What it costs to run the NRL in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic
From babysitting to charter flights it has not been cheap to bring the NRL back during the middle of a pandemic, as David Riccio reports.
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The NRL is paying for babysitting to help the wives and partners of players, as the enormous outlay of running the competition during the COVID-19 pandemic can be revealed.
The overall on-going costs to keep the NRL season going under the restrictions of COVID-19 has been estimated at a massive $20 million.
The footy code was one of the first sports in the world to return to competition on May 28 despite the on-going health crisis.
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But to achieve the celebrated feat, the NRL needed to leave no stone unturned in protecting the health and safety of players, staff, clubs and the community.
The NRL had budgeted for a $16 million COVID-19 spend, but after just six weeks of footy that figure is expected to rise to as much $20 million as a result of shifting the Melbourne Storm out of Victoria and into Queensland.
Expensive charter flights for every team that are flying interstate for matches and the hiring of biosecurity personnel at every game are responsible for the NRL’s huge weekly outlay.
The unprecedented decision to house the Warriors on the NSW Central Coast and the Melbourne Storm on the Sunshine Coast and even pay $1,000 a month babysitting fees for wives and partners at home in New Zealand are also part of the spend.
The Warriors team of almost 50 players and staff have been in NSW for the past two months, spending the majority of that time at Terrigal’s Star of the Sea Resort.
The Storm were forced to leave Victoria last week for the Sunshine Coast where the club understands they could remain for the rest of the season.
Despite the expensive multimillion-dollar outlay, it is still far below the NRL’s original fear that the game would haemorrhage $500 million by suspending the entire season.
ARL commission chairman Peter V’landys said ticket sales from the return of crowds from this weekend as well as the scheduling of State of Origin — one of the game’s richest commodities — will aid the game’s financial recovery from the COVID-19 season.
“In order to put in place the strictest of biosecurity measures, the costs we have to bear to play the game are between sixteen and $20 million dollars,’’ V’landys said.
“We can’t operate without those measures.
“The majority of those costs are the Warriors, the chartered flights for teams and the biosecurity officers. The Storm now being based on the Sunshine Coast will also contribute to that cost.
“We’re abiding by the biosecurity rules by the fact we’re crossing every ‘i’ and every ‘t’.
“As you saw when we stood down Canterbury’s Aiden Tolman a few weeks ago after a COVID scare, we immediately took action.
“The cost is all part of keeping the competition going.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep the spirit and the morale up of everybody.
“But the beauty is this, because we were able to get the competition back by May 28 and the crowds back sooner than what we budgeted for, things are looking better.
“We’re still going to make a hefty loss, but it’s nowhere near the original $500 million.
“By moving State of Origin from the middle of the season, which would normally be played now with a capped crowd, we’ll play it in November with the hope of playing in front of a larger audience.’’
Originally published as What it costs to run the NRL in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic