Nine Network slams NRL and its handling of the game over many years
Rugby league free-to-air broadcaster the Nine Network has accused the NRL of squandering the hundreds of millions of dollars it has paid in broadcast rights.
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Channel 9 has threatened to walk away from the NRL as a massive war begins over the league’s plans to relaunch the season next month.
The free-to-air broadcaster launched a stunning attack on the NRL on Tuesday, accusing it of mismanagement and squandering millions of dollars from broadcast rights deals.
The network is furious with the NRL, accusing league officials of leaving them out of the planning for the competition restart is set to be given the green light from the organisation’s Project Apollo innovation committee for football to return as early as May 21.
The Nine Network has accused the NRL of 'profoundly wasting money' and 'mismanagement of the code', on the day the competition was supposed to announce a return. @Danny_Weidler #9News pic.twitter.com/vZyvEbnSVj
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) April 9, 2020
But the proposed reboot of the competition doesn’t have the support of the game’s free-to-air broadcaster.
Channel 9 revealed last week that it would save $130 million this calendar year if the sport doesn’t resume. The network plans to strip $266 million from its costs this year to cope with the coronavirus crisis.
The move by the network could have serious repercussions for NRL Todd Greenberg and his future in the role.
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Nine chief executive Hugh Marks informed the NRL that there is less value to the game being played behind closed doors without fans and the media company wants to negotiate a new contract.
A spokesman for Nine said funds had been wasted by “a bloated head office” and made the company’s thoughts about being left out of the competition resumption talks crystal clear.
“At Nine we had hoped to work with the NRL on a solution to the issues facing rugby league in 2020, brought on so starkly by COVID-19,” the spokesman said.
“But this health crisis in our community has highlighted the mismanagement of the code over many years.
“Nine has invested hundreds of millions in this game over decades and we now find they have profoundly wasted those funds with very little to fall back on to support the clubs, the players and supporters.
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“In the past the NRL have had problems and we’ve bailed them out many times including a $50m loan to support clubs when the last contract was signed.
“It would now appear that much of that has been squandered by a bloated head office completely ignoring the needs of the clubs, players and supporters.
“We find ourselves with a contract that is unfulfilled by the code. We hoped we could talk through a long-term plan.”
This attack has added to concerns that Nine could walk away from rugby league after decades covering the game.
Originally published as Nine Network slams NRL and its handling of the game over many years