docbrown
Coach
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Again the issue of oversaturation as viewers become more selective about their choices. The more options the more fractured the audience.
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Perth and Melbourne need those resources. The game is not ready to take on Adelaide too. We could but it would be hugely expensive and take away focus and funding from the two frontier markets we're already trying to build. Adelaide will still be there for the tackling when Melbourne and Perth no longer need the extra attention and are contributing in their own right to subsidising further expansion.
Except the AFL has committed itself to building and subsidising four sides in frontier markets, each competing with another side in the same market. Even with the television boom, that leaves them less room to move to help existing clubs, even in heartland expansion markets like Adelaide. By comparison we'll be building and subsidising only two frontier sides. Any resources we have can be focussed on those two without stretching the game so far that we leave our heartland clubs exposed. Adelaide will still be there when the game is ready to take on that project. But we don't need it yet. We do need Melbourne and Perth.
League set to cash in on flying start
Josh Rakic
May 1, 2011
Bright future ... NRL chief executive David Gallop says league has got off to a great start this year and can go from strength to strength. Photo: Adam McLean
With the NRL seemingly in a state of flux, Josh Rakic quizzed chief executive David Gallop.
Sun-Herald: Off-field drama aside, how is this year's NRL competition performing overall compared with last year's?
David Gallop: ''We can't help but be pleased with how the season has gone so far. While there is an element of frustration around the restructure of the administration, I'm really pleased that everyone here hasn't downed tools and sat and waited, but actually got in and made sure that the season started with a bang. And our results in terms of crowds, television ratings and level of interest have been outstanding. The results particularly in terms of TV ratings has made people stand up and take notice. We had our biggest Sydney weekend of crowds ever last week, and that's with some poor weather. The following of some of the Sydney clubs at the moment, with the membership drive well and truly entrenched, is one of the pleasing aspects of the game. Our goal is to run a close competition and one where fans are excited about their teams. And if you look at the closeness of the games and the number of upsets you'd have to think we're doing pretty well. And I notice there is an enthusiasm around the coverage, which is pleasing.''
S-H: While the NRL is hamstrung somewhat in terms of striking a new TV deal, how is the process going?
DG: "We have said all along that our formal negotiations won't start until the restructured administration is in place. We've got a year longer to run than the AFL, but we're certainly talking to the various networks and reminding them of how compelling our content is at the moment. And we've got enormous interest from all the platforms. And that puts us in good shape. One of the issues will be football on a Saturday night, there's a tension between the exclusivity of Super Saturday and the price that is attached to that, as opposed to another free-to-air slot. And that's something that we're keen to explore when we go to a formal negotiation stage. There's no doubt that a Saturday night free-to-air game will be something we need to consider. We've got an issue particularly around Monday night footy, and making sure that we have to put some precision around how we value Monday night footy. We know that it is unpopular with clubs in terms of their gate receipts, but this season has demonstrated what a powerful product it is for television and as long as we can get that value properly articulated, than I expect everyone will get behind Monday night footy into the future.''
S-H: Does the AFL's $1.25 billion deal with Channel Seven and Fox Sports concern the NRL?
DG: ''The AFL's outcome augurs well for us. It shows that sports rights are very valuable in the fragmented media world that now exists. Now is an opportunity for everyone who loves the game to get behind it and talk about how valuable it is - that is a way that people can help deliver what I'm sure will be an outstanding result.''
S-H: Will you still be involved with the game under the new commission?
DG: ''Both the ARL and News Ltd have asked me to continue in the role of chief executive and I'm happy to do that. I think there are some good times ahead for the game, which someone with my experience can help with. We've got a good track record with dealing with issues fairly and reasonably, and consulting with the various stakeholders about the game's decisions. But there does come a point where the league needs to make decisions. The league runs the game and the league has the commercial relationships that fund the game. The league needs to make decisions about how those commercial relationships get protected, how the image gets protected. There will always be debate about decisions but if the issues that arise are dealt with fairly, impartially and reasonably, then it all helps keep fans' confidence and the health of the game strong. And I think we have a good track record of that. You need to be in the game for a fair while to fully understand where the landmines might be planted and the fact that it's a complicated merging of the great things about sport and the great things about business.''
S-H: Has the NRL finalised its finding into the Melbourne Storm salary cap rort and what can we expect?
DG: ''We are still doing some work on that report and we expect it will be released in the next couple of weeks. There will be no repercussions in terms of further fines etc from it. We are not planning any further penalties. It's purely a wrap-up of how it all happened, and there is an important message in that: that if you have even thought about getting involved in this sort of thing, you need to know that our forensic ability now means that we can potentially uncover how these things are done. It's almost as important as the penalties to remind people how far we can dig and how an improper deal can be placed under the spotlight. We've learned a lot from the experience, but it's best not to say too much about the report until it is released.''
