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Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:09 pm
by Beaussie
My god, reckless spending or what?
Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke, writes Paul Kent
PAUL KENT, The Daily Telegraph
October 13, 2017 6:00pm

FIVE years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke.

Take a look at that figure again: $1,000,000,000. That is a thousand cheques for $1 ­million each, gone in the wind
.

Almost without notice October 31 looms, marking the end of the famous broadcast deal five years ago where ARL Commissioner John Grant claimed, “For our game it is the greatest deal ever done.”

The first billion dollar deal was the stake in the ground for the new commission and rugby league’s new era.

“The cash is useful in providing funding to grow our game from the grassroots to the elite level,” Grant said.

By then David Gallop had gone because he was seen as “reactive rather than proactive” — a laughable claim in light of current administration — and the banker, Dave Smith, would soon be brought in to stimulate the game’s growth and wealth.

Eyebrows turned up within the clubs early on when the Commission, with their big business brains, told them they were going to show them how to make money.

Then the League went on a reckless spend and squandered millions on high-priced consultants and bad ideas.

And if you check the receipts there is little to show.

Crowds have gone down, television ratings on Channel Nine are down, memberships have risen (but come from a low base and are well down on the 400,000 the NRL strived for as part of its 2012 strategic plan) and, most of all, most significantly of all, less people play rugby league than played five years ago.

Somehow, the game is in decline. Despite an agenda to build the game’s wealth the NRL has no assets to speak of except the long-term lease of League Central, a building on SCG Trust land.


This week 25 NRL staff got sacked, 10 weeks before ­Christmas, as chief executive Todd Greenberg tries to rein in costs.

The banks recently knocked back the NRL’s application for a $30 million bridging loan. The league dismissed the need for a loan as nothing more than the normal running of business, scoffing at us knuckleheads in rugby league who got worried they needed cash.

In their scoffing, though, they failed to acknowledge or disclose that the first step towards bankruptcy for any business is a cash flow problem.

Worse, why didn’t the banks consider the NRL a safe investment? The AFL got a similar loan, but then the AFL has assets.

So the cash shortage — $1 billion all spent — continues.


They have discussed various contingency plans to pay their way.

The NSW and Queensland Rugby Leagues have been told they will get no funding for their state competition, which takes in under-20s for the first time next season, until the third quarter next year.

Put simply, for the first half of next year the state bodies will fund the NRL’s commitment to them.

The more you look at it the clearer it is the NRL was given a golden window, five years and a billion dollars, and blew it.

The Australian Financial Review reported this week that Channel Ten’s equity value was worth between negative $529.2 million and negative $543.7 million.

In August, Channel 7 reported a $745 million loss with Seven chief executive Tim Worner warning sports rights had reached a “tipping point”.

“Given changes in the ­market, price rises are not ­sustainable,” he said.

So future broadcast deals might not be as rosy as the one just ending or the one about to begin.

As the Rugby League Players Association negotiates the next Collective Bargaining Agreement with an under pressure NRL — for all the reasons stated here — there is a genuine possibility this era of rugby league player will earn more than the next.

Especially if the salary cap is tied into total revenue.

It’s good deal for the senior players driving this deal. Not so much for the young players coming through.

At the same time the CBA is being negotiated the game has still not finalised its pathways program, its club funding agreement or, most importantly, implemented the promised constitutional change.

Come November 1 the NRL moves into the next funding stage of its broadcast deal, this time $1.9 billion over five years.

Count it, that’s $1,900,000,000. An extra $900 million. Where is there any confidence the game will spend it wisely?

Earlier this year the NRL took me through its figures.

There is no doubt Greenberg is driving a lot of cost-saving as the game goes forward and tries to salvage years of poor spending.

The NRL has 40 different pie charts that can tell you where the money has been spent and where the money is going.

Yet nowhere does it say if the money has been well spent.

Most concerning was that come the 2022 season, the last of the current TV deal, the NRL is already budgeting to lose about $20 million that season.

It was seen as a normal loss.

I asked why the NRL, given it knows about 80 per cent of its projected budget, which few business can reliably know, can still run at a loss in five years.

“Inflation,” I got told.

Okay, but why couldn’t they budget for that, I asked.

“You don’t understand,” they said, “the deal is locked in but costs go up every year.”

Now, I am a simple man who runs nothing more serious than a household budget, and not always well at that.

But I asked again why they could not factor inflation in so the game could run at a profit, instead of the loss already ­anticipated now.

There was a brief pause.

“Well that’s one way to do it,” they said.

All the game owns is the hope and goodwill of its ­public.

Hopefully it is enough.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5d09cae3af

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:31 pm
by AFLcrap1
The DT in full Anti RL mode .
Lol how strange

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:32 pm
by leagueiscrap
Negative NRLOL story! Lol
Can’t be true

4 or 5 years ago the nrlll has a 50 million dollar profit and was going to built a war chest that was going to overtake and bury the afl! & it had all the basement dwelling dweebs prematurly!


