ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys reveals $420m expansion war chest, target to play in US for next two decades
First it was Brisbane. Then Papua New Guinea. Now a surprise location has been revealed as the primary target as the NRL sits on an expansion war chest of more than $400m to execute its bold vision.
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ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has revealed the NRL’s $420 million war chest to drive expansion as he plots the next offshore project to match the code’s Vegas venture – a second team in New Zealand.
As V’landys touched down in Vegas ahead of Sunday’s historic NRL double header at Allegiant Stadium, the ARLC chair detailed the financial goldmine to fund a 20-team NRL competition.
V’landys says the NRL could play premiership games in America for the next 20 years, revealed Wayne Bennett will be consulted on expansion and confirmed a second New Zealand team to rival the Warriors is on the agenda.
In another landmark moment for the sport, V’landys says a definitive call on fresh expansion will likely be made “in the next six months” _ giving the NRL an 18-team league for the first time in 26 years.
WAR CHEST
League Central last week revealed record revenue of $701 million, with net assets in excess of $260m.
Expansion critics have questioned whether the NRL has the talent pool to sustain an 18 or 20-team league. The addition of Bennett’s Dolphins last season required another 30 full-time players.
Three more teams would mean almost 100 additional players. There are fears a 20-team NRL would seriously erode the quality and competitiveness of the competition, but V’landys says the code has committed $420m from 2023-27 to game development to help generate more elite playing talent.
That’s an average of $84 million annually to ensure expansion does not cannibalise the existing 17 NRL clubs.
“We are spending $420 million on development and pathways, we will produce the talent to support expansion,” V’landys said.
“That level of funding is in this current five-year cycle, that includes payments to the states (NSW and Queensland Rugby League) and our own expenditure on development.
“We are putting money into places such as South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand and then we have our own development teams.
“Once we go to 18 teams, we should be asking, should we go to 20 or not?
“And once you make that decision, you need to have the available talent and we’re addressing that.
“We need to keep growing the game, we have a lot of growth to go.”
TRANS-TASMAN EXPANSION
Sunday’s double header at Allegiant Stadium could be the preamble to more sustained offshore growth via the launch of a second NRL team in New Zealand.
While a Papua New Guinea franchise remains the frontrunner to win the NRL’s 18th licence, possibly by 2026 or 2027, V’landys says the prospect of expanding to New Zealand’s south island is real.
As part of moves to eventually expand to a 20-team league, V’landys wants a greater national and international footprint. That means franchises in Western Australia – the Perth Bears have been touted as a 19th team – while the NRL see promise in a second Kiwi outfit based in Christchurch.
“A second New Zealand team has merit,” V’landys said.
“Maybe not as the 18th team, because we are looking to PNG with the support of the Australian government, but it certainly has merit if we go to 20 teams.
“When Nick Politis (Roosters chairman) says we should be considering 20 teams, you certainly do it because he is a very successful businessman.
“The Warriors have been wonderful for the game _ there is a lot of support in New Zealand.
“When someone of Nick’s success says we must look at 20 teams, we’re going to look at it. And we should have a strategy to get there at a certain time, whether that’s three years, five years or 10 years.”
WAYNE BENNETT
When the Dolphins were admitted to the big league last season, a key condition of their licence was the installation of seven-time premiership winner Bennett as their foundation coach.
Now V’landys has revealed Bennett will be a key consultant to determine when the code expands, how to do so and which locations will ensure the best success for long-term growth.
“Wayne Bennett will absolutely be consulted,” the ARLC chair said.
“He is a genius — Wayne is the most valuable source we have got in the game.
“There’s no point leaving him in the garage.
“Wayne has 40 or 50 years of rugby league knowledge and he would be the perfect person to have involved in setting up an 18th team.
“We will be relying very heavily on him for his advice and input on expansion.”
EXPANSION DEADLINE
The ARL Commission is expected to decide whether to expand again this season, possibly in the weeks after the NRL grand final.
V’landys said the level of behind-the-scenes work being done on a proposed PNG team, backed by $600 million in Federal government funding, is detailed and well advanced.
“People will be surprised where we are at with the PNG bid,” V’landys said.
“It’s 100 per cent not pie in the sky.
“We have been doing a lot of hard work. It’s 100 per cent reality.
“Anyone who thinks the PNG team would be a failure doesn’t have the facts that we do.
“We are well down the track.”
Asked if a formal expansion call will be made this year, V’landys said: “Yes, I am pretty confident it will be this year.
“I think we will make a decision in the next six months. It’s hard to put an exact timeline on it, because we have to talk to a lot of people and do a lot of analysis.
“Expansion is already turbo-charged, we’re on it. Vegas and more expansion are our two priorities at the moment.
“I don’t know if we will be doing a tender process like we did last time, but we will be speaking to different parties.
“That’s all to be determined how we move it forward. Naturally we will have to speak to the clubs and get their feedback and support, but I think if the numbers stack up, we will move towards an 18th team.”
VIVA LAS VEGAS
V’landys arrived in Vegas on Tuesday (AEDT). There is a view the NRL is wasting time and money by going to the US, but it is understood the Vegas promotion is costing the code less than $2 million.
The NRL has committed to a five-year experiment in Vegas but V’landys hopes rugby league will establish a permanent foothold in America for the next two decades.
“We need to see if it works,” he said.
“If it does, we could go to America for 20 years, it could be even longer than that.
“But we need to commit to an initial term of five years because it will take that long to either succeed or fail.
“There’s no point doing it once or twice and then giving up, you have to do everything you can to make it successful.
“We believe this Vegas venture could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the long term.
“It’s all about growing revenue which gets re-invested in the game for development and clubs so we have a bigger asset base.
“It’s all about future-proofing the game.
“It all depends on the implementation, but I believe it will work in Vegas.”
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