NRL club bosses want better deal regarding match scheduling

NRL chief executives want a review of the way matches are scheduled in the hope that clubs may be able to get a more even share of afternoon and night games.

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[Jethro]

NRL chief executives want a review of the way matches are scheduled in the hope that clubs may be able to get a more even share of afternoon and night games.

Officials from the Sydney cl

ubs involved in the "right game, right venue" strategy that has bigger matches played at ANZ Stadium, Alllianz Stadium and the SCG raised the issue at the most recent CEOs conference and there are now plans for a working committee to hold discussions with the broadcasters about changes that may benefit all parties.

Under the existing scheduling arrangement, Channel Nine chooses the first two matches for Friday night and Fox Sports selects a game for Saturday night and Monday night before Nine picks the fifth match for its Sunday afternoon coverage.

As a result, it is virtually impossible for a blockbuster match such as the upcoming South Sydney-Canterbury clash to be played on a Sunday afternoon.

However, most clubs prefer to play on Sunday afternoon and Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that the Bulldogs would lose $300,000 in gate receipts and merchandise by hosting the match against Souths next Thursday night as they will be lucky to get a crowd in excess of 20,000 at ANZ Stadium.

St George Illawarra chief executive Peter Doust said the clubs wanted to work with the broadcasters to help them maximise the value of the $1 billion television deal, while also satisfying their sponsors, members and fans in order to build crowds.

"We think that we should all have a bit of a round table on all of this stuff and see what touch points there are for the broadcasters and what touch points there are for the clubs, what touch points there are for sponsors and for members and supporters and see where that fits at this point in time," Doust said.

"For instance, some would say the fixed schedule has not worked as best as it may have for all the stakeholders. I don't know that we have got enough research or enough information to draw a conclusion on that but we would like to discuss it.

"It is a very complex equation trying to predict what are the big games, where they should be played and when within the constraints of the broadcast contract so we need to understand each other's perspectives on this. We wanted to put forward as clubs a positive commitment to improve the outcomes for everybody and understand what they are."

While some fans complain that Canterbury, Parramatta, Souths and Brisbane regularly playing Friday night matches, those clubs would like to play more day games on a Sunday or Saturday.

In contrast, the likes of Cronulla, Penrith, Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle, Gold Coast, North Queensland and the Warriors rarely feature in a Friday night.

With only half of the NRL clubs receiving such exposure, there are concerns the others will never be able to grow in popularity to warrant free-to-air coverage on Friday night.

"There is a mitigation of risk by the broadcasters in picking the bigger brands and bigger clubs in terms of consistency over time," Doust said. "They don't get an opportunity to improve their disposition somewhat.

"In saying that the top number of clubs, whichever way you want to cut it, can't play each other every week so there has to be some consideration from all perspectives here, and that is what we decided we should open the door to and talk in a positive way about identifying these touch points and improving the value equation if we can."

With the current television deal expiring in 2017, Doust said the time was right to begin looking at ways to increase value for broadcasters.

"We wanted to understand where the NRL was after this first period of the new broadcast arrangements and we wanted to make sure we were doing as much as we could to support the broadcaster's objectives," he said.
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Brad Walter

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-club-bosses-want-better-deal-regarding-match-scheduling-20140819-1060ey.html

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

This is a problem that will never be solved.

Chan 9 want the Broncos every Friday night here in Brisbane and Easts / Bulldogs/ Souths playing whomever on the Friday to show in Sydney.

So there's 4 sides that will hardly ever see a Sunday arvo.

For the life of me I do not know why we can't have a 3.00pm game on Saturday....oh yes I know about "junior sport" on a Saturday morning but hello that IS Saturday morning.

As we know its ALL about TV, so night games are when they get their biggest ratings, AND that's when most of the games will be

 

[HappilyManly]

Bit late - they've sold their rights to schedule anything till 2017 :dodgy:

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I really hate the control Chan 9 and Fox have over the game we all love.

I nearly spewed when that Gyngel sat up there to announce the deal (and what he said).

We can't change it for a while so I guess it's "suck it up princess"

 

[Fro]

in fairness Fox have shown quite a few Saturday games at 3 Mark.

 

[sheridanstand78]

I would love to see the following format.

2 games on a Friday night, one each in NSW and Queensland.

3 games of Super Saturday, 2Pm, 5PM and 8Pm

3 games on Sunday 1PM, 3PM and 5PM

Get rid of Monday night football, every club hates it!!!

Ensure that the games are spread evenly, Note to NRL, there are 3 teams in Queensland.

Make sure there are no more 5 day turn arounds and that every club must get at least a 6 day break between games.

There needs to be a focus on games during the day especially in the winter months.

 

[Hamster Huey]

The only way to see a change is to amend the order in which 9 and Fox select games. At the moment 9 takes the two Fridays (or Thurs at this time of year) then Fox takes the next two for Sat and Mon. The Sun game is fifth in line and clearly this is unlikely to feature the Broncos, Canterbury, Souths or Roosters in any great number.

 

[StuBoot]

I would love to see the following format.

2 games on a Friday night, one each in NSW and Queensland.

3 games of Super Saturday, 2Pm, 5PM and 8Pm

3 games on Sunday 1PM, 3PM and 5PM

Get rid of Monday night football, every club hates it!!!

Ensure that the games are spread evenly, Note to NRL, there are 3 teams in Queensland.

Make sure there are no more 5 day turn arounds and that every club must get at least a 6 day break between games.

There needs to be a focus on games during the day especially in the winter months.

Sounds good mate, I like the three timeslots on Saturday and Sunday, obviously early in the season it may be too hot though.

