NRL records record revenue for 2024, outstrips AFL in viewer numbers
Rugby league has dethroned the AFL as the most watched TV sport in Australia and is on track to break through the billion dollar revenue mark.
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The ARL Commission is celebrating the biggest financial coup in rugby league’s 116-year history with the NRL set to post record revenue in their masterplan to become a $1 billion sport.
On the five-year anniversary of his rise to the ARLC chairmanship, Peter V’landys outlined his blueprint for the NRL to become an on and off-field juggernaut in the wake of a history-making 2024 season.
This masthead can reveal the NRL is on track to surpass $720 million in revenue this financial year, exceeding the previous record of $701m, set 12 months ago.
And rugby league has dethroned the AFL as the most watched TV sport in Australia, with the NRL attracting a total of 153.7 million viewers this year – smashing their fierce AFL rivals by 13.4 million.
“We’re thrilled with the results,” V’landys said.
“The popularity of the game has never been higher.
“In my mind, we are the No. 1 sport in Australia, but we won’t stop, we’re still growing.”
REVENUE RECORD
Just two years ago, the NRL was a $593 million empire. That was a benchmark result, but this year’s figures have propelled the NRL to another level of fiscal strength.
V’landys declined to discuss specific figures but confirmed the NRL will exceed their 2023 financial year income of $701.1 million.
With this financial year to end on October 31, League Central’s bean counters have yet to finalise the bottom line, but the NRL will go north of $701m and possibly exceed $720m in revenue.
It’s a landmark outcome for a code that was on the verge of bankruptcy just four years ago during the Covid crisis, but under the leadership of V’landys, an accountant by trade, the NRL is no longer a financial basketcase.
Over the past two years, the NRL has recorded a profit of $121 million. Pending final figures for 2024, the NRL could bank in excess of $170m in a compelling three-year fiscal renaissance.
“I can tell you the NRL has record revenues once again,” V’landys told this masthead.
“It’s the most revenue we’ve ever had and I expect we will return another profit. Exactly how much we don’t know at this stage because the financial year isn’t complete.
“We have record investment in the game and if you are successful with attendance and ratings, you will get more investment.
“The state of the game is the reason. Our success all feeds off record attendances, record ratings and things like that.
“When you are meeting your KPIs (key performance indicators), revenue flows from it.
“There’s no doubt the inclusion of the Dolphins (as the NRL’s 17th team in 2023) has played a part in that. They have been an extraordinary success. If the future expansion goes as well as the Dolphins, the game will go through the roof.
“We were able to secure a higher broadcast deal and when the game is strong, sponsors want to be part of it and we’re seeing more commercial money from new sponsors, corporates and wagering.
“It’s very pleasing ... I want to get the game into a position that makes it bulletproof.
“I believe we can get to $1 billion in time, absolutely, that’s the aim.”
BATTLE OF THE CODES
When it comes to TV ratings, the NRL leaves the AFL in the shade.
Despite playing three fewer games than the AFL (213 to 216) this season, the NRL attracted an extra 13 million eyeballs on free-to-air, pay TV, and streaming services.
The AFL attracted an extra four million fans through the turnstiles this year (8.2m to 4.1m), but the NRL enjoys a greater viewership dominance in the broadcasting space (153.7m to 140.3m).
Factor in the 2024 State of Origin series, which was watched by 10.21 million, and it gives credence to V’landys’ belief that the NRL is now Australia’s No. 1 sporting code.
Asked about claims the AFL is Australia’s No. 1 sport, V’landys said: “It’s complete rubbish.
“Rugby league was watched more than the AFL. We have the highest viewership of the two codes.
“The figures clearly show that more people watch rugby league than any other sport in this country.
“If you use that as a measure, we are already the No. 1 sport in my mind, but we also want to be the most participated.
“For the first time this year, we have gone past 200,000 registrations, so if you look at the three objectives this year, which was to promote the game, get more participation and maximise the audience, we’ve achieved it in both attendance and ratings.
“The game is in a great spot, but we have a lot of things to do, including increasing participation.
“We have the perfect sport to do it because you can play touch, tag or contact. Our next step is to get to 250,000 participants.”
NRL MONOPOLY
After decades of wasted billions, the ARL Commission is shrewdly amassing a real-estate portfolio across NSW and Queensland.
The ARLC started in 2022 with the purchase of Gambaros, recently renamed the Beetson Hotel in honour of league legend Arthur Beetson, situated just 400 metres from Suncorp Stadium.
