NRL expansion: Peter V’landys adamant there will be no rescue packages for proposed 17th team

The NRL is 14 days away from making a final call on whether expansion will take place. But ARLC boss Peter V’landys has a stern warning for the three bid teams.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has warned the three expansion hopefuls there will be no bailout packages as the NRL prepares to make a call on the 17th licence within 14 days.

V’landys told News Corp prospective franchises the Firehawks, Jets and Dolphins “deserve an answer straight away” as D-Day arrives for NRL expansion following the trio’s formal presentations at Queensland Rugby League headquarters last Monday.

The ARL Commission board will meet this Tuesday and they will discuss a number of agenda items, including whether the code is ready for a second Brisbane team after 11 years of dithering and false hope on expansion.

V’landys is keen to drive a 17-team competition for 2023, and the final piece of the expansion puzzle may fall into place this week as the ARLC chairman reaches the pointy end of negotiations with pay TV broadcasting partner Foxtel.

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Redcliffe Dolphins bid chief Terry Reader is adamant his organisation has the funds to bankroll a team in the big league.

But with V’landys having faced expansion resistance from the existing 16 clubs during the Covid crisis, the ARLC boss made it clear the Firehawks, Jets and Dolphins cannot be a financial burden on the code.

V’landys is acutely aware of the $30 million debt crisis that crippled the Titans, the NRL’s most recent expansion outfit.

Admitted to the big league in 2007, the Titans went bankrupt twice, forcing the NRL to briefly take control of their licence in 2015 — but V’landys insists there will be no rescue package for a second Brisbane team.

“We will not be bailing any new club out,” he said.

“It would be an unmitigated disaster if a new team didn’t have the funds. Having cash flow is imperative.

“That is why we have stipulated a $10 million bank guarantee from the bid teams.

“We wouldn’t get any support from the 16 clubs (on expansion) if a 17th team has no financial backing.

“They must stand on their own two feet.”

The NRL is ready to make a definitive call on expansion. The NRL’s Expansion Assessment Committee issued emails to the Firehawks, Jets and Dolphins in recent days with follow-up questions seeking answers to various aspects of the three bids.

ARLC boss Peter V'landys says the 17th team shouldn’t be expecting to be bailed out should it run into financial difficulties.

The expansion battle took an extraordinary twist on Friday when News Corp revealed the Firehawks and Jets had begun preliminary merger talks on a $35 million super bid to trump red-hot favourites the Dolphins.

V’landys revealed the two-stage process on expansion is reaching judgment day.

“There will be an ARL Commission board meeting on Tuesday,” he said.

“It’s all going to plan and we will know in the next week or two, one way or the other, if expansion will happen.

“To be fair to the bidders, they deserve an answer straight away. We won’t muck around with it, they have waited long enough and we’ve had their bid documents long enough.

“If we decide to proceed with a 17th team, we will meet with the clubs. I gave an undertaking to the 16 clubs that I would talk to them first.

“If we pass the first stage, we will go to the second stage, which is to decide which bid would be successful.

“I must stress we have to clear the first stage and we haven‘t got past the first stage yet.

The NRL wants to avoid the expansion disaster of the Gold Coast Titans, who required the help of white knight Darryl Kelly (pictured) to save the club.

“But by the end of September, we will know if expansion goes ahead and which team could be successful.”

The NRL’s broadcast partner Foxtel is watching the expansion issue closely. The pay TV giant believes a fourth Queensland club could be a potential financial goldmine if the second Brisbane team is positioned in the right region.

Critics of expansion say the NRL cannot generate sufficient additional millions via a 17-team league that doesn’t provide an extra game for broadcasters each weekend.

But the real jackpot lies in a subscription blueprint. Foxtel believes a second Brisbane team can be a money-spinner if a new audience invests in rugby league through pay TV and their Kayo sports-streaming service.

Pay TV strategists are aware of data, provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, that shows Brisbane’s western-corridor population will grow by a staggering 179 per cent over the next 20 years.

“The broadcasters are supportive,” V’landys said.

“We are finally making traction with the broadcasters and getting a final figure from them is important.

“You don’t need an extra game (to fund expansion). People are migrating away from traditional media to subscription television.

“That’s why Fox is critical in this because where the broadcasters will win out is by us bringing in a new audience.

“That new audience that will subscribe to Kayo or Foxtel to watch the games, that’s where the broadcasters will make their money.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo (left) and ARLC boss Peter V’landys are treading cautiously with expansion.

“So we don’t need an extra game each weekend, we need more subscribers. An extra game in the round (with 18 teams) may not guarantee extra subscribers.

“A team that has tribalism will get you extra subscribers.

“Can you imagine a Brisbane derby … the tribalism and rivalry will bring additional subscribers and that’s where the broadcaster can win.

