Northern exposure: Perth Origin a success but Brisbane ripe for growth
By Roy Masters
June 23, 2019 — 8.00pm
The Perth Origin match is a guaranteed financial success but any plans to base an NRL team in the Western Australian capital would involve a significant contribution from the state’s richest man, mining magnate Andrew ‘‘Twiggy’’ Forrest, to supplement any commitment from the WA government.
"Unless Twiggy finds another $200m, a second Brisbane team is ahead of Perth," was the observation of one ARL commissioner.
Forrest is a rugby union man and owns the now-defunct former Super Rugby team, the Western Force, as well as underwriting a proposed Global Rapid Rugby competition involving teams from Japan, Fiji, Hong Kong and Samoa.
Significantly, Papua New Guinea is not part of his football plans but the country is a mecca for miners, leading Colin Smith, director of Global Media and Sports, to say, "There is actually a good argument for Twiggy to fund a NRL team, not in Perth but Port Moresby. Rugby league is the only sport of substance in PNG and would have massive appeal. The PNG Hunters won the 2017 Queensland Cup."
Smith, who has advised Forrest, as well as the NRL, AFL, FFA and RUPA, in broadcast deals, has been a long-term advocate of a second Brisbane team.
However, Channel Nine and Foxtel have made it clear they do not want an 18-team competition, where the favourites would be Perth/Port Moresby to join an additional Brisbane team. Apart from the scheduling problems of a ninth game – the existing 6pm Friday and 2pm Sunday times are unpopular with clubs and viewers – Foxtel is facing severe financial challenges and the audience of free-to-air TV is contracting.
TV’s "halo" effect, where viewers stay with Nine – owners of this masthead – after an NRL game has ended, is being undermined by OTT providers such as Netflix.
But rugby league’s share of the diminishing FTA audience is increasing and NRL metrics around dead time in games and the percentage of time the ball is in play are all on the rise.
So, a 17th team in a popular market could be attractive compromise to broadcasters and more acceptable to existing NRL clubs who fear a reduction in their share of the TV revenue pie, as well as the challenge of finding another 60 capable players for two additional teams.
"Brisbane is currently underserved by the NRL," Smith says. "A second Brisbane team makes sense, compared to an 18-team competition, which is a completely different set of analysis. Significantly, broadcasters, both Channel Nine and Fox Sports, want another NRL team in Brisbane.
"Brisbanites/Queenslander NRL fans are very parochial, especially to the Maroons and Queensland clubs.
"NRL TV viewership in Queensland is Broncos No.1, then the Cowboys, then the Storm (via their Queensland roots), then the Titans, ahead of any Sydney team." Smith anticipates broadcast revenue despite a shrinking FTA market and pay TV’s challenges, could rise by up to 20% when the current deal concludes at the end of the 2022 season.
"Another NRL Brisbane team will drive ticketing, merchandising, sponsorship and critically - in a more challenged broadcast environment — a major upsurge for media rights, including a plus 15-20 per cent growth,’’ he said.
"The commercial return upside for another Brisbane team is very significant. It means that each week in Brisbane there will be a live NRL game for fans to attend. Their attendances will be four to five times greater than the average attendances in Sydney." However, the new team must be home grown and not transplanted.
"It must have a direct connection to Brisbane or be a part of a community," he said. "It must not be a relocated team from Sydney. That will definitely be rejected in Queensland.
"Having a fourth Queensland NRL team can also be catalyst for NRL growth in regional Queensland heartland in markets with local games in Cairns, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Maroochydore etc just like AFL plays in Ballarat, Launceston, Hobart, Darwin and Cairns. In 2019, there are zero NRL games in regional Queensland which is dumb."
Redcliffe, to the north of Brisbane, with its young family demographic and existing strong club culture exemplified by the Dolphins, is the popular candidate.
ARLC chair Peter Beattie would not be drawn on the second Brisbane team/Perth issue.
"The biggest challenge facing us is getting the next media deal right and part of that is getting the best footprint for the game," he said.
amp.smh.com.au
crowshistory.afc.com.au
