Australian Rugby League Commission Chair John Grant "moved to head off a revolution over future funding" by offering the 16 clubs a A$50M ($35.6M) sweetener in return for their loyalty to head office, according to Brent Read of THE AUSTRALIAN. Grant, whose position "has come under scrutiny in recent weeks" is understood to have raised the idea of offering each club $1.5M ($1M) a year over the next two seasons. The money "comes with a caveat." If the clubs agree to sign new participation agreements -- their current deals expire at the end of '17 -- "the money would be a grant and therefore not repayable." However, "if the clubs refuse to sign new agreements, the money would in effect become a loan that clubs would be forced to repay should they opt out of the competition." While some clubs "are believed to be happy with the latest offerings from Rugby League Central, others are understood to be annoyed by what they view as an inducement to garner their loyalty." The clubs "wanted the lion’s share of that money to prop up their ailing businesses" -- in total, they lost more than A$30M last year. It now appears the ARL Commission "is willing to give them what they want, albeit on the proviso that they commit their futures to the competition, in effect removing a large amount of leverage the clubs have over the ARL Commission" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/3).
