{"id":848898,"date":"2026-08-09T08:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T08:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848898\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T08:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T08:04:21","slug":"oceans-apart-nrls-super-league-takeover-bid-hits-roadblock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848898\/","title":{"rendered":"Oceans apart: NRL\u2019s Super League takeover bid hits roadblock"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL’s mission to invest in the Betfred Super League<\/a> has been dealt a significant blow, with ARLC chairman Peter V’landys admitting they are struggling to make the financial figures work.<\/p>\n

The NRL<\/a> has spent the past 12 months exploring the possibility of investing and taking authority over the English Rugby League<\/a> competitions, with the Super League<\/a> facing significant financial challenges.<\/p>\n

With traditional revenue streams continuing to shrink, many, if not all, Super League<\/a> clubs have become increasingly reliant on millions of pounds in owner investment each year.<\/p>\n

\"NRL(Photo by Mark Metcalfe\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s no secret that they’ve got financial problems over there, and if they don’t fix them, they’ll have a massive train crash,\u201d V’landy’s said last month on SEN.<\/p>\n

Those concerns were highlighted just weeks ago when St Helens’ financial position was revealed, with the Super League<\/a> heavyweight posting an operating loss in excess of \u00a33 million.<\/p>\n

The NRL<\/a>, meanwhile, has recently secured an incredible $5.3 billion broadcast deal, putting the Australian game in a significantly stronger financial position.<\/p>\n

Super League<\/a> is also currently negotiating its own broadcast deal with Sky Sports, which could have a major impact on the competition’s financial future.<\/p>\n

The proposed NRL<\/a> investment has been viewed as an opportunity to ‘save’ the competition; however, negotiations have now hit a roadblock.<\/p>\n

It is understood ARLC and NRL officials travelled to the UK last week<\/a> to hold discussions with the Super League<\/a> and their clubs around a potential intervention and the needs of the competition.<\/p>\n

\"Wigan(Photo by Jan Kruger\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

UK broadcaster Sky Sports is understood to be reluctant to come to the party with a deal that satisfies the NRL’s investment strategy, while suggestions have emerged that DAZN, which now owns Foxtel, could potentially support a Super League<\/a> ‘rescue package’.<\/p>\n

V’landys has now admitted the financial figures are proving difficult to make work, casting doubt over whether the NRL’s proposed investment will eventuate.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, we’re trying to make the figures work at the moment, but unless the figures work, we won’t do it,\u201d he told the Daily Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re having trouble making the figures work, that’s the truth of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know what will happen. I find it very tough (to proceed with a purchase).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to talk further with Super League<\/a>. We haven’t put a proposal into them yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the importance of the international game, so we’re not giving up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should the deal get back on track, there would be significant value for the NRL<\/a> in gaining a greater influence over the English game.<\/p>\n

Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly recently outlined his support for the proposal, arguing that a stronger Super League<\/a> could benefit the international game while providing the NRL<\/a> with access to a major market.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s huge value in it,\u201d Solly said on SEN’s Kick Off.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, it protects the international game and ensures that there’s a competitive England<\/a> or Great Britain team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK is a massive market. It’s 60 million people, it’s sports-loving, there’s obviously an opportunity to grow rugby league there as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it’s well capitalised, the Super League<\/a> competition at the moment, whilst on the field is under pressure, has probably never had a better set of owners of the clubs that are wanting to work and wanting to invest to grow the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s a great opportunity for the NRL<\/a> and there’s also just some efficiencies in the NRL<\/a> and Super League<\/a> being owned and managed by the same company and hopefully we can work on a global calendar that just grows the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solly also acknowledged that any agreement would require more than simply financial investment, with the Super League<\/a> having to relinquish some control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it’s gonna be a philosophical point for them to cede some of that control and influence and allow Peter (V’Landys) and his team at the NRL<\/a> to shake it up and probably do the things that the game’s needed there for a decade,” Solly added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL’s mission to invest in the Betfred Super League has been dealt a significant blow, with ARLC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-848898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}