“That’s what we have stressed to the bidders. You can’t migrate an audience that usually supports the Broncos or the Titans, they have to bring in a new tribe.”

There is a view the NRL has run out of time to add a 17th team for 2023. Some Sydney clubs are pushing for a 2024 time frame.

V’landys says there is still scope for a second Brisbane team in 2023. Within a month, the whole messy expansion picture will finally become crystal clear.

“The bid teams have all told us they would have no issue having a team ready for 2023,” he said.

“Expanding in 2023 is not off the table.”

NRL expansion: $35m bid to destroy the Dolphins

Expansion rivals the Brisbane Jets and Firehawks have sensationally begun merger talks to form a $35 million super bid to destroy the Dolphins in the battle for the NRL’s 17th licence.

News Corp can reveal Jets and Firehawks officials kicked-off high-powered talks on Thursday night as the fierce three-way expansion fight to become Brisbane’s second team took an extraordinary twist.

The Redcliffe-backed Dolphins, armed with a $100 million asset base, are rated the red-hot favourites to convince the ARL Commission they have the resources to launch Queensland’s fourth NRL team in 2023 or 2024.

But the decision by Jets and Firehawks powerbrokers to explore a powerful joint-venture is a shock wildcard development that has turned the expansion race on its head.

Talks are only in the preliminary stage and it remains doubtful whether the Firehawks and Jets can put aside a two-year rivalry to reach common ground in their quest to overthrow expansion frontrunners the Dolphins.

Steve Bullow and Shane Edwards were part of the Firehawks bidding team.

Jets bid chiefs Nick Livermore and Steve Johnson and Firehawks counterparts Shane Richardson and Brian Torpy had initial discussions on Thursday night.

Negotiations escalated on Friday, with Richardson confirming his interest in brokering a formal joint-venture ahead of a crucial ARL Commission board meeting next Tuesday.

“I’m keen to do the merger because I think it is good for the game,” he said.

“I’m pushing the two parties (Firehawks and Jets) coming together, but whether we eventually come together, I don’t know.

“The meeting with Nick Livermore was very positive. There are a lot of things we agreed on and we actually share similar philosophies on expansion.

“We’ve had some conversations and the Jets will come back to us in writing with some of their requests.

“Once we assess things, we’ll see if we have a genuine chance of merging.”

Livermore added: “If there is a direction, whether it’s a merger, or additional finance, or a larger geographic footprint, the Jets will do whatever we can to make sure the ARL Commission makes the right decision.”

Just five days ago, the Jets and Firehawks were bid rivals, with the two consortia joining the Dolphins in delivering formal presentations to the NRL’s Expansion Assessment Committee at Queensland Rugby League headquarters.

But the proposed Jets-Firehawks alliance is an expansion game-changer.

The Firehawks have the fiscal muscle to challenge the Dolphins with assets of $80 million and $25m in cash reserves.

Steve Johnson and Nick Livermore were part of the Jets bidding team on Monday.

While the Firehawks lack a large catchment, that would be solved by joining forces with the Jets, who are the poorest of the three bids, but possess a participation goldmine in a western-corridor region whose population will grow 179 per cent in the next 20 years.

It shapes as a genuine threat to the Dolphins – and a potential winning bid for the ARL Commission.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys welcomed the prospect of a two-horse expansion race for a second Brisbane licence.

“It’s a very smart thing to do,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“Sometimes these merger talks do fall over, but it would certainly make those bids a lot stronger.

“By combining, they would be a much more powerful bid and have much more money behind them.”

While the merger talks are being held in good faith, there are some major impediments to a Jets-Firehawks marriage.

Chiefly, the Brisbane Jets want to retain their name and remain based in Ipswich’s western corridor.

The Brisbane Tigers, founded in 1917, are bankrolling the Firehawks and are undertaking an $8 million redevelopment of their Langlands Park base at Coorparoo.

Both parties would hire Wayne Bennett as the merged entity’s first coach, but Richardson concedes the Firehawks have no interest in relocating to the western corridor, although they are keen to service the region.

Shane Richardsonhas his eyes on Brisbane’s western corridor.

“The Easts Tigers brand is 104 years old, it would be very difficult to give up that history,” he said.

“We would like to keep the Firehawks name. We have spent a lot of money on it and Easts have bought into the branding, so we’re very comfortable with the name.

“We set up the Firehawks to be different and the NRL love our point of difference with our branding and marketing strategies.

“We have the resources and the finances to be ready to go now.

“The western corridor is the fastest growing part of Queensland, not Redcliffe.

“If you are going to attract new people and new fans, that’s the corridor to attack. That’s the area the AFL are attacking.

“We won’t be cannibalising any NRL team. Our marketing plan is called ‘Hunters not Cannibals’.

“Everything about our plan is about not cannibalising what’s already there. We won’t be taking any fans off the Titans or Broncos.

“We are only interested in growing the game.”