League cashes in on World Cup success

[DIEHARD]

League cashes in on World Cup success

The Rugby League International Federation will use the $5 million in profits generated by the World Cup to fund an expanded Test calendar.

And they've set their sights on matching the rise of rugby union's showpiece event with the RLIF keen to cash in on the foundations set by this year's World Cup, which will attract a sellout crowd of 52,000 to Saturday night's final in Brisbane between Australia and New Zealand.

"If you just cast your mind back to when the rugby World Cup started ... the semi-final was played in Sydney was played at Concord Oval in front of a crowd of 15,000 people," RLIF chairman Colin Love said.

"It was a modest success.

"But in the 21 years (since) that event has now become a major international sporting event.

"I believe the product we've got in rugby league is as good as in any other code and there's no reason why we can't head in that direction hopefully in a much shorter period of time."

Despite this being the 13th staging of the World Cup, the tournament is being viewed as a stepping stone to bigger things.

It has left the RLIF with a kitty in excess of $5 million - much of which has come from healthy television deals - which Love says will be pumped back into the game to assist with the development of the emerging nations.

The most obvious consequence is the transformation of the Tri-Nations into a four-nations concept, with the Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand to be joined by another country on a rotating basis.

France will take part and most likely host some games in the 2009 tournament to be staged in the northern hemisphere, at which time a Pacific Nations Cup will be contested with the winner to become the fourth team in the 2010 four-nations.

Love said the timing of the Pacific Nations Cup would enable NRL and Super League players to turn out for those countries competing in the competition.

The expanded international program is all about improving the standard of the lesser lights ahead of the 2013 World Cup, which will likely be staged in the UK, though Love said Australia would also bid to host the event.

"What I'm keen to do is make sure that the international game maximises the revenue that it can earn from this event," Love said.

More than 220,000 fans - an average of over 14,000 per game - have attended the World Cup with television viewing audiences just topping nine million.

AAP

[DIEHARD]

WORLD CUP TO RECORD SUBSTANTIAL PROFIT

The World Cup in Australia will generate a profit in excess of ?2million, tournament director Colin Love announced today.

The bigger-than-expected surplus, which is in sharp contrast to a ?700,000 loss from the last World Cup in England in 2000, will be used to develop international rugby league in countries such as Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

The figures were announced at a press conference in Brisbane, 48 hours before the World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand.

"This tournament was always a starting point for bigger things in the years ahead and the foundations that have been laid give the World Cup the capacity to grow enormously," said Love.

The tournament director, who is chairman of the International Federation, told the conference that the 17 matches so far have attracted a total of 227,511 fans at an average of 14,291.

A near sell-out crowd of around 50,000 expected for the final at Suncorp Stadium will lift the average to around 15,500 but the profits have been largely generated by television deals and sponsorship.

A total of 4.9million viewers have tuned in to the matches in Australia's five capital cities while, despite England's disappointing performances, only one of the BBC's five weekend highlight shows failed to reach a peak viewing figure of one million.

Love outlined the international calendar for the next five years and revealed that Australia will put together a bid to rival England for the right to stage the next World Cup in 2013.

The calendar is:

:: 2009 - Four Nations Series in the northern hemisphere featuring the addition of France

:: 2010 - Four Nations Series in the southern hemisphere to include the winner of the 2009 South Pacific Cup

:: 2011 - Four Nations Series in the northern hemisphere, including the winner of the 2010 European Championship

:: 2012 - no major series but World Cup qualifiers to be held

:: 2013 - World Cup

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[~lee~]

If the project now is to raise the international bar then why would you include France in 2009 and drop them in 2010. Can we not just add a pacific team and make it a 5 nation tournament.

Im impressed with the viewing figures in England, 1 million people for a highlights show is great especially considering most with sky would have watched the game live too.

As for the next world cup Australia shouldnt be greedy, let a 'northern hemisphere' country stage it

[DIEHARD]

As for the next world cup Australia shouldnt be greedy, let a 'northern hemisphere' country stage it

I think it's more to do with creating competition for the UK and France to get max coin.

I also agree with you about France in the 4Nations.