News Ltd and Control

[taipan]

what I suggest we do is stop pandering to the players and clubs and set spending there at a more realistic level with much greater controls to force viability. Players got a massive pay rise, then wanted the nrl to also create a hardship fund, a super fund and greater insurance policies plus a significant contribution to the RLPA event year.
I’d also look at what all the state spending is going to, afl have hardly any funding going to their heartland states yet we are spending around $40mill a year on nswrl and qrl. I’d also review the touch footy cost, no one has ever said what that is costing the game but I’m not sure there is much tangible benefit in reality?
I would not be cutting areas that generate a lot more revenue than they cost and I would not be employing monkeys in exec positions just to save a few dollars to make the likes of Kent and Gould happy.

We can do that when we know the financials of the code.
And you have just helped my point.no new CEO should have ties with any club.
And players will not be getting the huge deals they did in the past, because everyone in not only the NRL will have to take financial haircuts.
After the new TV deals are set in stone, head office has its cost cutting exercise completed.
The reason the AFL haven't spent the money in the heartland states, is because of their huge membership ,domination of their sport in each state .
The AFL still have at least 7-8 clubs that need financial support from the AFL dues to losses, and in fact a few AFL clubs in Vic also get poker machine profit assistance,

The areas I suggested for cuts are not revenue making exercises:refs/bunkers/some H/O areas.

 

[taipan]

estimates range from 5mill-25mill so take your pick.
An estimated 22million lost their jobs in the gfc period.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/nea...-be-lost-globally-due-to-the-coronavirus.html

The GFC did not have the health impact nor the financial impact this virus one has, no where near it.That's the scary part IMO.

I remember my super fund almost getting back(still losing of course) to what it was after 3 years.
During November/December/January2020 we had massive bushfires which had a huge impact on the economy.Then we had flooding in some areas.
Then we had this Chinese Commie Govt to thank for this debacle.It's been a triple whammy.

I am amazed that any organisation can put a global job loss estimate on this virus implication, when even scientists still don't know whether it'll come back, or we'll get a vaccine.We are getting wildly varying estimates about job losses here.And the job estimates quoted 5-25million ,is a fair indication they are guessing.And guessing doesn't pay the bills.
What is fairly obvious there will be job losses due to companies cutting back ,people will not be getting huge incomes.
Yes there will be and so there should, Government intervention on new infrastructure to create many jobs.But there will be also huge debts to service by Govts around the world.

With all this, and whatever the outcome, our code has to source revenue(less Tv revenue),sponsorship revenue may well be negotiated down,
I at least applaud V'Landys and Abdo for going to the USA to see people from Amazon,Google etc looking at revenue possibilities.

 

[LeagueXIII]

hard to put back something that wasn’t on the radar. And I’m talking genuine expansion, not just consolidation with another Brisbane team. there won’t be big cuts at nrlhq. Reality is at $20mill they arent spending that much on administration. Where do you think they are going to cut it out from?
Only hope for expansion is if the nrl grew some balls and reigned club spending in or dished out nrl grants differently, but as the clubs control the commission that isnt going to happen.
All professional sport relies heavenly on tv revenue. The nrl had a goal to increase non media revenue and Greenberg has actually done a decent job achieving this over last 4 years.

Wouldn't it be handy having Dave Smith now. With his financial knowledge the game would have been in good hands

 

[LeagueXIII]

My post made the point, exactly that.Brisbane which few can deny needs a 2nd team, for weekly games. The opportunity for Perth or whoever dependent on revenue improvement and /or coupled with cost cutting at a bloated NRL H/O.

if they spend $500K a day, how would you now what the cuts would be like.That figure if true ,seems highly bloated. Execs' salaries alone were $6m p.a.
And it was also pointed out everyone at H/O can expect a salary reduction and that would include a new CEO. The AFL have acknowledged their salaries are unsustainable in a new less TV revenue environment.
And you can bet saLary caps for the clubs will be reduced.
You carry on as though once this virus situation is cleared, it'll be back to some sort of financial normality.

There are indications unemployment for this country will remain very high in this country, as organisations cut back on labour costs.
Actually the non media revenue was the work of apparently Andrew Abdo, who has. made a big impression with V'Landys.

Surprise surprise.........how people swallow the media narrative is beyond me.

