Commission still a year away: Gallop
Josh Rakic
January 30, 2011
FORGET March. The NRL independent commission is still 12 months away.
NRL chief executive David Gallop has dashed hopes that a new governing body will be in place for the 2011 season, revealing that the final phase of the transition could be up to a year away.
''I think it's still going to take a bit longer,'' Gallop told
The Sun-Herald. ''I don't think there is a fixed timeline.
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''I think we are in a good position where we have the new building on the way and when that's ready in 12 months' time it will coincide with the end of the transition to the commission. So that's been a good piece of timing and I think it's going to be great for the game.''
The delay raises fears that a crucial TV broadcast rights deal could be compromised. However, Gallop said negotiations between networks and the NRL, which is half-owned by News Ltd, had been fast-tracked and could be finalised as early as June.
''[The rights] expire at the end of 2012 but I would have thought by the middle of this year we'll be a long way down the track,'' Gallop said.
''Maximising the dollar is obviously critical but we have to be conscious of how the game is exposed and we want it to be exposed in the best possible way. All indications are that we will do really well and that's exciting for the game.''
So how well? If the NRL's current agreement is $500 million over five years - a 60 per cent increase on the previous deal - and market share has skyrocketed, is the reported $1 billion feasible?
''It's hard to put a number on it but I'm really confident that we'll do really well,'' Gallop said.
''My ideal outcome is pretty simple - it's big dollars and a level of exposure and promotion that the game deserves. I've been talking to the TV networks for over a year now, staying in touch and reminding them of our position and the progression of the commission.
''Years ago there was a view that there was one or two big games every weekend and the rest were pretty much the also-rans, but now our competition is at a point where there are no easy games and every team is a contender.''
Gallop did not rule out the possibility of all games returning to free-to-air TV.
''There's a possibility it could all be on the one network,'' he said.
''Digital television has opened a lot of doors and apparently Channel 10 is starting a rugby league program as well.
''But the good thing is, there are a lot of possibilities.''
Gallop conceded the establishment of the commission had been a drawn-out process. ''It's been important that things haven't ground to a halt waiting for it either,'' he said. ''My job has been to keep everything ticking along and then it'll be ready when it happens.
''There's no fixed timeline for the independent commission. But there are various people working on it at the moment. Obviously, identifying the eight commissioners is imperative and I can tell you that process has just started. At some point in the next few months it will start to get up and running.''
Gallop, who intends to lead the commission and is responsible for helping to generate greater crowds, television audiences and revenue than ever before, said suggestions that a fully operational commission would be up and running by the start of this season were fanciful.
He laughed off claims it should have been in place by now.
''It was naive to think it would happen really quickly,'' he said.
''One of the best things to come out of it will be a greater connection between the professional end of the game and the grassroots, but merging those entities is a very complicated exercise. And I think it was naive to think that would be done in the space of weeks or months.''
The Sun-Herald can reveal that a collective of NSWRL, QRL, News Ltd and NRL club representatives has begun the selection process for the board's eight commissioners.
''The NRL people are the most buoyant I've seen them at the end of a season about what's coming up,'' Gallop said.
''The wish is that it will allow the game to articulate its strengths and then leverage what we all know is great about it, but I think from time to time the game hasn't been very good at demonstrating.
''It's going to be great to have eight well-credentialled, experienced people from different aspects of business to help guide rugby league.
''My aspiration for it is, you take an idea to them and they say, 'Yeah, that's good but have you thought of this because I come from this industry and we did this …'
''So you can pull down experience from across the community and finetune what you've been working on. And they sign off on what the game's position on something is going to be.
''But at the same time I think we need to be careful not to expect that they are going to have the answers to everything. There's a renewed confidence in the fact that we are going to have a more efficient, co-ordinated organisational structure and that's going to rub off on sponsors and broadcasters.''
