NRL rebellion: Rugby league clubs want CEO Dave Smith gone or threaten to leave comp

[elbusto]

https://twitter.com/ThomasBoswell1

Latest news journo telling porkies about Rugby League

 

[beave]

NQ came out on twitter about an hour ago to squash any support of a breakaway league......

 

[CowboyFuriousFury]

Rugby league is the only code it which a media corporation is actively trying to destabilize and destroy a code. No other code worldwide has to deal with the constant negativity and sensationalized nonsense that rugby league deal with on annual basis. To think how far ahead the code would of been if News didn't sabotage and hinder RL's growth during Super league and it's ownership of the code.

Other codes get a absurd free ride from the media compared to rugby league. Since day one RL has been battling the odds and against News Limited (Part 2) will be different than the 90's I'm certain with Smith & co in charge. Our code should not be bullied or dictated by outside parties it's up to the NRL administration/16 clubs to do there job and no-one else.

 

[bileduct]

Aww damn, blocked by Buzz. At least I know he saw himself in the human centipede of morons.

 

[elbusto]

Aww damn, blocked by Buzz. At least I know he saw himself in the human centipede of morons.

Well played sir!

 

[tumbidragon]

NQ came out on twitter about an hour ago to squash any support of a breakaway league......

Great to see a united front coming out! f**k Murdoch and his empire built on propaganda, disgusting rats!

I want to sign up to fauxtel just to cancel lol

 

[Nugget10]

Hoopers Twitter is gold

 

[Card Shark]

Copping a pizzling?

 

[elbusto]

Just advised Sloth the cartoon had gone viral and is all over the net.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I know he does cricket, but he does comment on NRL on The Back Page, but Robert "Crash" Craddock is another fugtard of the highest order.

I know cricketers who would rather be anally raped with a string of barb inserted in a length of garden hose and then the hose is removed and then the barb wire before being in the same room as Crash. But the way he goes on, he thinks he's a goddamn authority on everything.

These blokes, like flies, bobbing up and down in the troughs and toilet bowls and feast on it.

Just like this (thanks Peter Jackson):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc9SzIhA9X8

 

[ek999]

Phil Gould article which is quite good. Doesn't hide from the fact he has issues with how the NRL is currently being run but calls out News Ltd on their bullshit

Yep, maybe things could have or should have been handled differently on the TV rights issue.
I've been giving a lot of thought to the present stoush over the NRL broadcast rights for 2018 and beyond.
Firstly, I think it is far too premature to judge the success of any future deal until we have the final figures in hand. There are still pay TV, digital rights, New Zealand rights and international rights to be determined. Only then can we properly assess what it means for the game.
Secondly, the deal with Channel Nine is the largest free-to-air broadcast rights deal in any football code's history in this country.
Four nights of live rugby league action in prime time viewing slots will give rugby league the greatest exposure and reach ever experienced. It's a massive deal.
The $925 million paid by Nine is almost as much as the total combined rights deal for free-to-air and pay TV the last time the rights were negotiated. It's greater than this new AFL free-to-air deal.
While we all have varying reservations about the competency of the current NRL administration, we would be playing into the hands of News Limited's campaign if those of us who are not part of the News propaganda machine were to join them in putting the boot into Dave Smith and the NRL. There will be time for that at a later date if Smith and the Commission can't deliver. But we should give them their chance.
Let's put some balance into this TV rights discussion
The NRL's free-to-air deal was lauded only a week ago for giving those fans without pay TV an increase from two games to four live games in prime time viewing slots. It also delivered a huge increase in the value of the TV and digital rights packages. Add that to the fact the NRL is taking back control of the scheduling from the broadcasters and this is a great deal for everyone in our game, especially the fans. It's four live games a week for FREE!!!
We can presume also that there are people in the NRL involved in these dealings who have a strategy. One part of that strategy would be free-to-air TV rights. That part of that strategy has been successful. I assume they are now working toward an end goal that will give the game a deal it deserves. We should wait until then before passing judgement.
It's simply amazing that the same journalists currently slamming NRL CEO Dave Smith, were completely silent during the years of the previous administration when they signed pay TV deal after pay TV deal with broadcasters that were grossly below market value because their employers owned the game. The minute the media company was removed from the ownership of the game, the TV broadcast rights for rugby league more than doubled. Go figure, eh! The massive underfunding that occurred within the game during the period rugby league was owned by a media company did far more damage to the game than anything that could be thrown up at this current administration.
Clubs need to be kept financial
What's important to know is that the 16 NRL clubs are united in working towards the best result for our code. It is also important that the 16 NRL clubs really do need to stick together to negotiate the best financial deal possible for themselves, because they have been totally underfunded up to this point in time. I'm not hiding the fact either that we have real issues with how the NRL administration is currently running this game. Despite the NRL generating more revenue than ever before in the history of the game, they are spending more and more money on a growing administration and frivolous pursuits which bring nothing to the bottom line for the clubs. We have four clubs virtually under NRL administration and all but one or two clubs are losing money every year trying to run a professional rugby league program. This is not good enough. Things need to change and they need to change immediately. But I am supporting our code 100 per cent and I think the rugby league public should be rallying behind our game.
Suggestions that the media will get behind the AFL and shove it down our throats until we like it too should not scare us in any way, shape or form. I don't know about you, but it makes me want to stand up and fight for our code even harder. I have no issue with AFL. It's a great sport and many Australians love it. Good on them. As far as I'm concerned there is room enough for all of us. Our battle is not with the AFL. But let me tell you this, if they think they can kill off rugby league, especially in NSW and Queensland, simply because they get newspapers to bombard us with AFL coverage, then I say they need to think again.
We need to stay strong. Provided the NRL gets its head around how rugby league should be run, played, developed and promoted in our heartland areas, this game will always be the No.1 football code in NSW and Queensland. State of Origin football is the No.1 TV event on the sporting calendar. Provided our NRL clubs are kept strong and well funded, I guarantee our popular club brands and their long history will continue to engage the sporting public and inspire young men to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. Rugby league will be around forever.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...n-the-bank-20150824-gj6vyv.html#ixzz3joO3BZTS

