Heard on Talking Sport this afternoon, Ten apparently offered around 850k towards the deal with the plan of Showing live FTA games on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. Apparently it was rejected. Would have been great to have that.
With the pre-scheduling, it is imperative that each side gets 4 x Friday night games (2 live & 2 delay), 2 x 5:30 & 3 x 7:30 Saturday night, 3 x 2:00 & 4 Sunday 3:00 games, 2 x Monday games & 2 byes. There is the first 20 games for each side. When scheduling the Monday night games, they NRL needs to consider travel involved for the supporters.
For example if the Bulldogs play Parra regardless of which ground, there is more chance of a better crowd, as both demographics are within reasonable travel distance meaning that whilst it maybe a later night than usual for a lot of school kids, it have less impact than say Manly vs Tigers of a Monday night at Brookvale/ Campbelltown.
It seems to me there hasn't been much consideration for those that ultimately make or break the game, the supporters.
Noticed also there was no mention of possible expansion. Perhaps it may be elaborated on in the coming days, but I hope, the lack of announcement doesn't mean possible thoughts of relocation for clubs