They have since added Sydney’s Quest Hotel in Woolooware, near the Cronulla Sharks home ground, and the 81-room Mercure at Kawana Waters on the Sunshine Coast, which could be used as accommodation for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
But V’landys is hungry for more.
“We will continue to buy assets,” he said.
“We have an agreement with the clubs and the players to have at least $300 million in assets and we’re getting there.
“We’re being careful. We are buying assets that are cost-effective and good buys with high returns.
“We’re not rushing into it because we want to make sure we buy the right assets and ones that will give us high rates of return.
“When Covid happened, we were in trouble because when we ran out of money, we couldn’t borrow anything because we had no assets to use as security.
“With cash, we currently have about $200 million in assets, but we want to keep building on that.
“Everyone agrees in the game that we need that asset base, because if there is another crisis at some point in time, which may happen, we will be financially ready for it.”
LATRELL MITCHELL
Latrell Mitchell is one of the most polarising figures in Australian sport.
The Indigenous superstar was embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of the season over the white-substance photo scandal.
Mitchell was slapped with two separate $20,000 fines by the NRL and Souths, who will activate a suspended $80,000 sanction if he reoffends.
The South Sydney fullback has also been hit with a one-match suspension by the NRL, who have pushed for Mitchell to serve the ban in the opening game of the 2025 premiership.
In this instance, Mitchell brought the drama upon himself, but the Rabbitohs champion has also had to deal with victimisation over a series of racial slurs.
V’landys admits he is concerned about Mitchell’s welfare and says the NRL will do everything to ensure the controversial 27-year-old is supported by the code.
Asked if the NRL are mindful of Mitchell’s previous sentiments that he could be driven out of the sport, V’landys said: “Absolutely.
“Latrell is one of the great players in the game and we want him here. We want him at his best. I do worry about Latrell because I know at heart he is a very good human being.
“That’s first and foremost what I look at. Sometimes he gets the wrong advice or says the wrong things, but in the main he is a very good person whose heart is in the right place.
“He is a young man and the pressure on him is immense. Any person that has that pressure sometimes makes mistakes and you have to expect that. We’re not all perfect.
“The scrutiny and level of expectation on Latrell is immense. We can’t forget he is human at the end of the day.”
BROADCAST BONANZA
In the coming months, V’landys and NRL boss Andrew Abdo will kick off talks on the code’s next TV rights contract for 2028 and beyond.
It’s a crucial, and potentially code-shaping, deal. The AFL’s seven-year deal from 2025-31 was worth $4.5 billion and the NRL will go to the negotiating table entitled to be confident after setting a number of records during their current broadcasting agreement.
The addition of an 18th team by 2027 would give the NRL an extra game per round to sell to existing broadcast partners – Nine Entertainment and Foxtel – and other potential bidders.
If the NRL expands to 20 teams, as expected, by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, that’s another potential trump card for the NRL, which is eyeing growth to the Pacific with a 19th team in Papua New Guinea in 2028.
“To start the broadcast negotiations, we need to know the format of the competition for the next five years,” V’landys said.
“Once we decide that, we will immediately move into broadcast discussions.
“I expect there to be enormous interest for our next broadcast deal. Who wouldn’t want to be bidding for the NRL right at the moment with the numbers we are putting up.”
VIVA LAS VEGAS
The NRL’s bold incursion into America this season was the launch pad to record revenues.
The historic premiership kick-off in Las Vegas was a TV ratings smash hit with 2.4 million viewers watching the Broncos-Roosters and Manly-Souths double header at Allegiant Stadium.
The Manly-Souths clash was the most viewed NRL game in Australian pay TV history with 838,000 fans tuning into Fox League and Kayo.
More than 40,000 fans attended Allegiant from 24 countries.
The NRL’s five-year deal to play premiership games on US soil until 2028 has raised eyebrows and is not without its logistical hurdles, but V’landys has faith in the concept.
“The first round in Vegas was the highest watched round in the history of rugby league,” he said.
“We have opened the doors for revenue growth in America.
“They are probably going to be a bit slower than I first thought, but it will happen.”
V’landys hit back at suggestions the Vegas experiment was a financial disaster for the NRL.
“Vegas was a lot less expensive than everyone thought it was,” he said.
“It’s not just the expenditure, it’s the tangible return.
“We wouldn’t have got record ratings on the first round if we didn’t go to Vegas.
“We have opened the doors for new revenue growth with various new revenue streams that will come through in America.
“Vegas was nothing short of an extraordinary success.
“It had everyone talking in Australia about rugby league from round one. A lot of people told me it was one of the greatest sporting promotions they have seen.
“Vegas played a huge part in our success this season ... and we’re determined to get bigger and better.”
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