Originally Posted by
plague
Rule changes are inevitable as the lawsuits will eventually start coming in. The NRL needs to be seen to be doing something as they have learned from the NFL that brushing it off doesn't work.
Is it a demographic shift with the Knights or the fact they are garbage? Are the Jets going through a demo shift as well?
SOO and Grand Final consistently make up 4 of the top 10 most watched shows on TV every year (and that includes Global events). Your talkback shows bemoaning the game 'dying in the bush' have been saying the same for 10 years. They are the same blokes that laugh about soccer divers and AFL being aerial ping pong. Id put more faith in youth participation rates etc (which Mr Fish has alluded too). if they are down then long term yeah it might present a problem.
I think you'll still find there will always be the talent available to sustain an elite comp in Australia though.
Some of the detail in the new NRL deal def points to the emphasis on making the existing content better rather than just trying to produce more content through more teams and games.
America is the perfect example of that where their most profitable teams, their biggest revenues and their highest ratings come from the sport with the lowest amount of games.
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