Now fast forward down the track the code is running at a loss and keeps getting rejected for a bank loan

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:37 pm
by leagueiscrap
Negative NRLOL story!
Can’t be true :mrgreen:

4 or 5 years ago the nrlll has a 50 million dollar profit and was going to built a war chest that was going to overtake and bury the afl! & it had all the basement dwelling dweebs prematurly!


Now fast forward down the track the code is running at a loss and keeps getting rejected for a bank loan
Falling crowd numbers far short of that 20k that the league was predicting :(/ cheap arsed tickets the league has to still resort to giving them away to save from embarrassment! Even resorting to over inflating crowd numbers by going the old regular fudge and being caught out again!

NRLOL and it’s fans never fail to entertain :cheers:

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:58 pm
by Fred
Aflcrap beat me too it ..... was a sure thing to be disregarded as a simple DT article ...... of course without addressing or rebuking the actual points made. If it is indeed a flawed or bias article please point which points are incorrect.

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:47 pm
by leagueiscrap
Ffs not you to! It’s pointing out the blatant obvious what needs to be said about the nrlol

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:47 pm
by Fred
You missed my point lic

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:37 am
by leagueiscrap
No how the article is stating what has happened to the nrlol over the past 5 years!
It’s preformed shit squandered money! The DT are reporting this!
Should the article just sugar coat things out a positive spin on things so the league folk can believe that their game is on track to over take the afl like the loons believe think it is?

The game has squandered its broadcast money, has not increased revenue to go with costs, crowds, ratings & participants is down at grass roots!

Ffs how else is this meant to be all reported

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:18 am
by Fred
leagueiscrap wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:37 am
No how the article is stating what has happened to the nrlol over the past 5 years!
It’s preformed shit squandered money! The DT are reporting this!
Should the article just sugar coat things out a positive spin on things so the league folk can believe that their game is on track to over take the afl like the loons believe think it is?

The game has squandered its broadcast money, has not increased revenue to go with costs, crowds, ratings & participants is down at grass roots!

Ffs how else is this meant to be all reported
Yes, I have no issue with that, I just asked aflcrap to rather than just saying “DT article” to dismiss/deflect why not address the points and rebuke.

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:13 am
by AFLcrap1
These points have been done to death by the media ..over & over .
There's aRLWC coming up .
Instead of positive news ..what does the DT do .
A negative RL article
It's what they do .
It's what they always do ....

I never said the article was wrong......show me where I said it .yet that's what you dumb fucks get out of my disdain for News LTD .


Personally I think Greenturd is out of his depth .
You need a smart financial mind to run the ARLC .
No club affiliations ..no agenda except running a profitable business
We had that with Smith .
He had balls
He stood up to uncle rupert & it cost him .

But do I see doom & gloom .
Lol no
We survived being run by news ltd ..underpaid( gallop( news ltd lawyer on one side of the negotiating table doing a deal with his bosses ) .so we are just fine
Will news continue to do what they can to tarnish anyone running the show other rpthan a news lackey .you bet .
They did with smith
They will continue to do so

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:56 pm
by Buzz
AFLcrap1 wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:31 pm
The DT in full Anti RL mode .
Lol how strange
No one lets their kids play rugby anymore: we all know why!

:drunk:

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:58 pm
by Buzz
leagueiscrap wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:47 pm
Ffs not you to! It’s pointing out the blatant obvious what needs to be said about the nrlol
Spit it out then cuzzy bro :\:

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:00 pm
by Buzz
leagueiscrap wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:37 am
No how the article is stating what has happened to the nrlol over the past 5 years!
It’s preformed shit squandered money! The DT are reporting this!
Should the article just sugar coat things out a positive spin on things so the league folk can believe that their game is on track to over take the afl like the loons believe think it is?

The game has squandered its broadcast money, has not increased revenue to go with costs, crowds, ratings & participants is down at grass roots!

Ffs how else is this meant to be all reported
It's not: hide hide hide behind your weights machine i tells you :thumbleft:

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:06 pm
by AFLcrap1
Buzz wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:56 pm
AFLcrap1 wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:31 pm
The DT in full Anti RL mode .
Lol how strange
No one lets their kids play rugby anymore: we all know why!

:drunk:
Medic
Medic

Re: Five years and a billion dollars later rugby league is broke

Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:09 pm
by Buzz
AFLcrap1 wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:06 pm
Buzz wrote: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:56 pm
AFLcrap1 wrote: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:31 pm
The DT in full Anti RL mode .
Lol how strange
No one lets their kids play rugby anymore: we all know why!

:drunk:
Medic
Medic
Says the troll who responds to everything within about 20 seconds!

You should get back to your weights machine every now and then instead of pretending how good you used to be at pretending you weren't actually just a glorified wrestler :rofl: