So I was born right around the time of the Super League War. As I began following League my dad would tell me about it and Parramatta being involved with the ARL, with the 4 Bulldog's signings (Smith, Pay, Dymock and McCraken) coming to us due to their agreement to stay in the ARL.
What I want to know is those who watched footy during that 3 or so years of it being in the news, how did it effect you as an Eels fan? Make you proud for staying with the ARL? And how did it effect others you know who supported a team that went to the SL? I have a mate who's dad was a big Western Suburbs fan, when SL happened he said he fell off the game for nearly a decade due to how it was handled and left a bitter taste in his mouth. Souths fans also are still bitter being kicked out after the ARL and SL agreement for 2000.
How weird was it having two leagues? Did you hate it or love it? What was the media like? Were people on ARL side?
I heard about how it started through Matty Johns podcast with Paul Kent, Kent goes through how it started and it's fascinating, Matty talks about Newcastle being the reason SL didn't work but the whole episode is a good listen.
But let me hear about from those who experienced it. It's bye week so need some discussion
Replies
Well for me at the time there was talk of merges after the war . Us with tigers and us with the panthers or worse us with the bulldogs teams we're fighting to stand alone . So I'm glad we ended up standing alone.
Also at the time we were caught in little controversy at the time we were not wanted by super league then they backfliped and were really eager to sign parra. But what I can remmember if not mistaken they wanted parra and panthers to join.
I for one did not like that so of course I wanted them to sign with ARL . I'm not to sure why super league even started besides the fact players were not getting paid much other then that I feel it was time were the game was killing itself.
AfL grew in that period .
Yeah they only wanted us to make up the numbers towards the end. They tried convincing pretty much everyone else first. We weren't going anywhere with Fitzy on the ARL board.
From what was said by media, the SL started due to Murdoch starting pay tv, they said to him he needs good movies channel and sports channel, so he said Union but his brokers said you need League but Packer has it with channel 9. So he wondered how to get League, so his plan was sorted when he realised that the players were contracted to the clubs not the ARL, so Laurie Daley for example was contracted to Canberra not the ARL so he signed the clubs and the players followed.
It actually started with the English Premier League in 1992. Prior to that News Ltd was essentially in print media, then it ventured into cable TV, it bought Sky Television, which became BSkyB, in the UK and tried to sell subscriptions with just the old 20th Century Fox catalogue & 24hr news.
It was underwhelming.
That's when Kerry Packer told Rupert Murdoch to buy sports broadcasting rights and move it behind a paywall, which he did with the old English Division One. Rupert never watched TV, he was a newspaper man, he was known to thumb through 20 of the biggest papers in the world everyday, but Kerry watched TV all the time and he knew sport worked on TV.
Little did he realise that advice woukd come back to bite him on the arse.
It was never KP's plan to shut out News Ltd when it came to sports broadcasting, Foxtel originally was a joint venture between PMT, (Packer, Murdoch & Telstra), with PBL (Packer) & News Ltd to provide the content and 25% each of Foxtel, while Telstra provided the hardware and would get 50% of Foxtel.
Everyone would win, including the sports like the ARL whose current deal with Nine was only worth about $35m annually at the time.
Then John Ribot took a meeting with Rupert Murdoch ...
Fascinating post there Brett
Brett, I can't recall the specifics but before the SL war started didn't the ARL sign an exclusive Pay-TV rights agreement for the game with Optus - News' competitor?
If so, well there's some motivation right there for News to do whatever it takes (including be deceptful as the courts decided News was, unsurprisingly).
Thank God all the big-shots involved eventually came to their senses and forged a peace agreement for the game's sake (and their pockets) with a dwindling fan-base (Pay TV customers) disillusioned with the circus.
No, the deal with Optus was with PBL. As I said earlier, John Quayle had known for years that Pay TV was coming and had written contingencies into every broadcast contract since 1986. Packer as the rights holder onsold the Pay rights to Optus.
Mm. Well, I found this article noting Optus actually propped up the ARL then. Seems ol' ARL stalwart Packer (a key Optus stakeholder) was actually always hedging his bets, to make sure whichever way the mop flopped he'd end up winning. Often the way up top, ain't it.
AFR article, late 1996:
Blue text Telecommunications giant Optus Vision yesterday hit back in the television war against Mr Rupert Murdoch's Super League by propping up the embattled Australian Rugby League with an estimated $100 million financing deal.
Optus Vision's strategy in backing the ARL is to at least neutralise Super League by ensuring two rugby league competitions are running next year.
Optus's chequebook was opened as the ARL formally decided to seek leave to mount a High Court appeal against a Federal Court ruling on Friday which overturned an earlier decision banning the Super League competition.
Optus, in which ARL stalwart and Murdoch rival Mr Kerry Packer is a key shareholder, will effectively offer clubs that remain loyal to the ARL a $2 million upfront loyalty payment and ongoing yearly payments of $3 million each in an attempt to keep the ARL competition and high-rating television programming alive.
