According to TV rights experts, the NRL are in line for a whopping $4 billion TV deal, double that of the current contract, with Peter V’landys putting a timeline on when the deal will be done.
Since V’landys took over at the Australian Rugby League Commission, the NRL has gone from strength to strength with their latest books showing a profit of over $60 million and revenue approaching $850 million.
Super League pales in comparison to such figures, and those numbers could drift even further apart based on reports of what the NRL expect their next TV deal to look like.
The current NRL TV contract expires at the end of the 2027 season and was worth $2 billion over five seasons, however, NRL chiefs are seeking and expecting the new deal to be double that and worth a whopping $800 million per season.
To put that into context, $800 million is approximately £420 million. Super League as a competition currently receives around £22 million per season from Sky Sports, around 1/20th of what the NRL could be set to receive in TV money alone.
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NRL set to hit new horizons with TV deal
Super League also see their TV deal run out at the end of the year with no current deal in place for 2027, however, the NRL expect to get their 2028-2032 deal sewn up in the next six months.
Peter V’landys told The Daily Telegraph: “This (TV rights contract) will be a record deal and I expect it be done in the next six months.”
One reason why the NRL are able to potentially land such a massive contract is that there are a number of competitors in the market whereas Super League has only really had interest from Sky Sports over the years.
Another way in which the NRL could be set to maximise their global reach is the possible launch of a Netlflix-style documentary, that could be modelled on Formula One’s Drive to Survive series.
The fly-on-the-wall documentary series that covers the F1 season has been immensely successful with fans of the sport and more importantly viewers who weren’t fans of the sport, with F1 now growing fans as a result of the series.
Speaking to the Telegraph, V’landys said: “The success of Drive to Survive is a template for any sport. It’s made so much money, brought so many new viewers to Formula One, and it has also brought them the younger demographic.
“It’s very important for us as a sport to focus there as well. Last year we had a massive increase in younger people watching our game.
“In order to keep doing that, you need to do those sort of shows. Drive To Survive has been one of the most extraordinary success stories ever … no doubt about that.”
