asked if he is aiming for a 2023 expansion time frame, V’landys said: “I actually believe it can be earlier than that.
“There could be a second Brisbane team in 2022.
“To be honest, with the broadcast deal done, it might expedite our plans with expansion.
“We now have financial certainty.
“A second Brisbane team will generate even more value for the code in my eyes. But I want to make this very clear _ we are fully behind the Broncos and Titans and it is important we do not cannibalise those existing clubs in the southeast Queensland market.
“Ensuring the viability of the 16 clubs, and that includes the Broncos and Titans, is my priority.
“But in my eyes, expansion is on the agenda and I still think Brisbane needs a second team to dominate Queensland.
“The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t ruined the expansion plans at all.
“I am very much attracted to another team in Queensland. There is a need for it.”
V’landys’ stance on expansion is a shot in the arm for Queensland’s prospective NRL teams, with Ipswich’s western-corridor bid, Redcliffe, the Brisbane Bombers and Easts Tigers all in the mix for a 17th licence.
After a long 10-year wait, the Bombers are well advanced with their bid, having formulated a 200-page document. The western-corridor bid and Redcliffe are also ready to go.
The Sunday Mail understands the NRL’s next franchise would require at least $10 million in start-up funding, which would bolster the $13m currently allocated to each of the 16 clubs.
Before the COVID-19 crisis hit, V’landys addressed the ARL Commissioners on the importance of growing the game.
With the NRL now back up and running, the ARLC boss confirmed he will undertake an investigation of the game’s finances to explore ways to launch a second Brisbane team in 2022.
“I will now sit down and do a full analysis of where we head with expansion,” he said.
Asked if there is a provision in the broadcast contract for a 17th team, V’landys added: “Yes, we have to look at our revenues and expenses and it will come down to an analysis to say: one, we can afford it and, two, there will be a return on capital.
“What has changed is the landscape and the impact of this crisis on our finances.
“I need to sit down and look at whether we can afford to expand the game and we need to get the outcomes we desire, otherwise it’s not worth doing.
But I still think the outcome is there and I still believe the return on capital of a second Brisbane team is still there.
“If we were negotiating the contract next year, we would have no clarity, but now we are 12 months ahead of ourselves in some ways and that helps us map out the future.
“Obviously, the onus is on us to trim expenses at the NRL. You have to have a sustainable model and what I need to ensure is that we improve that sustainable model, not make it worse.”
Should the NRL expand in 2022, that would give a second Brisbane team just 18 months to implement structures, recruit a coach and sign a 30-man roster.
But V’landys believes there is sufficient time for a start-up franchise.
“I appreciate a new team would need to plan quickly, but 2022 is still two years away,” he said.
“Look at what we have done getting the NRL back up and running in eight weeks.
“Having 12 to 18 months would be a luxury for a second Brisbane team to be ready.
“A second Brisbane team has to fit into the revamped cost structure of the game. If it doesn’t, expansion won’t happen, but I believe we can make it happen.”
BOMBERS READY TO GO FOR 2022 SEASON
Bombers bid director Nick Livermore says his franchise can be operational by 2022 as Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner backed plans for a second team in Brisbane to join the Broncos.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys has given the NRL’s prospective bid teams a stunning ray of hope by revealing the code could fast-track a second team in Brisbane in time for the 2022 premiership.
The Bombers, Ipswich’s western-corridor bid, Redcliffe and the Easts Tigers were initially targeting possible admission in 2023, but Livermore welcomed the prospect of entering the NRL 12 months earlier.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/spor...2/news-story/26e0285a895e6a5b82f1710fdc6bd3bf