Optus Vision's chief executive officer, Mr Geoff Cousins, said last night the move would ensure that loyal ARL clubs and players "have the backing to survive (Mr Murdoch's) News Ltd's attempts to take over rugby league".
Optus's gambit is seen as the latest move in its battle with pay-TV rival Foxtel (controlled by Mr Murdoch and Optus rival Telstra).
But Mr Packer has taken a bet each way and has kept his Nine Network in the running to acquire the free-to-air TV rights to Super League. Nine already owns the ARL rights.
Mr Packer is understood to have not committed any extra funds for the ARL move.
One observer said last night Mr Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd was concerned about alienating Super League in the event that it became the dominant force in rugby league in Australia.
The Nine Network relies heavily on league programming for prime-time programming. The Optus commitment to the ARL is conditional on: ARL-contracted players remaining loyal to the ARL; the ARL mounting a High Court challenge against Friday's Super League ruling; and a sufficient number of clubs to form a viable competition remaining loyal to the ARL.
According to ARL boss Mr John Quayle: "From day one, we said there were going to be two competitions and we believe we have the best clubs and best players."
But a key Super League executive said last night: "No matter how much money Optus throws at the ARL competition, nothing can get away from the fact that it will be a Sydney-based competition with a team from south-east Queensland. "It is absolutely no match for the national and international Super League competition."
One of the lawyers involved in the Super League v ARL case said News Ltd had already written off more than $200 million in Super League-related costs without even having a competition. "What difference is Optus's $100 million going to make?" he asked.
As well as loyalty payments, the Optus money is understood to be committed to paying the ARL's legal costs and possibly bailing out the South Queensland Crushers team, which is on the brink of collapse with about $9 million in debt. The chequebook fight erupted last night after Super League warned the ARL it would now approach some ARL players who had signed loyalty agreements (as opposed to players contracted to ARL clubs) "with a view to entering into contracts with those players".
Super League took the unusual move of writing to ARL chairman Mr Ken Arthurson informing him of the poaching decision and offering him the right to seek an injunction.
An ARL spokesman described the move as "legal brinkmanship - they are trying to get us to go down to court and get an injunction for them. We don't have to challenge contracts that we already have standing".
The Packer camp regards the Ten Network as the most viable competitor for the Super League because the Seven Network is restrained in what it can offer due to its commitment to the national Australian Football League.
The big contributors to the ARL are Optus Communications and Continental Cablevision of the US, which each owns 46.5 per cent of Optus Vision.
The ARL is expected to concentrate on the market in the main rugby league States of NSW and Queensland, compared with the national and international focus of Super League. Nine Network is fighting a court action against News, which relates to the supply of Fox film and TV products into Australia. Nine claims it has an agreement with News that gives it first and last rights to buy any programming sold into the Australian free-to-air TV market by the global News organisation.
This would include Super League. News is disputing the alleged deal with Nine.
If you get the chance, and if you can locate a copy, you need to read "Super League" written by former News Ltd journo Mike Colman. It gives a brilliant insight into the whole shebang, and not at all News Ltd biased, it's actually really quite balanced.
Optus Vision did provide the finance, but it was Packer who negotiated the deal. Optus stumped up the cash in lieu of the rights.
For the record it was Gus & Bozo who negotiated all the contracts for the ARL loyal players. Young kids who hadn't yet made their debut were walked into a room at Phillip St where they sat down opposite one of the two, and probably figured that neither Gus or Bozo knew they existed, until Gus would talk to the kid about his career up until then, ask him about his hammie or shoulder injury or Bozo would comment on his great flick pass in the SG Ball GF from two years ago !!!
Meanwhile players who crossed to SL had to sit in front of a News Ltd stooge who would rather go to the opera than go to a footy game at Leichhardt and listen to him tell him he was worth this much or that much, usually getting the wrong name or mispronouncing it.
It was a huge mistake by News Ltd.
KP was a master of playing both sides. You have to understand, Packer & Murdoch were, if not friendly, certainly civilised rivals. They didn't hate each other. Their fathers did, but they didn't, and neither do their sons.
I would also highly recommend the new book by Steve Mascord, Two Tribes. Came out at the end of last year and he's interviewed virtually everyone involved in Super League. Over 100 people from administrators to coaches, agents, players and club staff.
News Ltd biggest mistake in recruiting players wasn't just that they had non-footy people doing negotiations, but they had reserved graders rinsing them by pretending to be other, bigger name players.
And it wasn't just that Gus or Bozo knew the players, they were the NSW and Kangaroos coaches. They promised players rep jerseys or for the younger guys "we remember loyalty". They even promised Ricky Stuart the NSW and Australian captaincy if he signed with the ARL.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 5 Next