Channel Nine have hammered out an agreement with the NRL for the season relaunch
In the surest sign yet that the NRL will return on May 28th, Channel Nine and Fox Sports have hammered out an agreement with the league for it’s presumptive return.
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NRL television broadcasters Channel Nine and Foxtel have agreed to recognise May 28 as the competition recommencement date following extensive meetings.
On Friday evening, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys confirmed that the NRL and broadcasters would finalise a competition structure early next week, as both parties want different outcomes.
“We were all united on the 28th May start. But just the competition structure we need a little more time, but we definitely announce it early next week,” he said.
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Earlier, Channel 9 attempted to sabotage the NRL’s bold plans to reboot the 2020 season on May 28, declaring the game’s actions as “premature”.
It comes as The Daily Telegraph has learnt that Fox Sports have put a strong proposal forward to have 20 more matches — taking the regular season to 22 played this year.
“We have two different broadcasters,” V’landys said.
“One has a different view to another.
“Today is a D-Day for me regarding the length of the season. We will meet our contractual obligations to the broadcasters but a decision has to be made.”
Almost 24 hours earlier Project Apollo boss Wayne Pearce declared May 28 a certainty for the resumption of the NRL competition.
RLPA boss Clint Newton — who is also on Project Apollo — surprisingly levelled criticism against Pearce, hinting he did not feel Pearce’s comments reflected what had been finalised in the meeting just hours before.
“We have a level of responsibility that anyone who is associated with that Project Apollo group, that when we come out of those meetings are a true reflection of where we landed,” Newton said.
Nine and Foxtel are also more than a month apart on the proposed length of season.
Nine had given the impression they would commit to 15 more games, allowing each team to play each other once, with two rivalry rounds to end the season and the State of Origin series to be staged after the NRL grand final.
Between them, Foxtel and the Nine Network pay about $300 million each year to broadcast the game. The more rounds the NRL plays, the more money the league and therefore the players and cash-strapped clubs will receive for the season.
However, the longer the season goes, the less valuable it is to Nine because games would potentially clash with the T20 cricket World Cup.