theceomagazine.com | 47over the past five years particularly,
we’ve worked extremely hard to drive
non-broadcast revenue,” he reveals.
“That’s our partnerships, ticketing, major
events, merchandising; all those sorts of
things. It’s important to maximise the
game’s earnings so we can distribute it
back to our key stakeholders – the players,
clubs and grassroots rugby league. To put
our efforts into perspective, back in 2012,
the non-broadcast revenue of the game
totalled about A$80 million annually. At
the end of the 2017 cycle, we will pass
the A$145 million mark.
“I’m a person who likes to keep
it as simple as possible, to not talk in
clichés, and just keep it straight and to
the point. My message has been simple
and clear from the outset. Our goal is to
get more people playing the game and
more people watching the game. More
people playing the game is at all levels,
whether it’s registered rugby league players
in junior grades through to women’s
league, or tag and touch football, and
all those sorts of recreational pursuits
that are related to footy.
“Then, more people watching the
game has three elements. Clearly, it’s
people in their lounge rooms watching
games through our broadcast partners and
attracting strong ratings, it’s also big
crowds filling stadiums, and third, it’s
allowing people to engage with the game
through our digital offerings. That’s our
mission; that’s what we’re working towards.
“In total, we’ll generate the best part
of half a billion dollars over the next
annual cycle. We’re a well-managedbusiness that’s looking to engage with
partners and sponsors, and people who
want to engage in the game for all the
right reasons.”
As well as the blue-chip men’s
first-grade, partners and sponsors are
tripping over each other to get a piece
of the women’s game, which has exploded
in the past couple of years. Blockbuster
test matches between Australia and New
Zealand, and high-quality interstate
challenges, have noticeably increased the
profile of the game’s female athletes, and
Todd plans to capitalise on this interest
by focusing on the grassroots level.
“The largest-growing segment in
rugby league at the moment is female
participation. We’re growing at nearly
20 per cent annually, and that’s across
traditional forms of the game but also
through league tag and touch football.
So that obviously presents a tremendous
opportunity for the sport,” he explains.
“We have focused heavily on our Australian
Jillaroos program and we’re starting to
see it pay off. The Jillaroos are now
playing on the same stage as the Kangaroos
during international test matches and
getting free-to-air coverage to showcase
the game across the country to a much
greater audience.
“So now our challenge over the next
12 months is to effectively confirm and
document a white paper, which will »“CUB is extremely
proud to be a
long-term partner
of the NRL and
rugby league in
Australia. Under
Todd’s leadership,
we have seen
the NRL go from
strength to strength
and we’re excited
to continue our
great partnership
into the future.”- Richard Oppy,
Vice-President
Marketing, Carlton
United Beverages
“ The largest-growing
segment in rugby league
at the moment is female
participation. We’re
growing at nearly
20 per cent annually.”
The 2017 Jillaroos team after defeating the New
Zealand Kiwi Ferns 16-4 at GIO Stadium in May.CUB0825 VB NRL FINALS CEO AD 215x280 FA.indd 1 18/08/2017 2:51 PM
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