The National Rugby League is "on the verge of surging past" the A$150M ($114.7M) mark in non-broadcast revenue for the first time in the code’s history -- "good, but nowhere near as good" as NRL CEO Todd Greenberg wants it to be, according to Brent Read of THE AUSTRALIAN. The bottom line is A$5.5M ($4.2M) better than this time last year. Clubs received more than A$160M ($122.3M) this year "from head office and the states a further" A$30.5M ($23.3M). If not for the "ongoing financial support required by the Gold Coast and Newcastle, as well as the affiliated states," the game would be in "ruder financial health." Between them, Gold Coast and Newcastle "chewed through" A$4.3M ($3.3M). Throw in more than A$10M ($7.7M) the league is owed by St. George Illawarra, Wests Tigers and Balmain and "you can see why the NRL is keen for clubs to stand on their own two feet." As it is, "those very clubs receive the lion’s share of the game’s expenditure," which last year amounted to A$353.1M. More than 60% of that was directed to the 16 clubs -- A$220M in total. The NRL’s financial results for last year "show the code is making significant strides, but with broadcasting revenue set in stone" from '18 resulting from the deal with Fox Sports and the Nine Network, Greenberg has "targeted growth in sponsorship and game-day revenue as he looks to give the code more financial clout" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/14). In Sydney, Nick Tabakoff reported the "boom result" was driven by a 50% jump in sponsorship revenues to A$43M ($32.9M) in '16, as the league announced "new or upgraded contracts for major corporate partners" Sportsbet, KFC, Hankook Tires, Treasury Wines, P & O Cruises and Coates Hire. The sponsorship jump reportedly "softened the blow of an unexpected rise in costs caused by the scandals" of the '16 season, according to a copy of the NRL’s financial results for the year to October. Greenberg said that growing sponsorship revenues have "become a key focus of the code." Greenberg: "With the TV rights deal secured, we are now focusing on driving non-broadcast revenue. And that means working to increase corporate involvement in the game." The NRL’s cash reserves had been boosted by a A$50M ($38.2M) cash advance from the Nine Network toward its free-to-air TV rights deal through '22 (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2/13).
CRUCIAL QUESTION: In Melbourne, Roy Masters reported the "crucial question" asked by rebelling NRL clubs -- where has the money gone? -- "was answered." The NRL recorded a A$2.6M ($2M) loss, despite growing non-broadcast income by 12%. While the NRL reduced its deficit in '16, "this does not include the losses of the two clubs it controls" -- Newcastle and Gold Coast. Their losses "increase the deficit" to $8.6M ($6.6M). Club bosses seeking governance reform of the Australian Rugby League Commission "often ask" where A$2.5B has been spent since the ARLC "came to power five years ago." The answer is that the accurate revenue figure is A$1.6B and 60% of this "has gone to the players and clubs in annual distributions" (THE AGE, 2/13).
