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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...sh-and-a-tv-deal/story-e6frg6z6-1226457676123
League silences critics with a wad of cash and a TV deal
by: BRENT READ
From: The Australian
August 25, 2012 12:00AM
IN hindsight, it is hard not to note the symmetry. On rugby league's version of Big Tuesday, one of the men most responsible for the billion-dollar deal that secured the game's future was overseas on a surfing holiday, enjoying the swell off the coast of Indonesia.
Former NRL chief executive David Gallop -- soon to become the chief executive of Football Federation Australia -- was the forgotten man as his interim successor, Shane Mattiske, and ARL Commission chairman John Grant announced a $1.025bn partnership with the Nine Network and Fox Sports that consolidated rugby league's standing as king of the east coast.
That the sport was even in a position to break the $1bn barrier was in no small part down to Gallop. During his 10-year tenure as the game's pre-eminent figure, Gallop kept rugby league alive, often in spite of itself.
He dealt with a litany of atrocities. He juggled the self-interest of clubs and the political minefield created by having two masters -- the game was formerly owned by the Australian Rugby League and News Limited, publisher of The Weekend Australian.
The code flourished in the face of its own fatalism. Rugby league types often speak about the code's capacity for cannibalism, but it didn't just survive during the Gallop era, it thrived. It saw off the threat of rugby union and, thanks to the broadcasting billions, is well placed to do the same with the AFL.
Ratings maintained record pace -- this year's State of Origin series was the biggest in the code's history. Crowds continued to grow. Now it has a broadcasting deal that reflects its popularity.
"This is a great working-class game," South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson says.
"That's why it's strong in western Sydney, that's why it's strong in the country, that's why it's strong in north Queensland.
"People play it, they grow up with the toughness of the game. It has lived though Super League because every week there are these people out there who sell raffle tickets and do barbecues to keep it alive. It will never change. It's in our DNA."
Rugby league's rebirth from the wreckage of the Super League war is a story in itself. The mid-to-late 1990s almost destroyed the code, as the ARL and News Limited fought a bitter battle to gain control. Peace eventually arrived as the warring parties formed a joint venture, but the game remained fragmented.
Old wounds were intermittently reopened but, slowly, the sport regained the traction it lost. In 2005, rugby league took a giant step forward when Wests Tigers' exhilarating brand of rugby league captured the imagination. Superstars such as Benji Marshall, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and the soon-to-return Sonny Bill Williams emerged.
In 2008, the league made a conscious decision to work on its public image during a two-day strategy session at the SCG. That meeting, which focused on the next broadcasting deal, was also the forerunner to the formation of the independent commission.
"There was a clear focus on getting the game the value it deserved in the next media rights deal," Mattiske says.
"We have always had a belief in the game's value and its strength. What we needed to do was put in place some strategies at that point in time with regard to the media rights which would ensure we maximised the outcome.
"One of the things we needed to focus on there was our positive player image."
The success of those measures were exemplified when the ARLC was named Governing Body of the Year at the international Beyond Sport Federation Awards in London last month for its effect on social change, particularly in the indigenous community.
All the while, people kept watching. For all the bitterness over the past 20 years, rugby league never lost its allure as a television sport. Ratings this year have been bigger than ever. Origin is a phenomenon. This year's three games -- it was won by Queensland for a seventh consecutive year -- dominated the broadcasting landscape.
The final piece of the puzzle was the ARL and News Limited handing over ownership of the game to an independent body. After years of negotiations, the NRL finally made way for the ARL Commission.
The commission, formalised in February and led by Grant, has attracted its share of criticism, but it had a major victory this week. As Grant said, they answered the billion-dollar question with a billion-dollar answer. The critics were silenced by a wad of cash.
"It's always been a hugely popular sport," says NSW Sports Minister Graham Annesley, who was Gallop's right-hand man until entering politics last year.
"It obviously went through its well-documented dramas in the 1990s. What Gallop did through the first decade of this millennium was to put stability back in the game. He brought the game back together after its split . . . and set it up to the point where the game has done the richest television deal ever. That hasn't happened without David Gallop's contribution -- it's as simple as that.
"You only have to look at the TV ratings. They have always been unbelievable. I think its true value has been recognised."
Richardson says: "The reality is it is a great game -- you start from there. The players are great, it is a great game to watch, it's great for TV -- that's the first thing.
"The second thing is, I think we have all underestimated how great the game is. If you look at a scale from one to 10, we have probably been at a two for a long time. Now everyone can see the opportunity to be a 10. That has been shown up by the TV deal.
"We obviously undervalued ourselves for a long time on TV. We spent three or four years analysing what it was worth -- we never did any of that stuff before."
Again, Gallop can take some credit for the game finally realising its potential. Three years ago he appointed consultancy firm LEK to help prepare for the broadcasting negotiations.
One of the first things media expert Colin Smith discovered was the game's capacity for underselling itself. Despite rampant ratings on television, rugby league was content to live in the shadow of the AFL. Not any more.
"When I first started, rugby league didn't know how big and strong it was," says Smith. "It was very self-effacing.
"It just didn't realise it is very significant in its own right. It didn't realise it had the mojo. It believed a whole lot of hype that came from down south. It had been the poor cousin of the (AFL).
"People were surprised when I showed them the numbers.
"I think one of the things that has come out of this process has been that at club level, at the NRL level and the ARL Commission level, it has discovered how big and strong it is.
"I think the work that David did in getting people like me and others on board . . . culminating in breaking away from the old model to a new commission, that was the final catalyst for what happened."
The challenge is to keep building. Rugby league now has the finances to confront its many challenges head-on. It has the muscle to protect its heartland in western Sydney and the Gold Coast, which is under siege from the AFL.
Clubs can expect greater financial support. Players can start earning as much as their counterparts in the AFL and rugby union. Thanks to the commission, decisions will be made for the greater good. Money will be distributed where it is needed most.
Some should trickle back to grass roots. Good times lie ahead.
"We have been restricted in whatever we have done," Richardson says. "People want to bag the NRL, but the bottom line is they were restricted by finances. I wouldn't be overly critical of the NRL in what they have done, because they have done it in difficult circumstances.
"We had to put this game back together again. It was Humpty Dumpty, mate. It had fallen off the wall. There wasn't enough soldiers to put it together again. But we now have the soldiers. So beware . . . I am telling you, Humpty is not only back together again, he is looking to get a girlfriend."
