SYDNEY : Australia Rugby League Commission chief Peter V’landys believes the sport needs the English game to be strong and said the governing body would consider buying the cash-strapped Super League if they were approached.
Speaking after announcing a surplus of A$62.3 million ($39.8 million) on record revenues of A$744.9 million at the ARLC annual general meeting on Friday, V’landys said a Super League takeover was a possibility.
“That’s if they want us. The first thing is there’s always two people to an agreement. If they want us, we’ll certainly look at it,” he told reporters.
“If they approached us, we’d certainly look at it. At this stage they haven’t approached us, but we’re a firm believer in having a strong game in England and we’re a firm believer in the international game.
“You can’t have an international game without England. I don’t want to breach any confidentiality, but it’s important for us that the game in the United Kingdom is strong. At the moment, it’s got its challenges.”
Although the code was founded in Northern England, Australia has long been the dominant force in the game and the National Rugby League has by far the strongest competition.
V’landys has ambition plans of taking the game out of its heartlands and for the second year in a row the new NRL season will be launched next week with two matches in Las Vegas.
With considerable government assistance, the NRL plans to have a team in Papua New Guinea by 2028, while a second team in New Zealand is also on the cards before the end of the decade.
By contrast, dwindling broadcast revenues mean most Super League clubs – 11 of which are in England and one in France – survive only because of the largesse of wealthy owners.
“I’m not being critical of them because they do a great job, but rugby league has to be strong in England, and we’re developing a relationship already by having Warrington and Wigan in Vegas,” said V’landys.
“We’ll certainly have discussions with Super League to see how we can assist in the future.”
($1 = 1.5652 Australian dollars)