"bloated head office" the new buzz words.

 

[LeagueXIII]

The writing is on the wall. V’landys will blame coronavirus for taking unders and extending the tv deal. He also won’t expand and will give the current clubs what they want to keep his media team (9/news Ltd) supplying positive stories about him.


Down the tract though I can see a large problem....clubs have for years told everyone that they are the reason the nrl is such a great game. I think players might disagree. There will be at some point a massive blow up about salary cap and nrl club grants. Articles are already talking about clubs receiving more funding but at the same time players might have to become semi-professional.

Let’s all remember how positive they are about V’landys at the moment. I can recall the same was said about Greenberg when he got his position. “Someone finally that understands club land”. In 2 years time when the nrl is paid less and the afl gets a jump in tv monies we’ll see how positive it all is. Someone needs to tell V’landys that he needs to be independent and work for what’s best for the the Nrl.

I really hope I’m wrong.

You're not.

Player agents alone will drive up player salaries.

What is happening at the moment I beleive is about News Ltd and Nine nullifying and controlling the NRL digital arms threat by taking control. They keep peddling the line of bloated costs at head office in reality stop wasting money (which has been 150 million over seven years and employs 80 staff) on the Digital Arm because that gives the game independence and strength. You see Nine saying clubs should get more money to help them. Why do they care?

What will happen is the digital arm will come under their control costs will be slashed and filtered into the clubs.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Why would he do so much to improve the profile of Racing NSW only to do the opposite for league.

Because he was put there to implement change, this has been planned for sometime. He has had the backing of the media and clubs for some time, ironically, Todd Greenberg and John Grant didn't, how lucky for some.

 

[LeagueXIII]

No ones arguing we should get less this season. But why take less next two years of the contract, and even worse rumoured to be extending it another two years presumably on that lessor figure?

Exactly, are the AFL doing the same?

 

[LeagueXIII]

The extra 2 years hopefully allows the market to pickup. Better that than no money. Lets say $1b over 5 years is still a good deal especially in this climate

I say we wait. Things change and quickly.

Nine and News are playing to the old adage don't waste a crisis to their benefit.

If we were smart we'd do the same.

 

[LeagueXIII]

now is the most stupid time to negotiate a new tv deal for the nrl. We clearly have cash flow problems nine and fox are trying to force our hand to extend. V’landys seems happy to just cop it and blame previous admin

Why can't they put it back even a year to see what happens this year if we start playing as we look like doing the money will start coming in.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Do you think 2 years will be any better?

yes

 

[LeagueXIII]

The AFl is doing the same .
The uncertainty
The diving economy .
So getting a contract now is sensible .
It mightn't be what you thought you'd get ...but things have changed dramatically .
So some certainty is good while things affected by the pandemic ..which is just about everything finally settle down .

No need for panic...........got your toilet rolls

 

[Stormwarrior82]

The AFl is doing the same .
The uncertainty
The diving economy .
So getting a contract now is sensible .
It mightn't be what you thought you'd get ...but things have changed dramatically .
So some certainty is good while things affected by the pandemic ..which is just about everything finally settle down .

Oh if the afl is doing it we should as well. Geez the afl do a lot of dumb shit but it’s always reported with rose colored glasses.

a 5yr deal is a 5yr deal. Yes negotiate this years season, that Seems fair but not sure how that should alter the next 2 years tv monies. That’s the risk the tv broadcasters make. They seem happy when origin and gf both top the ratings every year.

I’ll never accept that negotiating when you are on your knees with a gun to your head is a good position to do it. Again still 2.5 yrs to go to have the tv deal sorted.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

Unemployment is now under 6%. Tipped to rise to 10% that will make advertising dollars harder to come by.
The extra bonuses from the government end in June which means people will spend less.

V8 supercar major sponsor likely going broke.
State of Origin sponsor won’t exist next year
Bulldogs no major sponsor

So no guarantee it will get better

Is that the nrls fault? A contact is a contract and should be enforced.

do you honestly think if the nrl takes off in the US when it starts back in May and Foxtel makes a killing from it that the nrl will be reimbursed extra money?

