THIS will be potentially a big week for Rugby League in the northern hemisphere.
The RFL directors will meet today (Monday) and they may well finalise the appointment of a new chief executive.
They will receive a report on the current state of negotiations for a new TV contract.
And on that point the information I am receiving is that the prospects are looking a little more promising now than they were doing until quite recently.
And I understand they will be presented with an update on the current state of negotiations between the RFL and the NRL in relation to a possible investment by the Australian governing body in the game in our part of the world.
In relation to that possible investment, we have seen reports of a significant broadcasting deal that appears to have been agreed between the NRL, Channel 9, DAZN and New Zealand broadcasters.
If reports are to be believed, those organisations will pay A$5 billion over the next seven years for the right to cover the game, which works out at A$700 million dollars per year or, in our terms, £350 million per year.
Given that we are currently receiving around £21.5 million per year from Sky Sports, we can see how the riches that will be flowing into the NRL will dwarf the income that Super League receives.
Even if the size of the NRL deal has been exaggerated – and that is not altogether impossible – it still should give us pause for thought about the growing disparity between the income Rugby League generates in the two hemispheres.
The salary cap in the NRL is likely to rise to more than A$15 million dollars per club from 2028, leading to the first players who will be earning salaries of around A$2 million per season.
As I understand it, the deal negotiated between the NRL and the Rugby League Players’ Association provides for 41 per cent of the broadcasting income going to the players, which equates to A$287 million per season, or around £15 million dollars per club to spend on salaries, while the clubs will be receiving considerably more than that figure. Unlike in Super League, NRL clubs clearly don’t require wealthy directors to top up their income.
That means that any ambitious English players will want to go down under to share in that bonanza and unless the RFL can find a way to massively increase the funding coming into the European game, it is likely that our Super League competition will fall significantly behind.
It would be easy to worry unduly about the potential loss of some of our leading players.
But there is a much more positive way to look at the success of the game down under.
And that is that if Rugby League can enjoy so much success in one of the greatest sporting nations on earth, there is no reason why it can’t be far more successful in our part of the world, despite the goliath that is modern association football.
We need people running the game who strongly believe that it can strongly enhance its support and the income it generates.
The new chief executive, if he or her is going to be appointed this week or in the near future, has to possess that belief, combined with a plan of how the game is going to double its income in the forthcoming years.
Whether that is achieved by attracting some investment from the NRL remains to be seen.
It would obviously help, as long as the NRL’s objectives in getting involved with Rugby League in the northern hemisphere were in accord with the RFL’s own objectives.
I would certainly hope that there wouldn’t be too much dispute about what those objectives should be.
The Magic Weekend
THE Super League clubs will meet on Wednesday to discuss many of the same issues.
And they will receive an update on the progress of sales for the Magic Weekend, which promises to be quite an occasion at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on the Liverpool waterfront.
Anyone who didn’t go to the Ashes Test there last year should certainly take the opportunity to go this weekend.
It will be a wonderful occasion in a tremendous modern stadium and the games look guaranteed to deliver plenty of excitement.
And let’s get ready for some interesting try celebrations.
To mark the 19th Magic Weekend since the concept was launched in Cardiff in 2007, Betfred will donate £180 for every try celebration across the seven fixtures (including the one at the Stade Pierre-Fabre in Castres, where the two French clubs, Catalans and Toulouse, will face each other).
It will follow Leeds Rhinos’ annual MND Awareness Round match, which took place at AMT Headingley last Friday night as the Rhinos hosted Hull KR in a game that included a special initiative for South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Jai Arrow, who revealed he has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease earlier this year.
To show their support the Rhinos produced a one-off shirt which features Arrow’s heritage numbers for his teams along with his name and the number 13 on the back. The shirt has been signed by the entire Rhinos squad and is being auctioned off to the highest bidder with all proceeds going to the fund to support him and his family.
This weekend Super League players will be encouraged to celebrate their tries, whether as a single player or involving the whole team, re-creating a famous celebration or producing something completely new. Betfred will donate an additional £1,000 for what is adjudged to be the best try celebration over the weekend.
Last season, the initiative raised £10,000 for the MND Association at Super League’s Magic Weekend in Newcastle. A total of 41 tries were scored, with the resulting £7,380 pot rounded up by Betfred to £10,000.
Let’s hope that we can go at least one better than last year.