I thought the NRL missed the point bigtime by scheduling our game v the rabbits at the SCG on a Friday night. A Sunday arvo or Saturday twilight game would've set the tone, make a day of it and still early enough for the families to get to and from the game by public transport.
5/6pm Sunday would have to be selected venues I reckon - ANZ, Allianz or interstate.

But until Ch 9 budge on their 6 o'clock news bulletin it won't happen.
I never get that, they still cater to the older generation that expect their news at 6 o'clock but their cash cow gets shifted. Wouldn't they be better off with either a live 5pm or 6pm game on a Sunday to lead into 60 Minutes followed by Underbelly followed by CSI?

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

Broncos themselves have admitted that they would prefer Sat or Sund Arvo games

1 on Friday
3pm Sat
5pm Sat
7pm Sat
2pm Sun
4pm Sun
6pm Sun
1 on MnF as Foxsports won't want to get rid of it

 

[HoldenV8]

I think the main beef that the fans have with the scheduling is that the Donkey's are on Friday night about 20 out of the 26 rounds.

A little variety goes a long way.

When was the last time Nein went to Townsville for a Friday night for a game where the Cows weren't playing the Donkeys? Or to Canberra when the Raiders are hosting someone like the Sharks?

The big problem is that Nein have identified the teams which will get them the biggest ratings and that's who they generally choose.

For mine I can't remember the last time the Donkeys played on a Saturday or Monday. While Souffs seem to be their main team of choice for NSW games.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

The Donkeys actually get MUCH bigger crowds on a Sunday, if they get one (mostly they don't) they can pack another 10K extra in.

I worked with them on a professional basis in my old job, so got to know the CEO/General Manager and Football Manager (although he's gone now) pretty well.

The ONLY thing they like about Fridays is the 7 day turnaround.

 

[mickqld]

Early in the season there needs to be mainly night games as it is hot, longer daylight hours and people would attend more games early in the season. As winter draws then more day games so families can get to watch it. Who the hell can take young kids to a game that doesn't finish till 930 - 1000pm and is freezing and then get home. NRL won't be able to change anything they have sold their soul to the commercial devil.

 

[Jethro]

I think the main beef that the fans have with the scheduling is that the Donkey's are on Friday night about 20 out of the 26 rounds.

A little variety goes a long way.

When was the last time Nein went to Townsville for a Friday night for a game where the Cows weren't playing the Donkeys? Or to Canberra when the Raiders are hosting someone like the Sharks?

The big problem is that Nein have identified the teams which will get them the biggest ratings and that's who they generally choose.

For mine I can't remember the last time the Donkeys played on a Saturday or Monday. While Souffs seem to be their main team of choice for NSW games.

It wasn't really that long ago.
Sat 19-07-2014 & Mon 14-07-2014 😛

 

[Roger_Ramjet]

I hate how we're not able to play teams twice, but that would add extra rounds and it my be deemed too much footy for the players. It also may push events like world cups and tours into December, which may shorten pre season training for clubs.

The other one is how in some rounds you play the same team within weeks of having played them. All teams should have already had played each other before you play a team the 2nd time.


Lastly is the Broncos preferential treatment...even bronco fans don't like all Friday nights but knowing you have 7 days to recover all the time while other teams have to adjust to short turnarounds, it has to be some kind of an advantage.

 

[HoldenV8]

It wasn't really that long ago.
Sat 19-07-2014 & Mon 14-07-2014 😛

Smartarse LOL 😛

 

[dowdz]

The question is, will it change while Nein runs the show? I was hoping the NRL would of grown a pair and stood up to the TV execs and told them what would happen with their brand. Didn't realize Gyngel was the NRL boss

 

[The Who]

Lastly is the Broncos preferential treatment...even bronco fans don't like all Friday nights but knowing you have 7 days to recover all the time while other teams have to adjust to short turnarounds, it has to be some kind of an advantage.

It's a huge advantage, but imagine how crap they'd be if they had to cope with the schedule of the other 15 clubs? Or if they had to compete with rival clubs in Brisbane for talent? Or if they actually had to keep under the cap?
The Boncos will miss the eight again this year. They, arguably, are the worst performing team in the comp given their advantages.

 

[Roger_Ramjet]

Lastly is the Broncos preferential treatment...even bronco fans don't like all Friday nights but knowing you have 7 days to recover all the time while other teams have to adjust to short turnarounds, it has to be some kind of an advantage.

It's a huge advantage, but imagine how crap they'd be if they had to cope with the schedule of the other 15 clubs? Or if they had to compete with rival clubs in Brisbane for talent? Or if they actually had to keep under the cap?
The Boncos will miss the eight again this year. They, arguably, are the worst performing team in the comp given their advantages.

But have you heard other clubs complaining? If it was a big advantage, then they should be saying something, meanwhile the non Broncos fans claim its a conspiracy, favouritism, etc...The Broncos fans whinge that they can't get to the game on time...no one is happy other than Nein.

 

[simon64]

A problem that will be near impossible to solve as all stakeholders have different objectives.

Nein are only interested in that which maximises TV audiences and consequently, their advertising revenue. The 1 billion they tipped in was an investment and if they only make 800 million back, in their eyes, what was the point ?

Clubs are interested in maximising gates and exposure for their sponsors so they can, again, maximise earning by charging more.

Fans want games played when it's easiest to get to the game and maximises the enjoyment.

The interests of all parties are going to be hard to accommodate, so in short, someone gets (well you know).

All I know is that if the sport starts to lose it's appeal, everyone will eventually lose because there will be no "product". I can't see this happening because some us could not imagine life without our beloved Manly. Remember the NE ? Ewww. The only problem is new die hards won't be attracted.

I just wish the people that view this as a business would stop telling me which game is best for me to watch, where it is best that I watch it and when it is best that I watch. But if they get this wrong, I should still give them my money.

Geez I hate being treated like a mug.