Next TV deal discussion 2028 -

[Canard]

lol I forgot to include the grants to the 3 new clubs

15 million cap is decent but not high enough to get the best union stars

Why the f**k are you so obsessed with recruiting Union "stars"? I couldn't name you one Aussie Union "star"

And I would be horrified if any club would suddenly offer them "franchise" salaries, given how unlikely it would be that they could star in our code.

 

[Cactus]

Currently clubs receive 130% of the salary cap. Its not broadcast revenue based.
However player wages in total will be linked to total league revenue (currently about 28%).

Thanks for that. I knew in the back of my mind I saw a % number expressed in an article about the RLPA. That was where I was getting it from. Cheers.

 

[Wb1234]

Why the f**k are you so obsessed with recruiting Union "stars"? I couldn't name you one Aussie Union "star"

And I would be horrified if any club would suddenly offer them "franchise" salaries, given how unlikely it would be that they could star in our code.

Nrl is the worlds elite rugby competition

It should have all the elite players in it leaving union with the left overs

Looking at England league gets the dregs and the nrl could benefit hugely

Some of the best English union players have come from a league background. Even offiahs kid is playing union not league

 

[Perth Red]

Nrl is the worlds elite rugby competition

It should have all the elite players in it leaving union with the left overs

Looking at England league gets the dregs and the nrl could benefit hugely

Some of the best English union players have come from a league background. Even offiahs kid is playing union not league

England RU comp salary cap has gone back to $13mill this year from $10mill last year (brought in as clubs were going bust). They cant afford that on their revenue. More clubs will go to the wall, just a matter of time.

 

[Wb1234]

England RU comp salary cap has gone back to $13mill this year from $10mill last year (brought in as clubs were going bust). They cant afford that on their revenue. More clubs will go to the wall, just a matter of time.

Yeh but they will just go to France

Some of those English kids are good

Farrell would’ve been great in league

If nrl had high enough wages how many more players could we get from union globally

 

[Perth Red]

Yeh but they will just go to France

Some of those English kids are good

Farrell would’ve been great in league

If nrl had high enough wages how many more players could we get from union globally

Problem is the few player at the top of Union tree would command top NRL wage. And are many clubs going to take that punt? Its unlikely. Why would you offer a Union star $1.5mill and hope he can convert, compared top offering a League star with a proven pedigree $1.5mill? Reality is current NRL cap matches anything Union can offer.

 

[Wb1234]

Problem is the few player at the top of Union tree would command top NRL wage. And are many clubs going to take that punt? Its unlikely. Why would you offer a Union star $1.5mill and hope he can convert, compared top offering a League star with a proven pedigree $1.5mill? Reality is current NRL cap matches anything Union can offer.

If the top wages were 3 million in league then it could happen

But would need a salary cap of 20 million

League is in competition with union for the best rugby talent around the world

If the salary cap is high enough then we could sign loads of them

Around the world there would have to be 100 union players that could do well in the nrl

 

[shadowformz]

Yeh but they will just go to France

Some of those English kids are good

Farrell would’ve been great in league

If nrl had high enough wages how many more players could we get from union globally

I think the main benefit from substantially increasing the salary cap is for future growth of the game in Australia. If young Athletes can see a future with substantially more money in the NRL then AFL, then we might finally see more players coming from Victoria and other AFL dominated states. This won't happen until league salaries are a lot higher then the AFL's, for as it they can make similar or more money playing AFL without the body wear that occurs in league.

 

[Wb1234]

I think the main benefit from substantially increasing the salary cap is for future growth of the game in Australia. If young Athletes can see a future with substantially more money in the NRL then AFL, then we might finally see more players coming from Victoria and other AFL dominated states. This won't happen until league salaries are a lot higher then the AFL's, for as it they can make similar or more money playing AFL without the body wear that occurs in league.

Wrong body types aren’t suited to nrl

Hardly any Polynesians in afl either

The top players in afl wouldn’t last a full nrl game

 

[Perth Red]

Wrong body types aren’t suited to nrl

Hardly any Polynesians in afl either

The top players in afl wouldn’t last a full nrl game

there's a fair few of them that are 6ft and 100kg. If they have the stamina and ability to absorb contact is a different matter.

 

[Wb1234]

there's a fair few of them that are 6ft and 100kg. If they have the stamina and ability to absorb contact is a different matter.

That’s your standard poly in western Sydney

Afl game is for marathon runners
Nrl is sprints and power

In afl states we will get the players that aren’t suited to afl which we can do now we don’t need big money

In the 80s and 90s afl was tougher maybe then some of those guys could’ve made it

Rugby Union is where we can be getting a lot more talent even places like South Africa England France wales Scotland Ireland and especially nz

 

[Perth Red]

That’s your standard poly in western Sydney

Which is why saying they dont have the physical shape is nonsense. But I do agree there is no need to be looking for AFL players (maybe the elite athlete kids who at 13 or 14 are choosing their sport though?), lots of RL areas to yet be developed and Union areas to be tapped.