The only thing I don;t agree with is the bit in bold. Clubs will always run at a loss regardless of how much mone they are given because they will spend whatever they can to get the best performance possible.If the NRL gives every club an extra $2 million, does anyone believe they will just chuck it in the bank for a rainy day?

Clubs probably should get more money but lets not kid ourselves over what will happen to whatever money they are given

 

[insert.pause]

HUGE news if true, genuine competition for STV rights in Australia, they have outbid murdoch before, fox sports are going to have to get a lot more proactive and quickly!

beIN Sports eye NRL pay TV rights

Qatar-based sports broadcasting giant beIN Sports may bid for the pay-television rights to screen National Rugby League matches from 2018, creating a well-funded potential competitor to Fox Sports.
The NRL would benefit from other bidders to compete with Fox Sports and Foxtel, whose half-owner News Corp is on a campaign to unseat NRL chief executive Dave Smith after he snubbed the pay-TV giant by striking an exclusive $925 million five-year free-to-air deal with Nine Entertainment Co two weeks ago.

beIN Sports, which did not respond to requests for comment, is interested in bidding for the rights and has said as much to the NRL, sources said.

Owned by the Al Jazeera network, beIN Sports started operating in Australia last year when it took over the Setanta Sports Network. The Setanta channel, which is carried through Foxtel, Fetch TV and digitally over the internet was rebranded beIN Sport.
The network has been aggressively buying up soccer rights, including taking the bulk of the European Champions League this year, and Italian, Spanish and German rights, and shows the Six Nations rugby union.
Other mooted potential contenders for NRL rights include the ESPN Network, while the NRL has held discussions with the likes of Google and Netflix – though it is unclear if they would pay big money for the rights.
Despite News's campaign against rugby league's chiefs, NRL remains an important sport for Foxtel and for Fox Sports in Sydney and Brisbane, where many fans subscribe to cable or satellite to watch its coverage.
Broadcast rights deal
Last week, after rival code the Australian Football League signed the largest broadcast rights deal in Australian sport history with News Corp, Seven West Media and Telstra, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch said: "I guess we will engage with the NRL in time." The three companies will pay $2.508 billion over six years.
Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein has since stressed that the "NRL are very good partners" and said "we obviously want to keep working with them". Foxtel provides some of the funding for Fox Sports' current $110 million-a-year NRL contract.
Fox Sports had been keen to show all eight weekly NRL matches live, against the five it now has rights for, but may baulk at paying the NRL a large increase after Nine cut into its live rights with its Saturday match.
Nine will telecast live four matches a round, up from the two live and one on replay it shows. It will also gain digital streaming rights for the four games, which will be played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon.
The additional fourth match was a blow for Fox Sports, which has exclusive rights to Saturday matches – a key pillar of its pitch to subscribers.
Nine has also held on to the final series, the high-rating State of Origin series and any other special rugby league matches. One of the three annual State of Origin matches, which are usually among the highest-rating television programs of the year, will move to Sunday evening.
Nine will have exclusivity over the Origin matches and the Grand Final, with the NRL to attempt to broker a deal with Fox Sports that could include other finals series matches.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/medi...-tv-rights-20150825-gj7e59.html#ixzz3joPtdQTI
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

 

[Flapper]

f**k me could you imagine the headlines: "DAVE SMITH IN BED WITH ISLAMIC NEWS CHANNEL". I, being not a complete idiot however, am all for the competitive tension this will bring on.

 

[insert.pause]

Phil Gould article which is quite good. Doesn't hide from the fact he has issues with how the NRL is currently being run but calls out News Ltd on their bullshit



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...n-the-bank-20150824-gj6vyv.html#ixzz3joO3BZTS

The only thing I don;t agree with is the bit in bold. Clubs will always run at a loss regardless of how much mone they are given because they will spend whatever they can to get the best performance possible.If the NRL gives every club an extra $2 million, does anyone believe they will just chuck it in the bank for a rainy day?

