A Deal with the Devil

Make no mistake: the NRL does not run rugby league. Nor does the ARLC. It is David Gyngell who runs rugby league. The NRL doesn't need a CEO. It already has a dictator, whose demeanour and belligerence at Tuesday's press conference made it quite clear who was playing the role of Milton Berle.

One minute into that press conference and it was pretty damned obvious who was running the show and it wasn't those charged with running the show.

There was genuine optimism that John Grant and his team would break the old power nexus that has controlled rugby league for much of the last two decades. That optimism was shattered on Tuesday when the NRL awarded incumbent rights holders Nine and Fox Sports the broadcast rights for a further five years.

It was tremendously disappointing for all of those who genuinely believed that it was time for a fresh look, a new beginning, a deal that would bring home the bacon but set the agenda for who actually runs the game and give the broadcasting of the game the makeover it desperately needs.

The new deal has been widely praised by those in the game. John Grant called it "a simply fantastic result for rugby league". Canterbury CEO Todd Greenberg said " this gives the game what we deserve which, is a fair and reasonable return". RLPA boss David Garnsey said "It's what the players were looking for and it should give us a greater share of the game's revenue". David Gyngell, during his arrogant bluster, said "We have stepped up and paid as much money as we possibly could." It is unclear whether he meant Nine paid as much as it could or if the NRL sold itself out enough.

Among the faithful though, there has been nothing but despair. To many, the Nine brand is rightly regarded as sitting somewhere between Hitler and Sonny Bill Williams in the deepest circle of hell. Nine has bent the game over and sodomised it for the better part of two decades, disenfranchising rugby league fans, undercutting the growth of the code, asserting powers it should never have had and providing what can generally be regarded as a coverage that hovers between embarrassingly average and criminally poor.

Yet it has been given another five years to have its way with the code even after Ten reportedly offered to show four games a week live and were prepared to pay a mighty sum to do so.

Rugby league fans have long memories and the molestation by Nine was never going to be forgotten. Nor should it.

And Nine continues to eat at the fabric of the game.

There were some appalling new elements to this television deal. All revolve around Nine keeping the rights.

Earlier this year, I wrote, when forecasting what will happen: "There are a number of likely contenders but the likelihood is that it will again be Fox Sports and Nine with Ten perhaps winning Monday night rights and Fox Sports having the right to simulcast all eight games. It will be a travesty if Nine is allowed back inside the tent but the network's whole image is wrapped up in rugby league and even though the station is riddled with debt, allowing Seven to pinch the rights would cripple Nine and leave it wallowing in mediocrity for five years. Nine will likely keep Friday night and Sunday afternoon but will be forced to show Sunday afternoon live. They will fight with Ten for Saturday afternoon, with Ten favoured to win Monday nights. Nine would again likely hold Origin rights though Seven is a very real chance of pinching the representative calendar. There will be a fixed schedule and games will be extended by the standardisation of breaks. Fox Sports will maintain 'Super Saturday' and a Sunday game and will benefit from the ability to simulcast all matches. The NRL will break $1 billion."

The rightful assumption was that in this modern world, rugby league fans would be able to get every game live. The AFL managed to cut such a deal. Yet for rugby league fans, David Gyngell just laughed, saying one live match a week on free-to-air television would suffice. He kicked the game fair in the bollocks and is winding up to go again. He could not have been more dismissive of the prospect of there being two games on Nine not shown live. Totally unapologetic.

Rugby league fans, of course, weren't surprised. This is the contempt Nine has always shown for the game. The surprise came in the ARLC's decision to agree to a deal where Nine did not increase its live coverage or an agreement on simulcasting was not reached. To not have every game shown live is an embarrassment the code must endure for a further five years.

No major sport in the world has such poor broadcasting terms. To accept so when a network was prepared to give the game four live matches a week defies belief.

The lack of live coverage is certainly the most shameful element of the new deal. There was very little change to the current weekly schedule. Nine will keep its two Friday games. Gyngell said he would never put the Queensland game on a digital channel in NSW and vice-versa. The only reprieve will be three Thursday night matches. Nine will also keep its 4pm Sunday slot, refusing to show the match live. Fox Sports will keep its Super Saturday, its live Sunday, its Monday night and for 13 games, broadcast a Sunday evening game. There will be no Saturday afternoon games. There will still be just six matches broadcast live per week.

Nine have again agreed to broadcast into every state, either on their primary channel or their digital station. A similar agreement was made last time, which the NRL refused to enforce. I'll believe Nine will stick to these terms when I see it and not before.

This is the same old shit sandwich we have been fed time and time again.

It was made abundantly obvious throughout the press conference on Tuesday that Nine still has its hands on the game's cojones. The game must now endure a night Grand Final for another five years. Enjoy the twilight Grand Final for the last time. Players' hopes for standalone rep weekends were roundly dismissed by Nine. There is a fixed schedule for the first 20 rounds – a very good thing – but be sure and certain that it will be far from balanced with David Gyngell almost promising that the Broncos will be on Nine every Friday night. The certainty it provides is excellent but Nine will still figure a way to program the season. If Canberra get two Friday night games next year and the Broncos fewer than 14, I'll eat my hat. Expansion is on the backburner because Nine talked down its value because they do not own their Perth affiliate.

Hearts have sunk. Rugby league fans wanted Nine out. They wanted the code to control its own destiny. Rugby league got neither.

There was plenty of good in the deal though and it deserves recognition.

The money was fantastic and when the digital and New Zealand rights are added, it is going to be well over $1.15 billion for the game with a cash component that will border right on the $1 billion mark. The game was desperate for a big influx of cash – this will have long-lasting ramifications and will hopefully be spent wisely. This money cannot just go straight to the players. It must go to country rugby league, player development, funding a proper digital model, bringing proper professionalism into refereeing, helping clubs, assisting the international game and expanding the game.

The other major boon for rugby league is the removal of the first and last rights provisions owned by Nine and Fox Sports. These rights ensured the code could never fully shake the nemesis that is Nine as well as Fox Sports. John Grant spoke early and with excitement about these. He was right. This gives the game back total control of its future. Nine and Fox Sports will now enter the next negotiations with no advantage other than that of incumbency. Perhaps this deal was simply the blow-off gift to Nine.

The fixed schedule is a significant change and one that should act in the interest of the game and its fans. The first 20 rounds will be locked in when the draw is released with the final six rounds settled by round 16. The certainty this brings to fans and teams should see a major spike in crowds. There will only be fairness – in terms of turnarounds and free-to-air exposure – if the NRL shows some bottle and sets the fixture without interference from Nine. This would appear unlikely to happen with Gyngell saying that "you play when we say".

There is no questioning the will or the thoroughness of the commission. They squeezed balls, crossed Ts and patted backs. They made it happen.  But they misjudged the climate. There was certainly a need for getting a good dollar out of the broadcaster but there was a want for an improvement in the coverage of the game – and the code got nothing on that front.

David Gyngell said at Tuesday's announcement: "We could not be a party to anything that may affect the great product that rugby league is."

Yet that Nine has been a party to affecting the game in a negative way and it will continue to be. How Gyngell could say that with a straight face is beyond me.

The one lesson I have come to learn yet always seem to forget in rugby league is that never expect too much because you always end up disappointed. This deal certainly has its positives and it might even scrape a pass mark but the disillusionment created by keeping Nine as the rights holder is crippling and will forever tarnish this historic deal.

Rugby league got its cash. But it sold its soul to the devil to get it.