http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...set-to-hit-ground-running-20120206-1r1xr.html
A NEW television agreement in New Zealand is set to be the first deal finalised under the independent commission that will take over the running of rugby league this week.
The independent commission, led by IT guru and former league international John Grant, will officially assume control of the game from News Ltd and the ARL on Friday.
While Grant and the other seven commissioners - Ian Elliott, Catherine Harris, Jeremy Sutcliffe, Wayne Pearce, Chris Sarra, Peter Gregg and Gary Pemberton - were announced last July, negotiations between lawyers from News Ltd, the ARL and the game's other stakeholders have left many of the game's most pressing issues on hold until now.
Advertisement: Story continues below However, regular meetings between the commissioners, key NRL officials and other stakeholders have ensured the game's new decision makers are ready to hit the ground running after formally taking control.
Among their first priorities will be kick-starting negotiations for new television, internet and sponsorship deals, which all expire at the end of the season. Even more pressing is the New Zealand TV deal after the agreement with Sky TV expired at the end of the season.
The pay-TV broadcaster aired last weekend's All Stars game and will televise the Charity Shield between South Sydney and St George Illawarra on February 18 but three weeks from the start of the season the NRL has no television deal in the country that holds the World Cup and provided one of last year's grand finalists, the New Zealand Warriors.
Sky executives say they tabled an offer late last year but were told that nothing could be agreed to without the consent of the independent commission. Surprisingly, the Kiwi broadcaster is believed to have initially offered less than the $14 million a season Sky has been paying in previous seasons but the new deal is expected to be worth a similar amount as it will be a rollover of the last agreement for a year.
Such a move would give the commission more time to negotiate a better deal in 12 months' time and also bring the New Zealand and Australian television rights deals into line with each other. Channel Nine, Seven and Ten have all been involved in discussions for the free-to-air rights, with the latter believed to be interested in broadcasting games on Sunday and Monday nights.
Telstra's deals for sponsorship of the NRL premiership and new media rights are also due to expire at the end of the season and it is expected that officials will meet with the telco once the independent commission is in place. Telstra recently signed a $153 million deal with the AFL to broadcast matches via the internet but the value of that arrangement is now in doubt after last week's Federal Court ruling allowing Optus customers to watch games on mobiles, tablets and computers for free.
Some officials have suggested the ruling could strip one-fifth of the value from the new media deal the NRL negotiates but the court decision is set to be challenged on appeal and the rival football codes are lobbying the federal government to amend Australia's Copyright Act.
The amount of income the game earns from the next broadcast deal and new media rights will have a significant impact on the size of the salary cap that each club can spend and how much players are paid. The
Herald has been told that clubs are operating on an understanding that the salary cap will rise to $5 million next season but nothing will be decided until the television deal is finalised.
The boss of the NRL, David Gallop, who has recently finalised a four-year contract extension to oversee the game's new administration, has been working towards ensuring annual grants to clubs match the salary cap and that will be largely determined by the value of the television deal. Club bosses were told at last year's NRL summit officials are hoping for between $1 billion and $1.4 billion for the broadcast rights. The AFL negotiated $1.1 billion in its latest deal with Channel Seven, Foxtel and Telstra.
