How does the NRL compare to other sports?

Mark^Bastard

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Okay, I don't really get into any other sports. I just find them too inferior to Rugby League to bother. I have no interest in putting the effort in.

So I'm just thinking about the NRL in general and the way club grants work etc.

It's great that we've come a long way and club grants match or exceed the salary cap.

What I don't get, is how the NRL can generate so much money and have really high TV rights deals, yet 15 or 16 clubs are not turning a profit.

Does anyone have any real incite into this?

Because to me, the clubs are the NRL. The nrl governing body is far less important than the clubs. It's an administrative entity that has a clear purpose for sure, but it shouldn't be a top down approach to managing the 16 teams.

So how do we have a situation where the money coming into the sport has gone up so high, yet the basics like club profitability are still so poor? I know a lot of money is going to the players, but if that was reduced by 20% to ensure the clubs are not just viable but strong, wouldn't that be better for almost everyone?

So how do we compare to other sports in this area?
 

Wilson

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****house in comparison to the American big sports.
 

Tatus

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It's great that we've come a long way and club grants match or exceed the salary cap
Club grants are 12-13m I believe and around 9m goes towards the salary cap. That leaves 3-4 mil for the club to use how it sees fit.. does that go towards club staff? I’m not sure, but the NRL wants each club to have their own back, but there was an article that said only 1 club made a profit last year, a few broke even, and the rest were in the red.


What I don't get, is how the NRL can generate so much money and have really high TV rights deals, yet 15 or 16 clubs are not turning a profit.
just having a quick read, I don’t think there is as much money as we think. The NRL has started to get some decent money, but I think they are still busy spending it to stay afloat, and don’t really have enough where they can afford to pay for the clubs..
Because to me, the clubs are the NRL.
At this stage, the clubs are mere sub-contractors to the NRL. The clubs are independent, but it’s in the NRL’s best interests to help the struggling clubs, to the point of owning them, which is a very rare thing... again, I don’t think the money is there to do this for everyone.

There are sports like the NBA, where having a single jersey sponsor is such a big talking point,because they can get their money from other avenues. The difference between the NRL and American sports is the money being made. Their merchandise sales alone are global, not just limited to their supporter base like here.

To answer your question, I don’t think we compare overly well to other sports in terms of revenue being created, which is what is he answer to every sports problem. We are early stages, so having all these issues is only going to be normal. As soon as each club can make their own money and not rely on the nrl, the better
 

Tatus

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I don’t have much insight, but I answered your question as best I could.
 

HaroldBishop

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This is basic I know, but the NRL and AFL TV deals aren't that far apart but the AFL absolutely rapes us with their finances.

Yes they get bigger crowds but still, the NRL is fairly ineptly run in comparison.
 

Born&bred

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****ing woeful compared to any other major sport in the world.

And we've got close the best product.
 

HaroldBishop

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Who would have thought a country with 12 times our population and the same amount of codes would 'do it' better.

Yes, the NRL is run poorly but that's a **** comparison.
 

Born&bred

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Who would have thought a country with 12 times our population and the same amount of codes would 'do it' better.

Yes, the NRL is run poorly but that's a **** comparison.

How does population make a difference? All major sports in the US thrive in comparison to their rival sports. That's not population sensitive. So does the UK. The whole world does ffs.
 

HaroldBishop

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How does population make a difference? All major sports in the US thrive in comparison to their rival sports. That's not population sensitive. So does the UK. The whole world does ffs.

Of course it's relevant. Far harder to compete in a country of 25m against 3 other codes compared to having 320m.
 

Capital_Shark

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How does population make a difference? All major sports in the US thrive in comparison to their rival sports. That's not population sensitive. So does the UK. The whole world does ffs.

Very simple. If everyone in Australia gave $1 to the NRL they'd get about $25M. If everyone in the US gave $1 to NFL they'd get about $320M.

