'There was this superior attitude': Nine boss lifts lid on NRL negotiations

After two months of tense negotiations with the NRL, Nine chief executive Hugh Marks sat down with the Herald to discuss the new broadcast deal.

Cricket and rugby league. They've been part of Channel Nine’s fabric for decades. But in the space of two years, the free-to-air network almost lost both of them.

"We didn’t lose cricket," Marks interrupts during an interview inside his Willoughby office a day after announcing a revised broadcast deal until the end of 2022. “But it’s a great example of where we were at with rugby league.”

“When we were going through those discussions with cricket management (in 2018), I didn’t see a shared vision for the game. Part of our issue with cricket was the extension in the number of games in the Big Bash and the way the Big Bash was taking absolute priority over international cricket. That was actually a big part of why we walked away at the time. With rugby league it was the same thing."

Marks stands by claims he would have walked away from rugby league had Nine's vision not aligned with the NRL's. He also stands by the fact he would have battled it out in a courtroom if it had come to it.

"There was this mentality that the NRL was superior," he said of the Todd Greenberg era.

"We don’t buy the NRL, we buy a competition of 16 clubs, State of Origin and grand final. OK, the NRL is the organisation that we deal with, but the competition that you’re buying is the players and the clubs - that’s what you’re buying.

"There was this superior attitude from the NRL towards the clubs, towards us, the broadcasters. Out of this crisis, all of that has been put behind us and everyone is recognising what is actually important."

There's no doubt the bottom line was of greatest importance to the free-to-air network, but it wasn't just a reduced rate Nine wanted before re-linking its future with the sport.

"Why do people watch rugby league?" Marks asks after securing an estimated $70 million in savings over the next three years.

"Because they want to watch Parra play the Bulldogs. That tribalism of the game is its actual strength. And how do you enhance tribalism? You enhance it by empowering the clubs to do more. If money is going into things like administration, or the bunker, or integrity units, or multiple referees or a digital platform - money isn't going to clubs.

"You wanted to feel like the rugby league management were committed to the sorts of things that we feel warrant us investing in the game for the long term. Even the simple things, like if the match-day experience is fantastic, more fans will go to the game and more people will watch it on television."

THE ATTACK ON TODD GREENBERG

On April 9, just over two weeks after the NRL brought the competition to a halt as a result of COVID-19, Nine sent out a statement that ultimately fast-tracked Greenberg's exit from Rugby League Central.

"I can tell you, I was walking back from my daughter’s and all of a sudden there’s a season announcement and we hadn’t been briefed," Marks said.

"It’s like ‘what is going on here?’. The world is being turned upside down on its head and all of that is being ignored. Why? I don’t know. Everyone just needs to stop and take measure and work out what are we trying to do for the long term because if we just stick our heads in the sand for the next two years, the crisis that was coming then, will come still."

Greenberg told those closest to him that Nine's statement, attacking a "bloated head office" for "years of mismanagement", was designed to sideline him from negotiations, because he stood between the free-to-air network and the deal it desired.

Marks is sceptical a deal would have been done at all if the former chief executive was still running the show.

"Look, he was very pleasant to us and would argue he treated us with respect, but from our perspective it was more adversarial and they didn’t listen," Marks said.

"I just felt it was going to be much more difficult to be able to get to an outcome quickly, and the actions that Peter [V'landys] took parting ways with Todd enabled us to get to those outcomes more quickly."

DOES NINE HAVE A LONG-TERM FUTURE WITH THE NRL?

In a series of meetings, ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys managed to provide a blueprint Nine was willing to invest in. It included a major reduction of costs at head office, a guarantee the clubs would be empowered to grow their own brands and a willingness to change an on-field product that had become stale in the eyes of many.

"I think it’s the best television sport, by far, if it is conducted in the right way," Marks said.

"If the clubs are strong and viable and the rules are encouraged for play that is going to attract that casual viewer, which is the audience we target, then it really is the best television sport.

"Peter just laid out the plan. Once you see people have a plan and he is taking account of all the issues that we thought needed to be taken account of, we got a lot of comfort from that."

Foxtel has extended its partnership until the end of 2027, but Nine is in no such rush.

"You have got remember we are still in a crisis," Marks said.

"I don’t know what the free-to-air business looks like in six months' time let alone two-and-a-half years' time. I think its just wise at this point to pause and work out what the business is like post-COVID.

"To do a long-term extension now, I just don’t think anybody has the information to be able to work out on what basis you’re going to make that decision."