HULL KR chief executive Paul Lakin, who is also a director of RL Commercial, has admitted that Super League would be interested potentially in talks with the NRL about its reported intention to buy a 33% stake in the English competition.
But he has denied that the report of the NRL’s apparent interest, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald this week, is based on any formal discussions with Super League.
“There is definitely an intention on the part of Super League to have discussions to explore what this might mean for the competition,” Lakin told League Express.
“But as yet there have been no formal meetings.”
And as yet no one involved in Super League is sure of how the NRL would want to structure its approach to taking a stake in Super League, although one possibility is that it would take a one-third interest in Super League (Europe) Limited, the company that the twelve top-flight clubs and the RFL all have one share each in.
That would mean that the combined shareholding of the clubs and the RFL would be diluted from 100% to 66%.
Although the NRL would not have a controlling interest, it would mean that the votes of four of the other 13 shareholders would give it a majority in that body.
Another factor that would come into play with the entry of the NRL into British Rugby League would be the future of the agreement between RL Commercial and IMG.
Meanwhile, with the sports streaming body DAZN having acquired the rights to the NRL in Australia after its recent purchase of Foxtel, the DAZN chief executive Shay Segev was a guest of the NRL at last Friday night’s game between South Sydney and Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium.
Super League clubs are keeping their fingers crossed that DAZN can be persuaded to bid for the rights to Super League in competition with Sky Sports to boost the broadcast value from 2027, when a new broadcasting deal will commence.
