NRL Growth 2026

[Damien]

The latest financial report is due to be released on Monday but some figures are already starting to come to light. Not surprisingly they show yet another strong financial position, a position that is getting stronger by the year:

Edited February 14 by Damien

[Damien]

I am really excited to see what happens with the next TV deal and V'Landys says this deal should be wrapped up before the Grand Final. It really could be transformative for the NRL and the sport in the region.

It will almost certainly see the NRL turnover increase to over $1 billion a year and there is talk of $2 million a year players. With such massive amounts of money the possibilities for growth are massive:

 

[The Rocket]

The "north of $800m" revenue figure is most pleasing thing for me given that $770m was being bandied about and would have only been a marginal increase on the previous year. 

If we can that broadcast deal up to where predicted we`ll probably top the $1b mark in the next year or so.

[The Future is League]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

I am really excited to see what happens with the next TV deal and V'Landys says this deal should be wrapped up before the Grand Final. It really could be transformative for the NRL and the sport in the region.

It will almost certainly see the NRL turnover increase to over $1 billion a year and there is talk of $2 million a year players. With such massive amounts of money the possibilities for growth are massive:

 

The result of having a man in charge who puts the game first and not his club, whichever club that is.

[nadera78]

3 hours ago, The Future is League said:

The result of having a man in charge who puts the game first and not his club, whichever club that is.

I think this is actually the main thing that I see happening. Most of what V'landys has done is pretty standard league management and taking advantage of the existing opportunities in front of the NRL. He's certainly not a visionary or anything. But the result is that the NRL is finally flexing its muscles and assuming its rightful commercial position. It says something that this is the first time we've seen this someone in charge of the game who is not beholden to a particular club or broadcaster.

[EggFace]

Some of the X comments are negative.

[Douglas]

Are the NRL buying hotels and shopping malls etc?

[langpark]

36 minutes ago, Douglas said:

Are the NRL buying hotels and shopping malls etc?

Yes, it all started right during/after the pandemic as they hard minimal assets at the time.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-177495435

Edited February 14 by langpark

[Douglas]

3 hours ago, langpark said:

Yes, it all started right during/after the pandemic as they hard minimal assets at the time.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-177495435

Could the NRL ever be in a position to build a stadium in say Liverpool which could be used by the bulldogs, tigers and maybe A-league teams?

would be a great long-term investment for the NRL.

[Pulga]

2 hours ago, Douglas said:

Could the NRL ever be in a position to build a stadium in say Liverpool which could be used by the bulldogs, tigers and maybe A-league teams?

would be a great long-term investment for the NRL.

Unlikely. Stadium ownership isn't looked at in a great light here. 

Ex-Storm prop Christian Welch just wrote an article on it.

https://x.com/i/status/2021827773099393114

[Douglas]

1 hour ago, Pulga said:

Unlikely. Stadium ownership isn't looked at in a great light here. 

Ex-Storm prop Christian Welch just wrote an article on it.

https://x.com/i/status/2021827773099393114

good informative article that also raises a lot of questions about the longterm viability of the sharks staying in the Sutherland shire.

 

[lucky 7]

The sooner the NRL take over the running of the game in the UK the better.

[Douglas]

11 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

The sooner the NRL take over the running of the game in the UK the better.

In parts I agree with this but I would worry about what the  end goal of the NRL is.

would the NRL really be interested in making a rival competition so strong and competitive that potentially one day could be on a par with the NRL or even stronger which threatens the poaching of its best players?

[lucky 7]

17 minutes ago, Douglas said:

In parts I agree with this but I would worry about what the  end goal of the NRL is.

would the NRL really be interested in making a rival competition so strong and competitive that potentially one day could be on a par with the NRL or even stronger which threatens the poaching of its best players?

