Peter V’Landys’ major new Super League deal update as ‘train crash’ imminent
NRL supremo Peter V'landys.
NRL supremo Peter V’Landys has revealed the competition will turn its attention back towards striking up a deal to invest in Super League – in a bid to avoid a ‘massive train crash’ for the English game.
Talks between the NRL and Super League have been ongoing throughout the year, but were temporarily put on hold while both competitions concluded talks over their respective broadcast deals.
The NRL has just announced a multi-billion dollar deal, while Super League is expected to reveal in the coming weeks the value of its new deal with Sky Sports, and whether the contract will increase in what would be a huge boost financially for struggling clubs in England.
But the big financial boost would be a significant capital injection from the NRL – something which is now back on the agenda.
NRL to restart Super League talks
Clubs have been waiting to learn whether or not the NRL’s interest in investment remains alive – and it appears V’Landys has confirmed the competition still wants to get involved.
The NRL has a plan for global expansion which Super League lies firmly at the heart of, with the interim boss of the competition admitting it is a priority to get the English game ‘strong and vibrant’.
“We’ve been totally focused in the last two to three months on this broadcast deal, so we now will turn our minds to Super League,” he told SEN Radio in Australia. “It’s important for us to have Super League strong and vibrant.”
It now appears clubs will learn more in the coming weeks.
Super League heading for ‘train crash’
V’Landys also reiterated his previous analogy of the competition heading for financial disaster if nothing changes in the northern hemisphere.
Many, if not all, clubs are reliant on owner investment which totals millions of pounds each year, with other revenue streams shrinking year on year.
That makes the possibility of an NRL deal extra important, though the competition would seek a great deal of control over governance of Super League should they successfully invest into the European game.
And V’Landys admitted if they don’t, Super League has a ‘massive train crash’ heading its way.
“There’s no secret that they’ve got financial problems over there, and if they don’t fix them, they’ll have a massive train crash,” he continued. “We don’t want to see that.
“We want to see Super League thrive in England. It’s important to us, it’s important to the international game, it’s important to sell the game globally.
“So, we’ll certainly be looking at the Super League in much greater detail in the next few weeks, and hopefully we’ll be able to do some deal.”
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