NRL 2020: Channel 9 wants contract with rugby league torn up

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BOZO

Journey Man
Tipping Member
The broadcaster has reportedly stopped payments to the NRL and isn’t a fan of plans for a 15-round season running later this year.

The grim reality facing rugby league this season has been laid bare by Channel 9 bosses in a meeting with the NRL this week.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, which is published by Nine, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg and chief commercial officer Andrew Abdo were told the code wouldn’t be receiving its quarterly broadcast payment on April 1 after the season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nine wants the current five-year broadcast rights contract, which runs until 2022, torn up and isn’t a fan of a proposal to run a 15-round season from September to December, the Herald reports.
The broadcaster doesn’t believe rugby league will rate as well in spring and summer and is unenthused by having a direct competitor to its coverage of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, which it also owns the rights for.
It’s a huge blow as the NRL attempts to stay alive in unprecedented times.
Players have been asked to take a pay cut of up to 87 per cent as the league braces for the worst-case scenario of an abandoned season.
The Rugby League Players Association board were set to meet on Thursday night to discuss their response to the staggering pay cut after being handed the doomsday option on Wednesday.
Both the league and the players’ union are then due to convene again on Friday, when it’s hoped a deal will be finalised to give the game a clearer picture of its future.
The development follows advice from the NRL’s pandemic expert this week that the 2020 season will be a complete wipe-out.
That scenario could leave several clubs in a dire financial position with questions raised over whether all 16 clubs would survive into 2021.
The 87 per cent cut would likely change if the competition starts earlier, but the parties are working on a worst-case scenario and are going backwards from there.

Any deal would likely come into effect until the end of this year’s season, with players having already been paid 40 per cent of their annual salary.

A tiered system of player cuts remains the highest priority for both the NRL and RLPA, shielding minimum-wage players from having next to no income. Regardless, the pay cut would affect up to 500 NRL players and their families. Players will reportedly receive $3000 a month – whether they are Cameron Smith or a minimum wage roster member – if the season was abandoned.

Former Penrith great Greg Alexander admitted it would be a sobering reality check for players who just last week had been simply concentrating on footy.

“I think the players would have been expecting 50 per cent plus (cuts) … to have an 80 to 90 per cent cut, that means the players become like everyone else in society,” he told Fox League.

“They will have to start ringing banks and saying ‘I need some help’.”

A leading sports lawyer has warned the NRL and their clubs face the prospect of sponsors walking away in droves during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sponsorship represents the second biggest form of revenue for each of the 16 clubs following NRL grants, and is worth millions in apparel, player partnerships and hospitality streams.

A working group has been set up by the NRL and clubs to combat the issue. But Brisbane-based sports lawyer Tim Fuller from Gadens warned sponsors would be within their rights to stop paying clubs, particularly if the 2020 competition does not resume.

It’s understood the NRL’s major sponsor Telstra is in discussions with a number of sporting codes in relation to the impacts of the virus on the regular season and the agreements they have in place.

Third-party player deals could also fall over if the game’s stars are unable to fulfil their obligations.
 
With the present circumstances , broadcasters can hardly be expected to fully comply with a good part of this season ;s arrangements but when things are hopefully back to normal for next season , would only assume that they would have to honor any remainder of the various deals then .
 
Mark Levy: rugby league is fighting to survive and we all must stick together
The game has fought its way through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Spanish flu, the Super League War and now it's staring at the biggest challenge it has faced since the game was formed more than 100 years ago.

It's time to come together as a rugby league fraternity and fight for its survival.

V'landys, Greenberg and Players Association boss Clint Newton are united with the 16 clubs to make sure they get through this tough period, but with no timeframe on a return, it's left a lot of people questioning what the future holds.

Are you prepared to ride out the storm?

Are you prepared to make a commitment to the NRL that you'll keep supporting the game?

