Rugby league fans are about to receive a "surprise February footy fix" after the National Rugby League performed a "pre-season backflip and now allowed clubs to stream trial games," according to Christian Nicolussi of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Several clubs had approached the NRL about streaming trials "so they could showcase their big off-season recruits to the ever-growing digital audience." NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg wrote to the clubs in a Dec. 15 letter, saying that they would not "be allowed stream trials because Channel Nine had exclusive rights" to broadcast pre-season matches, "irrespective of whether it does in fact choose to broadcast the pre-season matches." But in a second letter sent last week, Greenberg advised the clubs the NRL had struck a deal with Nine, and "obtained its consent to allow pre-season matches to be streamed by clubs through their websites, should your club wish to do so." Greenberg added the clubs "could only show trials via their websites, would have to pay for their own production costs," but the trials would "remain the property of the NRL, and be available for use by the NRL" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 1/25).
