Where does English (and European) Rugby League fit into all this.

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

England and Europe is not that special.

No, it's not. In fact, it's fairly standard.

It is Australia that is the unique and non-replicable situation.

[iffleyox]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

No, it's not. In fact, it's fairly standard.

It is Australia that is the unique and non-replicable situation.

As Bunnings discovered when they bought Homebase for AUS$1bn and then had to sell it for a pound.

[iffleyox]

It’s not that’s there’s ‘nothing to learn’ - it’s more that from sporting to retail the Australian landscape doesn’t quite translate easily and the corporate road has high profile examples of Australian firms thinking they know it all and trying to flatpack what works in Australia into other countries. 
 

it would require humility on the part of the NRL to come with ‘this is what we bring, what are we (NRL) going to have to do differently? And are we, NRL, prepared to look like idiots/big fish in small ponds who are now out of our depth if we get it wrong?’

[Coastal_Geordie]

On 11/11/2023 at 11:56, Toby Chopra said:

I agree with all of that on their approach, but I do still find it odd how little effort they've made to boost the profile of the NRL in Europe and particularly Britain, even purely for their own benefit.

Europe is a wealthy, highly developed sports market that has multiple pay TV options and a familiarity with rugby, yet the NRL must be getting almost nothing for its TV rights here. Compare with the effort the NFL has made to introduce an "alien" sport in Europe. NRL is leaving money on the table in Europe for my mind.

One big difference between the NFL and NRL with regards to UK broadcast rights is time zone.  
 

The NFL works perfectly for Sky z sports to show the early (US time) games immediately following Super Sunday Premier League football.  The NRL would be a less convenient time slot for most viewers.  
 

Appreciate that the majority of NFL games are the middle of the night GMT but those Sunday PM slots go perfectly into NFL.  I’d actually say the main threat to NFL in the UK for eyeballs is WSL (womens football) which is increasingly occupying the same Sunday evening time slot on Sky.

That and NFL is an event/spectacle that is “foreign” whereas we have a multitude of options for different forms of Rugby at club and international level in the UK which would make an NRL marquee game in the UK less rare.  I can’t really see a market for the NRL in the UK.

[Copa]

1 hour ago, iffleyox said:

As Bunnings discovered when they bought Homebase for AUS$1bn and then had to sell it for a pound.

They stuffed that up! While Australia and the UK has some cultural similarities… we both love a bit of DIY…  there are differences that Bunnings clearly didn’t pick up. 

Similar to when Starbucks closed the vast majority of their stores in coffee obsessed Australia. Starbucks saw a nation of coffee lovers and thought we’d be an easy target. However, the vast majority of Australian cafes are independent stores and we love that here. Many people would be embarrassed to say they went to Starbucks.

An adult Australian preferring Starbucks is like an adult Italian preferring Pizza Hut. 

[Harry Stottle]

12 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

There is plenty of replicable knowledge in the entertainment and media industries. England and Europe is not that special.

Yes, that is being tried at the moment SP, how good it will do I am very dubious about but if you listen (read) what others say it is the last outpost that we have to dig into or we are doomed, I just wonder where we go from here when it goes belly up, The NRL perhaps? 

 

[The Rocket]

3 hours ago, iffleyox said:

It’s not that’s there’s ‘nothing to learn’ - it’s more that from sporting to retail the Australian landscape doesn’t quite translate easily and the corporate road has high profile examples of Australian firms thinking they know it all and trying to flatpack what works in Australia into other countries.

Tell that to our miners, farmers, biotech sector, some of the biggest and most profitable efficient companies in the world. This is the beauty of free trade and the efficient allocation of resources (not cutting yourself from your neighbours helps) countries can specialise what they do best at. We also happen to be pretty good at sport and running sporting organisations.

 

3 hours ago, iffleyox said:

And are we, NRL, prepared to look like idiots/big fish in small ponds who are now out of our depth if we get it wrong?’

Do you really think that V`landys and the NRL are sitting around wringing their hands fretting that they are going to make fools of themselves. Priceless. Think Las Vegas.

[gingerjon]

38 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Tell that to our miners, farmers, biotech sector, some of the biggest and most profitable efficient companies in the world. This is the beauty of free trade and the efficient allocation of resources (not cutting yourself from your neighbours helps) countries can specialise what they do best at. We also happen to be pretty good at sport and running sporting organisations.

 

Do you really think that V`landys and the NRL are sitting around wringing their hands fretting that they are going to make fools of themselves. Priceless. Think Las Vegas.

Yes.

This sums up exactly why the NRL would not have a clue what to do with a minority sport in Europe.

[The Rocket]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Yes.

This sums up exactly why the NRL would not have a clue what to do with a minority sport in Europe.

Your beat before you start mate.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Your beat before you start mate.

Nice slogan.

Meaningless, obviously.

If the RFL wanted to learn from an Australian sports body the go to one right now would be soccer - and even that is an imperfect fit but at least it’s a minority sport expanding its reach from a low base. That fits RL in England better than the biggest sport in two populous states.

[JonM]

4 hours ago, iffleyox said:

 

it would require humility on the part of the NRL to come with ‘this is what we bring, what are we (NRL) going to have to do differently? 

There have been multiple people in NRL head office roles with prior experience in UK RL. And several examples of high profile Aussie administrators trying to run clubs here and failing eg Shane Richardson - Souths CEO for over a decade, the Brisbane takeover of London Broncos. It's an utterly different situation.

[JonM]

8 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Nice slogan.

Meaningless, obviously.

If the RFL wanted to learn from an Australian sports body the go to one right now would be soccer - and even that is an imperfect fit but at least it’s a minority sport expanding its reach from a low base. That fits RL in England better than the biggest sport in two populous states.

Even there though, soccer is way, way bigger and better known in Australia than RL is here. Football Australia has far higher revenue, massively higher numbers playing, orders of magnitude more brand recognition through world cup, premier League etc.

[gingerjon]

8 minutes ago, JonM said:

Even there though, soccer is way, way bigger and better known in Australia than RL is here. Football Australia has far higher revenue, massively higher numbers playing, orders of magnitude more brand recognition through world cup, premier League etc.

All fair. I was trying to think of one and couldn’t.

We may as well have a seminar with the Premier League as the NRL.

[Copa]

5 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Nice slogan.

Meaningless, obviously.

If the RFL wanted to learn from an Australian sports body the go to one right now would be soccer - and even that is an imperfect fit but at least it’s a minority sport expanding its reach from a low base. That fits RL in England better than the biggest sport in two populous states.

You’d hope they don’t choose to learn from the ARU!