Phil Rothfield: NRL playing wrong game with concern over business and not product

BLOG all day with Buzz: NRL CEO Dave Smith and the independent commission are more concerned with making money than the actual product.

IT appears NRL CEO Dave Smith and the independent commission are more concerned about making money and the business side of the game rather than the actual football product.

The emphasis these days is on the bottom line, higher prices for tickets, selling more memberships and moving to the bigger stadiums to improve the financial stability of the clubs.

There's nothing wrong with that as the long as the product you are trying to flog is in good shape.

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Last season both crowds and TV ratings were way down on previous seasons.

The big question is why.

News_Rich_Media: Fiona Bollen and Anthony Sharwood debate the role of cheerleaders in the NRL amid speculation the Canterbury Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders are looking to axe their cheer squad next season.

Was it the quality of football? A poor marketing campaign?

The failure of big crowd pullers Parramatta and St George Illawarra to make the finals?

Low confidence in the refereeing? Expensive ticket and food prices? The ASADA crisis?

More importantly, what has been done over the off-season to:

# Improve the standard of refereeing.

# Get more live games on free to air television.

# Make sure State of Origin doesn't ruin the premiership for nine weeks.

# Scrap monotonous and boring golden point field goal shoot outs for golden try.

# Make sure clubs get a more even share of Friday night and Monday night games.

# Stop mid-season poaching.

# Introduce time off for conversion attempts in the last 10 minutes.

Chief executives who attended the recent two-day NRL conference tell me it was all about the business side of the sport.

News_Image_File: Greg Bird in action during State of Origin 3, NSW v QLD in the decider from ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Pics Adam Head

It included a Skype presentation from Mike Stevens, the chief marketing officer of the New York Giants.

Good stuff but what would Mr Stevens know about problems in Australia and rugby league.

There was nothing about the above issues apart from the usual complaints that the Broncos get too many Friday night games.

Sometimes I think the NRL has got its growth strategy back to front.

Surely the emphasis at this stage should be about addressing and fixing the problems that caused last season's crowd and ratings slumps.

To win back the fans who disappeared in such big numbers. To listen and act on their concerns.

Before writing this column I went back to the 2013 Daily Telegraph fan survey to check the issues that concerned supporters the most.

Should the NRL abandon suburban grounds for the big stadiums? More than 80 percent said no. Tthe NRL has done the opposite.

Only 12 per cent wanted golden point retained. The NRL has done nothing about it.

News_Image_File: Cameron Smith unhappy with the referee.

A huge majority wanted stand-alone State of Origin weekends. The NRL has ignored them.

These are rugby league customers we're ignoring.

These days it's all about the brand rather than the sport.

Advertising campaigns and membership drives alone will not fill ANZ or Allianz stadiums.

Improving the quality of football and game-day experience is more important.

HIGHLIGHT

Paul Gallen again showed plenty of boxing ability, courage and skill with a tight points victory over All Blacks star Liam Messam on Saturday night.

It would be a fantastic promotion to see him step into the ring against Sonny Bill Williams after the 2014 footy season.

LOWLIGHT

The fact Sydney's biggest summer horse race, the Villiers, was restricted to just 14 runners on the Kensington track.

A bit like playing a State of Origin game at Parramatta Stadium.

HEADACHE

The Ashes cricket is proving a massive headache for the A-League.

Ratings for Friday night's Victory v Glory game were the lowest in a couple of years.

The Perth timeslot and the direct clash with soccer is the killer.

SLEDGE

Within days of the last weekend's World Cup draw in Brazil, the sledging started against the Socceroos from our South American rivals.

Cerveza Cristal is Chile's most popular beer and the wise guys at Cristal produced a TV ad based on the Cape Fear movie, showing a Socceroo fan who takes fright at the mere sight of a Chile jersey. Check it out on YouTube by clicking here.