The AFL recently struck a $1.2 billion broadcast deal over five years, but Colin Smith, a senior adviser with LEK Consultancy, told a meeting of the NRL chief executives that the League could earn as much as $1.4 billion through the new rights tender for five seasons from 2012. The NRL’s current agreement generates $500 million over six years.
According to various reports, CEOs were told that there are three different proposals on the table for the next broadcasting deal, with the first valued at $1 billion, the second at $1.2 billion and the third at $1.4 billion.
“Foxtel's pay-television (audiences) for NRL is up 20% and then you look at State of Origin, (where there were) just under 11 million viewers,” Smith said, according to Sportal. “It just demonstrates the NRL fan loves rugby league and loves it on television, which is very promising going forward for the media rights negotiations.”
Smith added: “We actually haven't come up with a dollar figure at this stage because we are waiting for the new independent commission to be formed. When that happens we will have a discussion with the commission and give them some views of value.”
NRL chief executive David Gallop has refused to speak about target figures, but said: “I know you'd love to me to tell you a number but I'm not going to. We're certainly conscious of the result the AFL got and we're conscious of how our game's going so you can draw your own inferences from that.”
