General NRL Funding To Benefit Both The Warriors & the NZRL

[Miket12]

NRL: Warriors and New Zealand league to reap benefits of new funding agreement
11:12 AM Friday Dec 4, 2015

Warriors managing director Jim Doyle says the new funding agreement will allow clubs to invest more into resources and he expects there will be spin-off benefits for the national game. Photo/Getty.
The Warriors financial future looks bright and New Zealand rugby league is set to benefit after the NRL signed off on a historic funding agreement that will help strengthen the game at every level.

The NRL announced yesterday it will give $100 million extra per year to the clubs from 2018 to 2022 and the same amount will be invested to grow the game from the grassroots to the elite level each year.

Clubs will also receive grants totalling 130 per cent of player payments over that period, and will be well placed to invest off the field to become stronger and more professional than ever before.

The landmark deal follows the $1.8 billion broadcast rights deal secured by the ARL Commission last week.

Warriors managing director Jim Doyle says the much welcomed cash injection will allow clubs to invest more into resources and improving their businesses, and he expects there will be spin-off benefits that will help develop the game throughout New Zealand.

"It's very positive. There will be significant monies to invest into the grassroots and hopefully the New Zealand Rugby League will be a recipient of that and therefore it will help grow the game around the country," said Doyle.

"Clubs can really become sustainable and start to invest in themselves and hire more people to grow memberships and drive better game day experiences and all those sorts of things.

"We can look at how we can invest more into computer systems to help with our database and we can hire a couple more people to really drive improvements across the whole business and organisation.

"It's good, not just for the clubs, but also the fans and members as well. We can try and get more memberships from all over the world and it will really just help us become more professional and grow the business."

The players are also set to benefit as the increase in funding will see the salary cap rise along with player salaries.

The fact the game's governing body has not imposed any restrictions on how the cash should be spent will also ease the financial burden on the likes of Warriors owner Eric Watson.

"The current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs out at the end of 2017 so there will be negotiations with the Rugby League Players Association, but there's no doubt the cap will go up," Doyle added.

"So therefore the players will gain some more benefits from the game being successful.

"But for us, it basically takes a bit of pressure off the club and owners like Eric, who has had to put money in over the years.

"This will make it a bit easier for the club to hire people that it couldn't afford to hire in the past to hopefully take things to another level."

The Australian Rugby League Commission and clubs will now sign a Memorandum of Understanding while the agreement is formalised.

The final package will include agreement on other non-commercial issues and will form the basis for each club to hold a perpetual licence to play in the NRL competition.

ARL Commission chairman John Grant said that, with the agreement in place, the ARLC and the clubs can now focus on the future as one.

"We are now both intent on making the game stronger at every level... from the grassroots through to the elite levels," he said.

"This is a unique opportunity for rugby league and we are going to work together to make the most of it."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11555923

 

[gREVUS]

did i read that right? they are going to pay $200 mill to the Warriors with half to go to grass roots? for 4 years with no conditions on how that money is spent? Thats $800 mill right there.

Wait i got it, i think, thats 400 million for all the clubs to share? and $400 Million for all the grassroots clubs? so about $6.25 mill per club per year and the same again into grassroots in NZ.

Or will the money be divided proportionally? with the bulk going to the places of the most players - ie most to Sydney and then Qld with everyone else getting the left overs?

Or is most of the money going to go to places where there is no real League presence and therefore going to be spent in Adelaide and Perth? with everyone else getting the left overs?

I guess it also props up failing Sydney clubs, surely the 6.8 mill is in place of having to bail them out?

 

[Sup42]

Sounds to me like the Warriors already have the money spent in their minds.

I wonder what type of people, what roles I should say...they are looking at adding.

One likelyhood would be this idea of a coaching director/Mentor ?

A sizeable chunk has already been budgeted to save Eric shelling out for shortfalls by the sounds of it.

Thought occurred to me that Eric gets some coin back after buying back Owens share.

 

[Miket12]

Sounds to me like the Warriors already have the money spent in their minds.

I wonder what type of people, what roles I should say...they are looking at adding.

One likelyhood would be this idea of a coaching director/Mentor ?

A sizeable chunk has already been budgeted to save Eric shelling out for shortfalls by the sounds of it.

Thought occurred to me that Eric gets some coin back after buying back Owens share.

I'd think it would have to be used for the running of the club and not given to the owner. Where it, of course, does benefit Watson is that it means there would be less to no money that he'd have to find each year to prop up the club - if that's what he's had to do.

 

[bruce]

Where it, of course, does benefit Watson is that it means there would be less to no money that he'd have to find each year to prop up the club - if that's what he's had to do.

JD said something like that

 

[snake77]

It is good to see more money coming down to the clubs and it's also good to see money should be coming to the game in New Zealand. Having Doyle as our CEO I am a bit more confident on what we will do with the extra funding compared to the other clubs.

I know there has been a lot written about the clubs not being satisfied with the CEO, the Chairman and the Commission but this funding does raise a few points. The clubs have got extra funding which is penciled in at a certain amount which is supposed to be I think 30% over the salary cap. That is all good now the next hurdle is with the players and the RLPA who will quite rightly expect the salary cap to increase again. They may expect a higher percentage than last time which means the clubs grants increase higher again than what was originally planned for and then less is available for the sport outside of the NRL level.

