Footballers to face a double whammy of NRL and Super Rugby clash on Sunday
Rugby League players will be hoping to avoid the worst of the double whampoos, with the NRL and the Super Rugby World Cup looming on Sunday.
A number of teams from the world’s most popular sport will be fighting for their share of the $3.9 billion global television rights deal for the 2020-21 season.
A huge number of international players are in New Zealand for the tournament, which is scheduled to kick off at the Eden Park Stadium in Auckland on Saturday.
It will be a double-whammy for NRL and international players as the NRL is looking to secure a significant percentage of the deal.
New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Scott Pennis has said the NRL has already signed up to a TV deal worth around $3 billion.
The World Cup is a crucial event for the game and, in a bid to maximise the value of the rights, the NRL, which has about 30 teams, is also seeking to sign up to two more international competitions.
The NRL is also aiming to secure more rights for Super Rugby, with plans to televise the 2019 World Cup in Australia, and the 2019 Rugby League World Cup, in New South Wales.
The first of these events will take place on April 12-13 in Sydney, with a second scheduled in Melbourne on July 20-21.
Both games are expected to be attended by more than 1.6 million people.
The NRL’s plans for a TV rights deal are in stark contrast to that of rugby league’s biggest rivals, the Australian Rugby League.
There is no such deal in place for the Super Six, which would be the biggest and most lucrative for the NRL.
Australia’s game will not be the only World Cup to be held in the United States, with other sporting nations, including the Australian Football League and Australian Rugby Union, looking to expand their participation in the tournament.
The Rugby League’s World Cup will feature 16 teams and a record number of 20,000 fans in the stands.AAP/ABC