Trebian

Its their first point of call. Many here cannot accept a point of view that is different to their own or a logic that they have not previously explored. A failure at something does not make that something fundamentally flawed merely the attempt.

WatchNRL was owned by Foxtel and Foxtel was bought by Dazn. Numbers of subscribers are not in the public domain however numbers are supposed to have risen 10% last year. Of course that figure could be meaningless. As part of the 5.3bn broadcast deal was a commitment to share (percentages unknown) any growth from international subscribers. This would likely include any new UK subscribers that signed up due to SL coming on board. Funds from this have been cynically stated as funding the NRL's purchase of SL but there can be no denying the benefit. This is also likely to be a factor in Global round and Vegas. I do not know if there are any arrangements being considered for Australian subscribers coming on board with any SL inclusion. A couple of years ago, PVL stated that every new WatchNRL subscriber was pure profit as the incremental costs were negligible. As an aside, an Australian Financial institution recently issued a forecast for NRL revenue in 2026 at over $900m and noted that this was pre the new Broadcast deal. Even at $900m, this represents a 5% increase on 2025 and is likely conservative.

Check the Financial Report, the distributions were over and above that and to some tune.

At this rate, he will be standing for president next! Sadly, he might even be an improvement.

And to attain that title he needs like -100 hrs.

Not denying any of that however it is nebulous in the sense that last year, the NRL paid additional "bonus" distributions on top of their committed obligations. Hence, they could have made their profit $50m or $150m if they so chose. So to look at their retained profit and say they couldn't afford to do X is rubbish.

Profit is a little nebulous in organisations such as the NRL that literally gives away money in distributions to clubs, the women's game and pathways each year especially when some of that is by way of bonus distributions. Hence looking solely at Profit for an organisation like the NRL is under estimating what they can do. By 2028, when the new broadcast deal kicks in, the NRL will have revenue well in excess of 1bn AUD or around 500m pounds per annum. Forecasts are predicting that they will clear 900m AUD in 2026. So your 50m quid per annum for 4 years isn't exactly fantasy land RL rich.

Leigh would be top of my list.

But to do that they have to get the likes of Beaumont out of the decision making process.

People are quick to nay say anything new like this but seriously, how much money would it take ? Superleague had one of their best years last year and had revenue of just over 17m ($34m). NRL booked $57m retained profit. The French clubs would likely join, plus 3 of the biggest SL clubs as I have indicated. London is already there. You use Elite one 1 as a base and form an 8 team comp. How much is that costing you ? You have Dazn as a given. Does SKY jump ship as you now have the big boys ? What about sponsorship ? This is not as far fetched as it sounds.

Trying to manage SL from OZ would be a nightmare but trying to manage a properly structured business with the right people in the right places is done every day and by companies with lower revenue than the NRL. I am still hoping that this thing is brought kicking and screaming into the daylight but then given the archaic structure we are wrestling with then blowing the darn thing up might be the way forward - separate meeting in the George anyone ?

Fortunately, not all English people, Northerners or club chairmen are dumb Luddites that cannot manage their way out of a wet paper bag. There is money to be made by growing the game globally and the UK are a key part of that but some of those like Beaumont are too busy worrying about their egos and little things that don't matter and completely losing sight of the opportunity that may be out there. Think about it this way, the entire and increased revenue of the English Superleague in 2026 before distributions was less than the retained profit after investment and increased distributions in the NRL. In other words, the NRL could completely fund the Superleague without any sponsorship or broadcast funds out of the loose change in its pockets. The fact that a major investment and growth initiative can get stymied by a single little club buffoon is testament to a governance structured that is broken and likely beyond repair. The only way forward the is to break the model and the NRL have the ability to do that. I had previously wondered if the insistence of London being "in" wasn't some kind of loyalty test just to see how serious these people are. The more sensible and well established SL clubs like Wigan and Warrington would be equally as frustrated by the little upstart and would be likely to jump ship should the NRL decide to mount any competing structure such as I have suggested. Without say Wigan / Warrington / Leeds, the Superleague would likely collapse in a heap despite how much certain individuals might complain. Mr. V'landys will likely see this play out to the bitter end, but do not be surprised if he has a Plan B tucked up his sleeve.

"https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/super-league-club-owner-derek-beaumont-refuses-to-vote-london-broncos-in-as-ransom-claim-made-119323/" Walk away, Set up your own NRL Europe based out of Paris, Include London and other desirable locations (e.g Dublin, Paris ......), Fly in Aus expertise to fast track new European clubs, Invite selective SL clubs to join (likely Wigan, Warrington, Leeds and the French clubs), Talk to broadcasters including Sky, Dazn, Bien or whoever, Talk to potential Sponsors, Launch 2028 season If the NRL went in hard and with sufficient backing, they could pull this off.

He is on a mission and he believes that mission should have been delivered decades ago. He is trying to strike while the iron is hot and hence the tight deadlines to everything. He will keep going and going and then at some point, he will suddenly quit. That is why Abdo was a perfect foil to his enthusiasm helping him keep his feet on the ground.

Regardless of the categories, 1m is still 1m "Many, however, are tourists, temporary workers, students, from AFL-land or from Australia’s RU loving cohort" "Many" and "Australia’s RU loving" is a pretty big stretch at the best of times.