How the NRL can cash in on TV
Brad Walter
July 23, 2011
NRL matches could be worth an extra $70 million a year to free-to-air broadcasters by using existing stoppages in play as advertising opportunities.
The estimated windfall is detailed in a proposal from NRL Stats chief executive Andrew Moufarrige, who has looked at the amount of time lost in matches due to stoppages for scrums, goal-line dropouts and conversions, and found that more than 10 minutes of extra game time could be found by simply stopping the clock for 15 to 30 seconds each time to allow a television commercial.
The time-off might also appease fans who complain about time wasting due to such stoppages and trainers being constantly on the field as they would only be allowed to give players drinks during designated breaks.
Moufarrige has discussed the idea with a number of leading officials and coaches, who believe it would have little impact on the game itself while providing obvious benefits.
He also predicted such changes would encourage a bidding war between all the commercial free-to-air networks for matches, as even the lower-ranked games would have far greater advertising opportunities.
The issue has emerged as officials prepare to start negotiations for the next television deal beginning in 2013 once the independent commission is formally in place, with Channel Nine boss David Gyngell saying this week that the league needed to create more opportunities for commercial breaks to have any chance of matching AFL's recent $1.2 billion broadcast deal.
Under his proposal, Moufarrige said State of Origin games could be worth an additional $3 million each, and a regular season NRL match up to $300,000.
''Remember, we have got MasterChef, [Australian] Idol, Oprah and Seinfeld all rolled into one,'' Moufarrige said. ''The grand final and State of Origin is like having four Super Bowls. Advertisers would pay a premium for commercial slots in those games, and people would watch them because the ads would be so good.
''NRL is the No.1 TV product. It has seven of the top 10 programs on free-to-air and 72 of the top 100 on pay TV. Also, NRL is the No.1 TV product in 16 of the 20 key TV markets in Australia and New Zealand. AFL only wins in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
''AFL is a longer game, and there are advertising opportunities after every goal. But we can add an extra $70 million in ad revenue for NRL games with some small changes to breaks and restarts that give everyone consistency.''
Under Moufarrige's proposal, each half would be played over 50 minutes of real time that included stoppages for scrums, penalties, tries, restarts and video referee rulings. The players would have to be ready to resume play after the 15- or 30-second break for each stoppage or risk a penalty.
He also suggested introducing a two-minute drinks break after 25 minutes when interchanges could be made. ''That would divide the game into 25 minute packets of content which are more suitable for mobile and broadband providers,'' he said. ''What we want is to get all the free-to-air broadcasters and Telstra competing with Fox Sports.
''Games one to four will rate and pay for themselves on free-to-air without these changes but with them they could be worth up to $300K extra per game. The bonus is that games five to eight would now become valuable on free-to-air with even 300,000 to 500,000 viewers, as there is now 10 to 15 minutes ad time set over two hours.''
