El Diablo
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Gallop flags a compromise deal on fixing games schedule
Glenn Jackson
November 19, 2011
"Giving fans certainty around the schedule has a lot of upsides" ... Gallop. Photo: Quentin Jones
NRL boss David Gallop has raised the prospect of a fixed schedule during the term of the next broadcast rights deal for all but the final few weeks of the season.
With clubs and supporters campaigning for a fixed draw, Gallop has for the first time suggested the compromise package, which would allow fans to know the venue and times for NRL matches for all but the final month of the competition. In the last four weeks the schedule would be drawn up to ensure teams fighting for the highest places in the premiership are given top billing.
The NRL now uses a rolling schedule, which can give supporters little time to organise travel to matches and clubs to assemble corporate and fan support.
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Gallop is clearly a fan of fixed scheduling, but while there have been many saying the administration should switch to a year-round fixed draw, he can still understand the logic of compromising for the networks who pay for the product.
''Certainly towards the end of the season we can see an advantage in the blockbuster games being assured of being in the best timeslots,'' Gallop said.
The trick for the NRL will be balancing the needs and wants of supporters and clubs, who could lock in long-term schedules, against those of the networks, who will bid for the next broadcast rights. Incumbent free-to-air provider Channel Nine has never been a fan of the fixed scheduling, and NRL officials will know that altering the current system will come at a price. The value of the next broadcast rights deal will be diluted somewhat.
But with Gallop on record as saying that fixed scheduling is a goal of the administration, and in all likelihood this also being an aim of the new independent commission, it appears that either a totally fixed or predominantly fixed schedule is the likely result from 2013.
''It's certainly a goal,'' Gallop said. ''Moving to a fixed schedule is something that the clubs and fans feel strongly about. Clearly we will need to discuss it with the broadcasters, and make an assessment on any change in value that it produces. Giving fans certainty around the schedule has a lot of upsides for the game. At the same time, making sure that our best games are in our best timeslots is also an important consideration.''
The AFL has employed a fixed model, although this year a floating final round was introduced to ensure finals-bound teams were not hampered by travelling.
The networks prefer to have rolling schedules because teams which had been expected to perform can be quickly become ratings duds. At the start of this year, teams such as the eventual premiers, Manly, the Warriors and Melbourne might have been ignored by broadcasters if the schedule was fixed before the season began. Conversely, Channel Nine might have favoured teams including Parramatta and Sydney Roosters, who had been highly rated but whose top-eight prospects ended earlier than most had expected.
If you're running a typical three to four week lead time on scheduling games that would mean that you're scheduling week 6 after only one or two rounds. But what's the point in waiting until then? You're hardly going to get any real guide to form after only a couple of weeks. You'd get pretty much as "accurate" a result by scheduling 10 to 11 rounds up front and waiting until round 6 or 7 before scheduling anything else. At least then you've got six to seven weeks of results on which to make an informed judgement on how to schedule the season beyond that.
& if they pay us what the game is worth ...do you still have a problem....
The Commission is under no obligation to enter any agreement that does not give it what it wants in terms of where and how NRL matches are shown. News Ltd have the right to match whatever deal the Commission actually does agree to, conditions and all. It is nothing scarier than that.
