ARLC boss John Grant says NRL is closing on AFL and clubs losing millions is part of rugby league

ARL Commission boss John Grant says the NRL is closing on the AFL after investing $219m in the game last year and that clubs losing money is part of the game.

NRL funding announcement with ARLC Chairman John Grant, and Clubs rep Bart Campbell.

ARL Commission boss John Grant has declared the NRL is closing in on the AFL after investing a record $219 million in the game last year.

The NRL will Thursday release its financial results from 2015, the first year of a five-year cycle where significant spending increases have occurred during the current broadcast deal.

While the ARLC reported an overall deficit of $18.7m in 2015 compared to a surplus of $20.2m the previous year, Grant said that was part of the strategic plan to grow the game.

Distribution of funds increased from $193m to $219m with clubs receiving an 11 per cent boost and the NRL now boasts $52.8m in a “sustainability fund”.

“In our thinking and maturity we’re behind the AFL but we’re not far behind,” Grant said.

“We used to be 15 years behind. Three years ago we were 10 years behind. Now we’re not that far in terms of the maturing of the clubs’ views, amount of money flowing into the game and how we’re spending that.

“It’s good. We’re learning something all the time and learning quickly in the clubs and NRL.”

Broadcasting revenue was $205m while non-broadcasting revenue increased nine per cent to $129m, a crucial objective of the commission’s charter.

Grant’s only criticism of the game’s financial activity was its operating expenditure, which increased by $19m. That figure included impairment on loans to clubs of $4.4m, but total revenue generated only increased $10m to $334m.

“We probably spent a little bit more money than we should have to drive our results in events and memberships. That’s for the good of the clubs,” he said.

“That’s the bottom line. I don’t have any problem with telling people that. We spent a lot of money to drive the business the way we needed to get an extra $10m in revenue.

“It’s a competitive marketplace and we’re competing for the same dollars everyone else is and it cost us more money to get those dollars.”

The NRL’s acquisition of the Gold Coast Titans last year cost $4m and it has owned Newcastle since 2014. The code has also been propping up West Tigers and St George-Illawarra.

A report in The Courier Mail revealed clubs lost a combined $42.7m last year but Grant said that was part of the sporting landscape.

“It’s the way the rugby league world works,” he said.

“Those clubs (with the biggest losses) make a loss before they get their league’s club grants. Take those five clubs out, and the clubs we own, and you end up with a bunch of clubs that go close to breaking even.”

The NRL is expected to report deficits over the next two years before the new $2 billion broadcast agreement begins in 2018 but that will result in more growth.

“Over a five-year period we move from accumulating surpluses and keeping it as a reserve to spending it increasingly,” Grant said.

“If you look at the Intrust Super Cup, in the first year (of the broadcast deal, 2013) we provided no direct funding. In the second year we started to provide funding.

“When you present the financial results for any particular year, you move from big surpluses in the first year, smaller surpluses in the second year, a small deficit in the third year then bigger deficits.”

Originally published as ARLC boss John Grant says NRL is closing on AFL and clubs losing millions is part of rugby league