When the shoes on the other foot the Nrl has to cop it then as well. Doesn’t seem fair to me.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

Giving them more money? Who said ,in fact it's the same grant. If it were up to me ,I'd shave at least $500k per club off the grant.That figure was screwed out of a former Chairman.
Agree clubs are their own worst enemies and that's why Greenberg was too close to them ,and people suggesting Gould as the new CEO who spends like he's printing money are deluded.

Clubs have relied on poker machine profits ,now H/O handouts for ages, their experience in getting off the a*ses and securing many sponsors and memberships leaves a lot to be desired.That's why the next CEO should be someone who is commercially professional.

Well the Warriors of late weren't looked after.And money that was promised to the clubs for this virus period was shortchanged and subsequently adjusted by V'Landys.
Brandy Alexander (involved with juniors) just openly stated the juniors' participation position is exaggerated by H/O,The numbers are not increasing ,but inflated by female and touch participation.So it looks like that section was overlooked by the CEO.
Look I had a lot of time initially for Greenberg, he held up well with all the offield incidents, he was a good communicator when fronting the media.Yet I thought we had well over $100m in the Bank, we didn't.The early Barba problems at the Bulldogs left me scratching my head.

i was talking about several articles that have come from 9, Gus and others saying that the clubs should have a larger say in the running of the comp and in turn a larger cut. They say It should be more like the EPL apparently. Small head office and essentially run by the clubs. V’landys has eluded to the same. I hope it’s just talk and not actually going to happen.

we seem to both agree that this is a bad idea.

 

[franklin2323]

yes

Why though?

 

[franklin2323]

Is that the nrls fault? A contact is a contract and should be enforced.

do you honestly think if the nrl takes off in the US when it starts back in May and Foxtel makes a killing from it that the nrl will be reimbursed extra money?

When the shoes on the other foot the Nrl has to cop it then as well. Doesn’t seem fair to me.

Where is the contract not being enforced though? Just extending for an amount we don’t know.

International rights are different though

Where did I say Fox should pay less? Provided they get 8 games a round they can still sell it as every game.

FTA on the other hand needs advertisers to make money that advertising dollar will be lower. So hence profit to spend on sport is less

 

[mongoose]

I can actually understand clubs asking for a bigger cut. The fact is the NRL/broadcasters forces them to play in unappealing timeslots - Thurs night, Friday 6pm, Sunday 6pm. They have every right to ask for more money.

 

[Stormwarrior82]

Where is the contract not being enforced though? Just extending for an amount we don’t know.

International rights are different though

Where did I say Fox should pay less? Provided they get 8 games a round they can still sell it as every game.

FTA on the other hand needs advertisers to make money that advertising dollar will be lower. So hence profit to spend on sport is less

By all reports the current contract amount isn’t being enforced this year (Fair enough) and Reports are over the next 2 years will be less and the cherry on top is that the nrl will extend the contract agreement for another 2 yrs for the inconvenience. How’s that work? If that happens surely you can agree that is a sh!t sandwich.

I understand that Foxtel has the international rights for US and into most international markets. I’m happy to be corrected if wrong.

we have been talking about the articles that have been published about nine and fox paying less due to negotiating in the current pandemic climate. You seem happy for that to happen because you feel that the economy might get worse in 2 yrs time. So you are happy with less money.

why should we worry about 9’s problems? Again they have a contract and need to stick to it.

 

[taipan]

Surprise surprise.........how people swallow the media narrative is beyond me.

"bloated head office" the new buzz words.

When you don't put money into retirement funds, you have to ask why. Vlandys is an accountant ,he stated there needs to be cuts. Legitmate points .No media narrative.

 

[taipan]

i was talking about several articles that have come from 9, Gus and others saying that the clubs should have a larger say in the running of the comp and in turn a larger cut. They say It should be more like the EPL apparently. Small head office and essentially run by the clubs. V’landys has eluded to the same. I hope it’s just talk and not actually going to happen.

we seem to both agree that this is a bad idea.

Mate I'm not relying on 9 for the info, and especially not Gus.
I don't want the clubs to make decisions for H/O ,just proved input.
I follow a club ,who over the decades have shown they couldn't run a lolly shop.
They are at least at the coalface when it comes to juniors.Fans usually follow the clubs first, the game second, not all mind you.

Yep it is a bad idea.I don't want any club CEO running the game.

Ideally a cost conscious H/O and NRL clubs.,and the world would get on nicely.