WE MUST STICK TOGETHER NOW MORE THAN EVER
ITS DO OR DIE AND NEVER SAY DIE TIME
KEEP SUPPORTING OUR MANLY SEA EAGLES TEAM THROUGH CLUB MEMBERSHIP AND HELP OUR CLUB RIDE OUT THE STORM
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Have all the companies that have advertising on Ch9 ripped up all the contracts they have with Ch9, I suspect no. This is Ch9 killing the game whilst sitting back enjoying their own current income stream
 
With the present circumstances , broadcasters can hardly be expected to fully comply with a good part of this season ;s arrangements but when things are hopefully back to normal for next season , would only assume that they would have to honor any remainder of the various deals then .
A Contract is not a contract
Honour is all about integrity
We dont need TCN 9 for the game to survive
We need passionate people that believe in the NRL
We need Passionate people that believe in our Manly Sea eagles
Passion Always prevails
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How many of those poor bastards who have lost there job this week are going concerned about league in a few months? Will there be a world wide recession once this pandemic is over? I do think we need to reality test how important big business and sponsors will view league in 2020 and will be happy to supplement the pay packet of all our sports men and women. All sport is going to suffer.
 
Nine is taking the opportunity to renegotiate a deal (one they freely entered into) now that they realise they may have overpaid. The new Seven boss, who's apparently a rugby league fan, should also take the opportunity to have a quiet word with the NRL about their future plans.
Nobody seems to realise this situation isn't going to last forever. So if you want to act like a c u next Tuesday now (we're all looking at you, Gerry Harvey), people should remember those actions when things get back to normal. And the NRL, or whatever body rises from its unmourned ashes, should remember the people at Nine weren't exactly their steadfast friends as well.
 
Maybe its time for 9 to f#ck right off ,and stop trying to control the game .Come back better and stronger and let the code control the game and Tv control their programming.
Why wouldn't the media think they can control the game when they are looking at the monkeys who have been running it the last 20 yrs.Time for a massive overhaul from bottom up.
Gus Gould if you make it through this mess ,time to stand up !
 
If TCN9 want to **** off then let them do so, they are pricks anyway.

Foxtel , Kayo , NRL streaming could do the season finish and let TCN9 have their cricket ( which I enjoy also), no free to air but people would cope.

And I find it amusing that TCN9 thinks the T20 World Cup will even take place , odds are 1000-1 it won’t BUT our footy players are ours , already inside what will be closed borders.

They are stupid ****s ( I rarely use that word but that’s what they are!).
 
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Imagine rugby league without television.
Imagine if even the best players had to have a second job to live comfortably.
Imagine if the NRL management had to consider fans who actually attended matches, and offered them incentives.....
What a wonderful world.
 
Well at least we would no longer have to put up with or look at Lockyer, Johns or Fittler hehehe. I absolutely cannot stand the sight of those 3 illiterate twats! Their opinions mean jack$hit & their rambling is annoying!
 
It's a funny old world, and you just never know who will assist you and support you one day in need. Greenturd now-a-days reaches out to the NRL community (clubs, players and supporters) as the NRL and his position is on thin ice.

However, every year since he was in charge our club and players always copped the unfair deal, from trying to move our semis due to a supporter taking a photo, to our salary cap being decimated for two years to weaken our roster, or, insinuating that we maybe relocating. Until this day my memory has never failed me, and being as honest and transparent as I possibly can, I sincerely hope that if the NRL was to continue, it is without Greenturd.

Should he still be there I am happy for the NRL to banish and a new brand being explored with different administrators, so long as our Sea Eagles are there. As a supporter, I support my team and the game as whole (including the well-being of other teams), however, I do not support for one minute, Greenturd in any capacity. His pitch means nothing to me, as he has on his own accord ensured that our club and players received a level of scrutiny that seemed very inconsistent to other rulings.

I clearly remember the grin on his face when he came out and suggested that the Brookie semi could be moved because asbestos was found at Brookie. In these times of difficulty and hardship, I support my club and team. I also support the well-being and existence of other teams as we are in this together, however, lets be clear here, we are not in this mess because of the Corona Virus, we are in this mess because of the mis-management of the game. Whether it was the Corona, Blinky Bill, or, Santa Clause virus the NRL should have had sufficient funds to accommodate this catastrophe.

Regardless if nine, seven, fox or any other broadcaster takes up a new contract with the NRL, if Greenturd is still there it can only lead to the same pain.
 
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Do player managers get paid in full after the contract is signed or will they too get a percentage of the 3k?
 
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3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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