The second point it seems like the clubs have a lot of power. The Commission is supposed to be independent and be responsible for strategy, controlling the funds etc. But it seems like if the clubs don't get their way in typical rugby league fashion of looking out for themselves they will threaten to walk or get someone sacked and replace with someone more suitable.

Remember before the Commission was formed all of the rugby league people were explaining the Commission would be responsible for making the tough decisions like is there too many teams in Sydney. Looking at what has happened recently I'm not sure they can make those types of decisions.

The other criticism before the Commission was formed was that the sport had no money in the bank. The Commission sets up a couple of funds one for the future in case there income for what every reason dries up they can still operate and another to invest in the sport. As soon as they start putting money aside everyone complains wanting to know what they are doing that for; even though it's announced at the time or listed in their annual results.

Yes it's great to see the clubs getting more money and seeing them grow. But at some point the handouts need to stop and they need to be sustainable with the NRL grant, memberships, attendances, and sponsorship's etc.

 

[Defence]

What a great time to have uncle Jim at the helm.

 

[bruce]

Yes it's great to see the clubs getting more money and seeing them grow. But at some point the handouts need to stop and they need to be sustainable with the NRL grant, memberships, attendances, and sponsorship's etc.

Tell that to the broke Sydney clubs

 

[CompletionRate]

Tell that to the broke Sydney clubs

It's basically just St George and Wests at this point right? I thought the rest of them are like 3-4 years until they expect hit a profit except for like Souths, Sharks and Chooks. That doesn't seem TOO drastic a target to make.

 

[bruce]

It's basically just St George and Wests at this point right?

Two merger clubs. Balmain are a basket case and it would be sad to see them take Wests down. Cronulla needs to be looked at. That is a tiny area compared with St George/Illawarra and Parramatta is blowing apart as well. Manly isn't flash either. The reality is that Sydney has too many clubs and it is dog eat dog to see who survives.

 

[matiunz]

Two merger clubs. Balmain are a basket case and it would be sad to see them take Wests down. Cronulla needs to be looked at. That is a tiny area compared with St George/Illawarra and Parramatta is blowing apart as well. Manly isn't flash either. The reality is that Sydney has too many clubs and it is dog eat dog to see who survives.

The sad thing is the NRL will keep propping these clubs up due to the politics rather than just let them die(see Souths as an example).

It's this that's holding expansion back by keeping an over saturated Sydney market when everybody can see there's too many teams.

It's a shame that the power is still in the old nswrl, I'd rather they just "started again" with a north/south/east city/west/gws with the current Sydney clubs in the nsw cup freeing up space for the expansion clubs. Never gonna happen though sadly

 

[bruce]

It's a shame that the power is still in the old nswrl, I'd rather they just "started again" with a north/south/east city/west/gws with the current Sydney clubs in the nsw cup freeing up space for the expansion clubs. Never gonna happen though sadly

To be honest I respect the tradition of those old clubs like St George and Balmain and would be sorry to see them go. League always has been a tribal game. Rupert Murdoch was determined that Wests didn't belong, and then Souths, but they are still there. However time moves on and if you get stuck in the past you go out with it.

 

[surfin]

You see it all the time in the NFL and NBA especially if an area can't support a team the are sold up and moved on. The NRLs biggest problem would be the shit fight as to which struggling team would get moved on.

 

[Defence]

You see it all the time in the NFL and NBA especially if an area can't support a team the are sold up and moved on. The NRLs biggest problem would be the shit fight as to which struggling team would get moved on.

Of coarse any Sydney clubs fans are gonna be spewing if they get relocated but they would still get to see their team play 7 or 8 times a year in Sydney against all the other Sydney teams.
Sharks to Perth sounds good to me.

 

[snake77]

You see it all the time in the NFL and NBA especially if an area can't support a team the are sold up and moved on. The NRLs biggest problem would be the shit fight as to which struggling team would get moved on.

All of the talk with before the commission was formed was hard decisions were going to be made. At some point the game will need to make some tough decisions on the number of teams in Sydney and wear the negative publicity it will cause.

Not sure how it will be done. Criteria like last time? most of the clubs either fudged their crowd figures even more than was usual at the time. Or Souths it seemed thought the criteria should be everyone else but them.

Do they wait until the next one goes broke again but not bail them out in future? The NRL would need another team ready to go as the talk the last few years has always been they are obligated to provide a certain amount of games to the broadcasters.

The Tigers mergers is a funny one. The idea was a strong club merge with a weaker one not two weak ones merge. They still work as a joint venture. The Tigers had the financial strength to start with but now Balmain is broke so the Wests side is getting stronger.

The NRL need to send someone over to the States to see how relocations work. Then put the relocation offer back to the clubs but then make the offer to good to refuse in that if they move they will moving but with a strong financial starting point.

They can either fully move or to start with take a token game the first few years back to their old home ground. Like bruce mentioned they will still be in Sydney for about a few games each year.

 

[bruce]

If I recall St George Illawarra were offered heaps to merge and couldn't say yes quick enough. Illawarra had always been a St George feeder anyway. Like they say, don't throw good money after bad. Then there is the Bears trying like mad to relocate to the Central Coast and the NRL won't even think about it. It smacks of the convict politics that have dogged that city for 200 years.