Clubs probably should get more money but lets not kid ourselves over what will happen to whatever money they are given

not only that, gould sounds a bit naive, you can't just cut out all these additional expenses and expect revenues to still increase, a lot more money has gone toward servicing the revenue growth. But there may be areas where the NRL could better utilise clubs rather than duplicating programs just so they are coming from NRL central. As long as clubs can be trusted to fullfill game wide objectives that may have no direct baring on their own clubs.

 

[LESStar58]

Phil Gould article which is quite good. Doesn't hide from the fact he has issues with how the NRL is currently being run but calls out News Ltd on their bullshit



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...n-the-bank-20150824-gj6vyv.html#ixzz3joO3BZTS

The only thing I don;t agree with is the bit in bold. Clubs will always run at a loss regardless of how much mone they are given because they will spend whatever they can to get the best performance possible.If the NRL gives every club an extra $2 million, does anyone believe they will just chuck it in the bank for a rainy day?

Clubs probably should get more money but lets not kid ourselves over what will happen to whatever money they are given

this is what got me to come around on Gus a few years ago.

one of the very few people who actually care about the game. Bless him.

 

[insert.pause]

f**k me could you imagine the headlines: "DAVE SMITH IN BED WITH ISLAMIC NEWS CHANNEL". I, being not a complete idiot however, am all for the competitive tension this will bring on.

:lol: the telegraph will photoshop Smith in a hijab.

 

[JW]

https://twitter.com/ThomasBoswell1

Latest news journo telling porkies about Rugby League

How about this gem? Especially the bit at the very bottom :lol:

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...ue-in-queensland/story-fnj9yd7s-1227497193398

GOLD Coast Suns CEO *Andrew Travis says the AFL’s new TV rights deal could finally give the sport the power to challenge rugby league as the premier code in Queensland. The AFL has been a pillar of strength in nearly every state across Australia but has been unable to wrestle Queensland from the grip of rugby league.
But the $2.5 billion broadcast deal, to begin from 2017, signed recently by the AFL has cast a large shadow over the NRL’s $925 million agreement with the Nine Network.
Travis said the deal could provide the game with a war chest to become the true national game. He said the topic would be a priority when talks begin with AFL headquarters about distribution of the profits.
“We need to broaden the deep connection we have with those that are engaged with the club and the AFL now needs to build a connection with new fans and grow the base of the game in this area,” Travis said.

“It is common sense and we need the resources to invest in plans and it is something we will be talking about.”
Australian football has a vastly higher participation rate in Queensland with its 180,132 players last year dwarfing rugby league’s 61,828. But it is yet to translate into a significant fan base with the sport still trailing rugby league in members and crowd figures.
The Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys boast a combined 42,830 *members and average crowd attendance of 48,557.
AFL counterparts Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns have 39,051 members and ave*rage crowd of 33,227.
The new deal will feature games from Thursday to Sunday but Travis said the club was not interested in moving from their schedule dominated by Saturday fixtures.
Travis said the timeslot catered for a unique Gold Coast community that hosts fans from other states looking for a weekend holiday location that incorporates their own team.
“We believe Saturday is the preferred day for our games, predominantly twilight,” Travis said.
“It performs best for us and that is where we get our biggest games.”
Travis said the club would also be open to a Friday night QClash game between the Gold Coast and Brisbane Lions.
HOW THEY COMPARE

Gold Coast Suns:
Members: 13,643 Ave attendance: 14,069 Total attendance: 126,623
Brisbane Lions:
Members: 25,408 Ave attendance: 19,158 Total attendance: 191,582
Brisbane Broncos:
Members: 28,500 Ave attendance: 32,395 Total attendance: About 421,135
North Qld Cowboys:
Members: 14,330 Ave attendance: 16,162 Total attendance: 177,782
State participation numbers in 2014:
Aussie rules: 180,132
Rugby league: 61,828
Source: Respective clubs.

:lol: Sure, sure. f**king relocated Victorians.

 

[Flapper]

:lol: the telegraph will photoshop Smith in a hijab.

They should already have the time they did it to Mike Carlton on file, change heads, add a footy and presto!

 

[Desert Qlder]

Not to dampen things too much but there isn't much to that beIN report. It's really just speculation on the part of the writers.

 

[adamkungl]

Phil Gould article which is quite good. Doesn't hide from the fact he has issues with how the NRL is currently being run but calls out News Ltd on their bullshit



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...n-the-bank-20150824-gj6vyv.html#ixzz3joO3BZTS

The only thing I don;t agree with is the bit in bold. Clubs will always run at a loss regardless of how much mone they are given because they will spend whatever they can to get the best performance possible.If the NRL gives every club an extra $2 million, does anyone believe they will just chuck it in the bank for a rainy day?

Clubs probably should get more money but lets not kid ourselves over what will happen to whatever money they are given

A key point of Gould's complaint though, is that the clubs and players and grassroots are the reasons the game is popular - they're the ones that allow the admins to get the big TV deals. So regardless of your or the NRLs opinion of their ability to competently run a business (which is fairly patronising to clubs that aren't currently propped up by the NRL and manage to maintain success) it is only fair that they should get a decent slice of the pie.

This is the first time the NRL has generated enough money to really give it a decent shot. If the clubs got their demands and still managed to c**k it up, then sure let the NRL treat them like babies.