Rugby league will be biggest sport in Australia, says NRL chief

The NRL CEO, Dave Smith, predicts rugby league will become the

most played sport in Australia with $200m being ploughed into the development

of the game over the next four years.

Smith headlined a presentation at Darling Harbour in Sydney on Monday along

with the ARLC chairman John Grant, chief operating officer Jim Doyle and head of

football Todd Greenberg.

Smith outlined his plans for the NRL, which included the establishment of an

$80m sustainability fund to safeguard the code’s future and detailed the

strides made since the new billion dollar broadcast deal was signed off in August

2012.

The NRL made a record profit of $49.6m in 2013 – a $60m turnaround from

2012. However, with soccer participation across the country on the rise, Smith

said it was vital to increase investment at grass roots level.

“We have growth in our participation numbers,” Smith said.

“Women’s is up 20% and masters up 14%. Mini footballers is steady at 5.6%.

Wind the clock forward five years and we will be the biggest sporting community

in the country.

“By that point we will hopefully have gone through the current rights

deal and see a big uptake in the number of people playing the game and the

number of people watching the game and that will add more value to our

rights.”

Smith said the NRL’s recent alliance with Touch Football Australia will

bring more than 500,000 recreational participants under the umbrella of rugby

league with 810,000 children already involved in existing development programs.

“We have significantly increased our investment in the game following

the new broadcast rights deal, with 100% of all revenue generated by the media

rights deal invested in the game,” Smith said. “Our results show that

rugby league is investing more in the game than ever before and is now truly

positioned to enter a period of growth that will make it the strongest and

healthiest it has ever been.”

Despite recording strong television figures, numbers were down by 2% from

2012 and attendances by 3%. Greenberg said disappointing seasons from

Parramatta, St George Illawarra, Brisbane and Wests Tigers were a big factor

for the slide and one of the reasons the NRL lost $1.8m on the finals series.

He also said discussions had taking place with broadcasters about improving

scheduling, in addition to improving matchday experiences for fans.

“It was a complex problem, our four biggest rating teams were at the

bottom of the ladder,” Greenberg said. “That affects crowds and it

affects ratings, that is real and transparent. What we have done this year is

work hard with the broadcasters to find better slots for television.

“We are bringing Saturday afternoon football into play for the first

time in a long time, we will have three games on Anzac Day and think that’s

going to make a huge difference.”

Greenberg also indicated that plans are underway to make sure the biggest

games in Sydney are held at ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium – moving them away

from the suburban grounds.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26107462

Rugby league will be biggest sport in Australia, says NRL chief