More eyeballs = more selling power = more advertising opportunity = more money = bigger salaries = better qualified people = better business etc. and around it goes.
 

HaroldBishop

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Who have way more than 3 major (not fledgling) sports to share.

4. You on the turps?

So you're seriously saying comparing a country with 4 codes with 25m people vs a country with 4 codes and 320m....population makes no difference? None?

Yes, there are other sports but 4 main ones.
 

HaroldBishop

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Very simple. If everyone in Australia gave $1 to the NRL they'd get about $25M. If everyone in the US gave $1 to NFL they'd get about $320M.

More eyeballs = more selling power = more advertising opportunity = more money = bigger salaries = better qualified people = better business etc. and around it goes.

Yep
 

Born&bred

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Very simple. If everyone in Australia gave $1 to the NRL they'd get about $25M. If everyone in the US gave $1 to NFL they'd get about $320M.

More eyeballs = more selling power = more advertising opportunity = more money = bigger salaries = better qualified people = better business etc. and around it goes.

Yeah I sorta get that, so how does that explain that we're the worst run major sport (with only one real rival) in the country?
 

BurgoShark

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It’s not fair to compare against North American sports in terms of raw economy, where nearly every team in a one team town - except the towns who have 8m people or more. That said, I do follow the NHL and I’m fairly familiar with how the funding model works in that league.

What the NHL does is holds back a percentage of all players salaries - which is linked to league revenue. If league revenue goes up everyone wins, but if not the players get paid less actual dollars than their contact states. The players HATE this, and it could possibly lead to a strike/lockout soon. What it does is protects the clubs from being over-stretched in the event that the overall league revenue goes down.

The teams are all privately owned and funded, but most team make a profit. There are still the “haves” and the “have nots” and there is no limit on third party sponsorship, so quite often the bigger cities win out attracting players because they have a bigger market for those Nike ads. It’s not a perfect system and the fans don’t love the administration, but it is working and the league is more popular than ever. I’ve had their streaming service for roughly 6 years now and it is outstanding. The NRL is years behind in that regard.

I totally agree with your statement about holding back some money to strengthen the clubs. I have never once been upset about a player leaving to a rival cods. Sure / I was disappointed to lose Rogers and now Val, but I don’t think the club should have payed overs to keep them in the game. I would rather lose 3 star players every year than keep them in the game making a squillion dollars and sending their teams broke. If we use the NHL as an example again, pretty much what happens in that league is when a team has some prolonged success they end up hamstringing the team by paying their stars too much and then not having enough for decent depth.

So what is the answer? If you know that you can have Greenberg’s job - because I don’t think he knows how to (or wants to) fix it.
 

HaroldBishop

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Good post Burgess.

The difference with holding back salaries is in the US, where else will players go? They're in the biggest leagues in the world.

Doing that here would cause big issues imo.
 

Capital_Shark

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Yeah I sorta get that, so how does that explain that we're the worst run major sport (with only one real rival) in the country?

It doesn't. RL in this country is terribly run. It was a miracle it survived SL. Then the decades of News Corp ownership where you literally had TV negotiations happening where the seller was owned by the buyer.

If Dave Smith was left in his lane to run the business we'd be much better off with ****tons of cash in the bank and great investments. He was putting it to Fox Sports, knew without NRL they're ****ed, negotiated for 4/8 games to be on FTA. His football department headed up by Todd Greenberg made some **** moves which Smith ran with. Had Fox over a barrel but News tore him apart and Grant caved, Fox got what they wanted (Fri 6PM, no 4th FTA game).

Too many gutless ****s with too many different interests. Most interested in themselves, least interested in RL.
 

Wilson

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Who would have thought a country with 12 times our population and the same amount of codes would 'do it' better.

Yes, the NRL is run poorly but that's a **** comparison.

Of course it's relevant. Far harder to compete in a country of 25m against 3 other codes compared to having 320m.

It still applies if you focus on the management of the codes, irrespective of revenue and capacity to generate revenue.
 
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