S-H: What's the biggest factor in expanding the game?
DG: ''There's an interesting issue around whether expansion should be done to shore up your heartland or whether it should be done as a strategic move into a new area to grow the game. Both have got merit and there is a mixture of those things across all of the applications so far. We would want a business plan that shows us sustainability in its own right but also something that brings growth for everyone. One of the first things for the commission to look at will be where we are placed strategically over the next few years, and expansion will be part of that.''
As well as MOn night on FTA ,i would like to see still see three Sat games.
TV deal will make or break David Gallop
- Rebecca Wilson
- From: The Daily Telegraph
- April 30, 2011 12:00AM
RUGBY league boss David Gallop faces his stiffest test as a football administrator in coming months. Forget badly behaved footballers. They have become part and parcel of Gallop's job description in recent years.
The big challenge for the NRL chief will come when he sits at the negotiating table with media heavies to determine television rights for the next five years.
Gallop has been set up for an almighty triumph, or a monumental fall, by the AFL rights deal that was signed off this week.
With a whopping $1.2 billion changing hands, Gallop now faces either a bare cupboard or a pot of gold when he pens his deal with the networks.
He's under enormous pressure from clubs and players to come up with something as magical as the AFL's billion-dollar mark when he negotiates the deal. It's a far cry from the $500 million the NRL received last time.
The upbeat talk coming from Gallop's office is that the AFL's coup can only be good for league. It proves, he says, that television sports rights are big, big business at present - the most lucrative they have ever been.
It's true that league is in a rosier position, ratings-wise, than AFL, being marginally ahead on national television ratings and holding an edge on pay television, too.
An astonishing 77 of the top 100 programs on Foxtel are NRL matches.
Gallop predicts another bidding war is on the cards and that the Seven and Ten networks will take part in the auction against Nine and Foxtel.
But there's a catch here. AFL boss Andrew Demetriou managed to engage all television networks in a duel for the rights. Foxtel's desire to enhance its AFL image was at the heart of it.
Currently suffering because it can only show the weaker AFL games live, Foxtel went all out to secure every single match for live coverage.
Some commentators incorrectly claimed yesterday that Foxtel would now attract stronger games; the fact is that they have now grabbed all nine games, every weekend, for live coverage.
The hitch for Gallop as he seeks the pot of gold is that Foxtel already has a strong showing in league (not to mention how much it just paid for AFL). Lucky for him, though, Super Saturday is Foxtel's jewel in the crown and won't be given up without an almighty fight.
The chance of the pay television network forking out another several hundred million for rights to more games is, however, minimal.
The Nine Network is unlikely to agree to Foxtel showing more matches live, so Gallop is stuck with trying to extricate as much as possible from a bidding war between the free-to-air networks if he is to achieve the outcome he desires.
Assuming Seven, Ten and Nine engage, Seven is a genuine chance of securing both State of Origin and club rights. Kerry Stokes is cashed up and it is entirely feasible that the two codes could co-exist on one network because of the new digital channels.
It's a given that Nine will bid, but how high will they have to go?
Ten is the wildcard in the pack. Having missed out on AFL and deciding to scale back sports coverage on its One HD digital channel, the big question is whether league remains a priority.
The network's kingpin, Lachlan Murdoch, is a league nut. Ten is in dire need of advertising revenue and ratings. It has suffered badly this year through its failed foray into news and current affairs. League may well be the answer.
Gallop is the central player in the negotiations. His hands are now tied, as he has been forbidden to proceed until the new commission is up and running.
Given that there are many hurdles to jump before that commission is in place, Gallop is running out of time to weigh up carefully the options that will give him the biggest bang for his buck.
If Gallop fails to secure the big billion-dollar deal, he will face a hostile group of club bosses who believe he undersold them last time around.
If the league chief doesn't deliver, he will have them jumping all over him.
These are interesting days indeed for the NRL.
The AFL has once again set the benchmark, even though its product, on paper, is worth less than the NRL's.
Demetriou's coup has set up an enthralling battlefield for Gallop. His future in the job depends on whether or not he can navigate his way through the negotiations with as sound a hand as we have seen from Demetriou.
Nobody will remember Gallop for how he handled the latest off-field crisis.
The back-stabbers in club land have their eyes firmly on how he manages the television deal.
Chances are he will emerge a hero from the deal.
However, like it or not, the NRL boss is fighting for his job if he fails.
