The NRL has appointed former Nine Entertainment Co chief executive Hugh Marks as a consultant to head up the code's collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the players.
The man who launched the stinging broadside that contributed to the demise of then NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has been head-hunted by the NRL to work on its behalf.
Former Nine boss Hugh Marks is building a television production company.Credit: James Brickwood
The takedown of Greenberg by the former Nine boss, who took aim at the “mismanagement” of a “bloated head office”, is believed to have fast-tracked Greenberg’s exit from Rugby League Central in 2020.
Less than two years later, Marks has agreed to work alongside NRL boss Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys to negotiate with the Rugby League Players’ Association and its chief executive, Clint Newton, despite having held heated and protracted broadcast rights negotiations with head office in 2020 when he was the CEO of Nine, publishers of this masthead.
The NRL learned first hand just how shrewd a negotiator Marks could be when he showed little sympathy during a situation V’landys described as “catastrophic” for the sport, securing a $70 million discount for the free-to-air host broadcaster in its broadcast fees between 2020 and 2022.
The game’s governing body believes hiring Marks will take the emotion out of negotiations and help avoid an “us against them” mentality that has in the past seen players at loggerheads with NRL officials.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys and RLPA chief Clint Newton.Credit: Janie Barrett, Getty
Marks will be the dedicated project manager and will be responsible for liaising with the clubs, NRL and RLPA to secure a new deal for 2023 and beyond. Both the NRL and RLPA are hoping to get a deal done before the mid-season State of Origin series.
In an interview with the Herald after the renegotiated three-year deal was done, Marks made comments that are now certain to be recalled at the negotiation table.
“We don’t buy the NRL, we buy a competition of 16 clubs, State of Origin and grand final,” Marks said at the time. “OK, the NRL is the organisation that we deal with, but the competition that you’re buying is the players and the clubs - that’s what you’re buying. Why do people watch rugby league? Because they want to watch Parra play the Bulldogs. That tribalism of the game is its actual strength.
"And how do you enhance tribalism? You enhance it by empowering the clubs to do more. If money is going into things like administration, or the bunker, or integrity units, or multiple referees or a digital platform - money isn't going to clubs."
Marks later threatened to walk away from rugby league if Nine didn’t get a sufficient discount during negotiations with V’landys and Abdo.
Marks’ partner, Alexi Baker, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child, also works for the NRL. She left her role as Nine’s managing director commercial last year. She was later appointed to a newly created role of NRL chief customer and digital officer, overseeing the game’s digital, marketing, and commercial departments.
For Marks, this won't be his first major appointment since his resignation from Nine Entertainment Co. He was hired by Tennis Australia as a consultant to help negotiate international broadcast deals for the Australian Open.
Marks has also started up a production company alongside former Endemol Shine Australia boss Carl Fennessy.
People familiar with the plans said Marks and Fennessy were trying to create a studio that would not only produce content, but sell it to international markets in the same way that Hollywood powerhouses such as Disney operate.
The pair would provide the infrastructure for production partners as well as the capability to sell formats to local and international markets.