 

[taste2taste]

It would be good if the NRL had the worlds best players but youd need a cap of 25m and salary dispensations to sign them.

Im hopeful the NRL clubs vote in favour of the suggested 30% cap dispensation for converting union players. Its not just elite players but theres hundreds of players at the lower levels or rising stars the NRL could target. Asofa Solomona, Leo Thompson, Radradra, Warbrick were all signed direct from Union with little to no experience in league.

 

[shadowformz]

Which is why saying they dont have the physical shape is nonsense. But I do agree there is no need to be looking for AFL players (maybe the elite athlete kids who at 13 or 14 are choosing their sport though?), lots of RL areas to yet be developed and Union areas to be tapped.

This is exactly what I meant

 

[Canard]

If the top wages were 3 million in league then it could happen

But would need a salary cap of 20 million

League is in competition with union for the best rugby talent around the world

If the salary cap is high enough then we could sign loads of them

Around the world there would have to be 100 union players that could do well in the nrl

It's mental that you think the salary cap should be used to attract a couple of nepo babies in England and "100 union' players.

League has 1000 times that in Australia alone

 

[Wb1234]

It's mental that you think the salary cap should be used to attract a couple of nepo babies in England and "100 union' players.

League has 1000 times that in Australia alone

Yeh bc half the nrl teams are useless and would improve the standard of the comp

You know how rugby league started in Australia ?

 

[SirPies&Beers]

NRL hopes pieces fall into place as it eyes jackpot with nothing guaranteed | Jack Snape

The league faces challenges and opportunities in 2025 with broadcast negotiations, expansion and showpiece events in the spotlight

www.theguardian.com

 

[Perth Red]

It was an unusual analogy from the administrator running what sells itself as the toughest sport in the world. “It’s like a game of Tetris,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said of planning the future of rugby league. After the Las Vegas showcase last weekend, the 2025 competition makes its Australian bow on Thursday with a clash between the Roosters and Broncos in Sydney.

The GameBoy puzzle classic seems to have little in common with league, at least since the retirement of Glenn Lazarus, the brick with eyes. But the connection turned out to be literal, as Abdo also confirmed the first rugby league videogame in eight years was due in 2025. More than that, however, Abdo likened his role to a Tetris player given the challenges and opportunities faced by the competition as it enters its 118th year: of player welfare, expansion, and – most critically – broadcast negotiations.

“Step one for us is to make sure that we have our content in order, our season structure, the number of teams and how we want to package that up,” the South African-born administrator explained on rugby league podcast Hello Sport this week. “And then, obviously, we want as many entities as possible bidding for those rights.”

As the game prepares to go to market this year for the next round of broadcast rights starting in 2028, the problem for Abdo and Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys, is they don’t yet know what they can sell. Expansion to PNG in 2028 was confirmed late last year, and a long-mooted-but-not-yet realised WA franchise is the game’s priority, particularly given the lack of other options. On adding a third new franchise, Abdo said “it’s going to be difficult to see us getting to 20,” meaning 19 teams – and nine games per round – will be all the NRL can offer going into 2028.

Broadcasting is the largest single component of NRL’s $745m revenue in 2024, up by $43m on 2023. With a broadcast deal worth around $400m each year – largely from Foxtel and Channel Nine – television is rugby league’s economic engine room. But declining advertising revenue has been experienced at networks Nine and Seven in the past year, and the direction of Foxtel given its acquisition by international streamer Dazn – currently awaiting ACCC and FIRB approval – also remains in flux.


This dynamic means there is no guarantee the NRL will see the kind of uplift achieved by the AFL in signing its seven-year $4.5bn (approximately $640m a year) deal with Seven and Foxtel in 2022, even though four of the five top free-to-air television audiences in 2024 were for rugby league matches.

The league’s Las Vegas foray has created another showpiece occasion on the calendar, which triggered Foxtel’s largest single day of sign-ups last year. Add in UK and New Zealand viewer numbers, and the audience for this year’s Las Vegas showcase is likely to exceed the 2024 edition. But growth is not automatic. Nine’s Vegas audience was down slightly according to ratings provider VOZ, from 796,000 last year to 715,000 in 2025, highlighting the NRL’s need to pursue new audiences from Perth, to Port Moresby and beyond.

One broadcast rights expert who wished to remain anonymous believes the NRL will be unlikely to generate the same level of competitive tension with legacy broadcasters and streamers that has been enjoyed by sports in England and the US in recent years. The expectations of the Australian public for a large share of free-to-air content, underpinned by the anti-siphoning regime, and a lack of international interest in rugby league – apart from in the Pacific and northern England – means the likes of Amazon and Netflix are unlikely to pay overs for what remains a provincial game.

NRL hopes pieces fall into place as it eyes jackpot with nothing guaranteed | Jack Snape

The league faces challenges and opportunities in 2025 with broadcast negotiations, expansion and showpiece events in the spotlight

www.theguardian.com