I see it slight different as i see it as the NRL increasing their player pool for their competition and therefore expanding more in Australia, and at the same time making Engalnd hopefully stronger on the international stage

[Douglas]

5 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

I see it slight different as i see it as the NRL increasing their player pool for their competition and therefore expanding more in Australia, and at the same time making Engalnd hopefully stronger on the international stage

I totally agree with this and personally don’t have a problem with it but I think my point of view would be in the minority with other fans and the people who run super league clubs and the RFL.

[lucky 7]

7 minutes ago, Douglas said:

I totally agree with this and personally don’t have a problem with it but I think my point of view would be in the minority with other fans and the people who run super league clubs and the RFL.

IF the NRL were to take over the running of the game in the UK there obviously would be a price to pay, and for me their are more pros than cons.

[Douglas]

2 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

IF the NRL were to take over the running of the game in the UK there obviously would be a price to pay, and for me their are more pros than cons.

Again I agree and again I’m ok with that and personally I don’t see and can ever imagine a scenario or time when super league is as strong or even overtakes the NRL unfortunately.

i think there was a short period of time when maybe this was possible when super league had just launched in England and when the Aussies were dealing with the fallout from the super league war but that is long gone and looks like ancient history these days.

[lucky 7]

7 minutes ago, Douglas said:

Again I agree and again I’m ok with that and personally I don’t see and can ever imagine a scenario or time when super league is as strong or even overtakes the NRL unfortunately.

i think there was a short period of time when maybe this was possible when super league had just launched in England and when the Aussies were dealing with the fallout from the super league war but that is long gone and looks like ancient history these days.

A bit like the world cup win in 1972 and the ashes series win in 1970

[Douglas]

4 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

A bit like the world cup win in 1972 and the ashes series win in 1970

Would the English domestic competition had been considered stronger than the NSWRFL in the early 70’s?

[lucky 7]

39 minutes ago, Douglas said:

Would the English domestic competition had been considered stronger than the NSWRFL in the early 70’s?

Good question, and one i can't answer

[The Rocket]

On 14/02/2026 at 21:03, Damien said:

The latest financial report is due to be released on Monday but some figures are already starting to come to light. Not surprisingly they show yet another strong financial position, a position that is getting stronger by the year:

They weren`t kidding "north of $800m", $845m..that`s mental, only a few weeks back they were talking $770m, a rather disappointing increase I thought on the previous year.

NRL 2026: Record $845 million revenue haul comes ahead of new broadcast deal and expansion

‘Pacific’s No.1 sport’: NRL trumpets record $845m revenue ahead of broadcast negotiations.

 

[The Rocket]

It appears it wasn`t hubris when V`landys said the other day we`ll be a billion-dollar sport in a couple of years.

If we up our broadcast deal by anything over $160m per annum we`re there, there`s a lot of speculation it might be increased by up to $200m in line with being the most popular broadcast sport in Australasia. Happy days indeed !!

Edited February 23 by The Rocket

[Anita Bath]

On 15/02/2026 at 17:28, lucky 7 said:

Good question, and one i can't answer

Just about all the player movement was from RFL to NSWRL at the time particularly among the forwards (Reilly, Lockwood, Ward etc) which might suggest RFL was stronger from a playing perspective.

[Douglas]

4 hours ago, The Rocket said:

They weren`t kidding "north of $800m", $845m..that`s mental, only a few weeks back they were talking $770m, a rather disappointing increase I thought on the previous year.

NRL 2026: Record $845 million revenue haul comes ahead of new broadcast deal and expansion

‘Pacific’s No.1 sport’: NRL trumpets record $845m revenue ahead of broadcast negotiations.

 

Time for NZ2 as the NRL’s team #20 and pacifique treize in the Queensland cup as well as some grassroots development work and pathways on the ground in the Solomon Islands to shore up the pacific region and guarantee the game being the #1 sport.

[Douglas]

Potentially growing the pie even further.

 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2026-canterburybankstown-bulldogs-interest-in-middle-east-2027-season-opener-arabic-fanbase-fan-support-for-las-vegas-game-latest-news/news-story/a3c3c98631d9ce946bf646d434a2143a