NRL 2021: Broadcasters want second Brisbane team for 2023

There were fears NRL expansion would be delayed or even scrapped due to the COVID crisis, but Peter V’landys insists the game is ready to grow.

Peter V’landys has shut down speculation that expansion has been pushed back to 2024. Picture: Getty Images.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has blasted suggestions expansion will be delayed by 12 months, declaring the target date is “definitely 2023” in the strongest sign yet the NRL will launch a second Brisbane team.

The Sunday Mail can reveal broadcasters Channel 9 and Fox are backing V’landys’ vision for a 17-team competition as the NRL ramps-up plans to grow the sport with a counter-strike on the AFL in Queensland’s sporting turf war.

The NRL‘s forensic analysis of expansion has reached the pointy end with V’landys to receive an interim report in May, which will give the ARL Commission eight weeks to decide whether to unveil a fourth Queensland team by July.

There were fears the COVID pandemic would force the NRL to delay expansion until 2024 — or pull the pin altogether — because of the fiscal threat to the existing 16 clubs.

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Peter V’landys has shut down speculation that expansion has been pushed back to 2024. Picture: Getty Images.

The anti-expansion sentiment has been fuelled by revelations 12 of the NRL’s 16 clubs, including the Titans, have paid almost $100,000 for the Gemba Group to undertake a detailed study of whether a 17-team league is viable.

But V’landys has scuppered growing speculation the NRL is going cold on expansion, insisting he is not wavering in his plan for the code to have a second Brisbane team to create a blockbuster rivalry with the Broncos in 2023.

“Who starts these rumours? Talk of expansion being put back to 2024 is complete crap,” V’landys said.

“Where people start these things has got me stuffed.

“If the numbers stack up, 2023 is the expansion year.

“I expect to receive the interim report in May and that will give us all the facts and figures.

“While we haven‘t had an interim report completed yet, the report will not give specific recommendations, it will provide data, which will give management important information regarding the merits of expansion.

“We will make the decision on expansion as an ARL Commission, not some report.”

V’landys has no issue with NRL clubs funding a separate report but ultimately the Gemba Group’s expensive study of expansion is a pointless toothless tiger.

Several political heavy-hitters have told The Sunday Mail expansion is a fait accompli and will be formally rubber-stamped by the ARL Commission in July.

Former NRL strategy boss Shane Richardson is now helping the Brisbane Firehawks and believes the code is ready for expansion.

One Sydney-based club chairman has identified Brisbane’s western corridor as a key battleground to combat the AFL, whose Brisbane Lions will celebrate the opening of a $70 million facility, known as The Reserve, in Springfield later this year.

V’landys and NRL figureheads are mindful of the AFL’s incursions into the western Brisbane region and are ready to fight fire with fire in the battle for the hearts and minds of a traditional rugby league area.

Critically, the two media monoliths that bankroll the NRL, Channel 9 and Fox, see value in a second Brisbane team.

Channel 9 sources have told The Sunday Mail the media giant has no concerns with V’landys’ plan to expand to 17 teams.

While Pay-TV operator Fox are locked in until 2027, Nine’s NRL contract ends in 2022 and a second Brisbane team is viewed as a ratings bonanza as the free-to-air network considers an extension for 2023 and beyond.

The Broncos are historically a ratings powerhouse for Channel 9, who could be guaranteed a weekly Friday night game at Suncorp Stadium with two Brisbane teams.

“It would be ridiculous to start a new 17th team the second year (2024) into a broadcast cycle. It’s definitely 2023,” V’landys said.

“I am dealing with the broadcasters on this at the moment so there’s a few variables to work through.

“The broadcasters have been excellent about this, they have been great, they understand the benefits of expanding the game.

Brisbane Jets figureheads Nick Livermore (left) and Steve Johnson believe the NRL must combat the AFL in the critical western corridor region of Brisbane.

“The decision (on expansion) will be made with a view to 2023 ... there will be no delay for 2024.”

Last year, Foxtel Group CEO Patrick Delany told The Sunday Mail in a rare interview that he would relish the creation of a new cross-city NRL rivalry in Brisbane.

“I would like to see a second Brisbane team because it brings intracity rivalry opportunities with the Broncos,” he said.

“The Broncos are the Broncos. They are a huge brand. But if you have a second Brisbane organisation with another tribe and you build a rivalry like the old ‘Silvertails versus the Fibros’ with Manly and Wests, it adds to the whole excitement of the NRL.

“If you look at the proportion of population between NSW and Queensland, quite clearly one (NRL) team in Brisbane is underserving.

“In terms of expansion, so long as a new NRL team is put in the right place, in and around a tribe of supporters, then it will work.”

A second brisbane team even has the backing of Roosters boss Nick Politis. Picture: NRL Photos.

V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo have been visiting clubs to discuss the pros and cons of expansion.

Roosters supremo Nick Politis last month backed the NRL’s expansion plans and another Sydney club, the Bulldogs, are also in favour of a second Brisbane team.

“A trust-us model doesn’t appeal to me, but if the research is there, well let’s do it and have a second Brisbane team,” Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton said.

“If we are making decisions without really clear data, I would be uncomfortable.

“But if the data shows us that expansion is the right thing to do, then I‘m 100 per cent behind it.

“I understand the need to grow the game and do the right thing by our sport and our Queensland audience.

“The opportunity cost to the NRL is what is concerning a number of the other teams. There might be upside in expansion, but what is the opportunity cost if the Titans or Broncos lose a percentage of their supporter base to a second Brisbane team?

“It would be huge for Brisbane to have another NRL team especially with the city set to get the Olympics (in 2032).

“I’m not here to try and protect the Bulldogs’ interests. If expansion is going to grow the game and there is a greater purpose for a second Brisbane team, then I’m all for it.”