The National Rugby League "is set to lay claim to an annual windfall" of more than A$20M ($14.74M) from the new "point-of-consumption gambling taxes" in NSW, Queensland and Victoria in what would be a "massive boost to the game's revenue streams," according to Chris Roots of THE AGE. The NRL "will look to follow racing," which was guaranteed A$40M ($29.5M) a year when the tax was announced in NSW in the state budget on Tuesday. That amount "is indexed to grow as the income from the tax increases." The NRL could get more than A$10M ($7.37M) per year from "NSW alone," a figure that "would double if the other states are taken into account." The A$20M figure has the "potential to rise every year, with a projected growth in betting" of more than 13%. The NRL "has already canvassed the issue with its clubs" and the funds from the windfall "have been earmarked to develop the game's grassroots." An NRL source said that the league had been in discussions with the NSW government over the past couple of months and "was confident it would gain its share of the tax." The source said, "It is only fair to get what percentage of the market we generate and at the moment that is around 10 percent" (THE AGE, 6/21).
