Concerned by its "precarious situation," the New Zealand Rugby League "is looking to force the game's international board to pay for the Kiwis to play in future World Cup tournaments," according to Sarah Harvey of the SUNDAY STAR TIMES. The organization "wants to follow the lead of the All Blacks who successfully forced" the Int'l Rugby Board to pay New Zealand Rugby an appearance fee at world cups, saying that it is "the only way to end a boom and bust cycle which is threatening its long-term financial health." The organization "has written a draft agreement" for the 2017 World Cup, to be hosted by New Zealand and Australia, "demanding a profit share." The "impetus for change has intensified" after the NZRL recorded a NZ$1.2M ($1M) loss which left it more than NZ$200,000 "in the red'' for the last financial year. NZRL CEO Phil Holden said that the int'l federation had a "commercial stranglehold" over the NZRL. He said that the two big players in int'l rugby league -- Australia and England -- "did not have the same problems." The Australian Rugby League is a NZ$200M-a-year business, the U.K. about NZ$100M. By comparison, the NZRL generates around NZ$8M a year. Holden: "We are a prince on the field and a pauper off it" (SUNDAY STAR TIMES, 6/29).
