Telstra NRL 2007-12 Naming Rights Sponsorship
6th March 2007
The NRL today announced a new six-year $90 million agreement with Telstra as competition Naming Rights sponsor and New Media partner until the end of the 2012 season. NRL Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Gallop, said the multi-million dollar agreement secured an exciting future for League fans by bringing them the best online and mobile access to their game, as well as a wide range of direct grassroots and development programme benefits. “Telstra and BigPond are unequalled in their online and mobile content, coverage and their customer base,” Mr Gallop said. “These negotiations have underlined their commitment to the development of leading-edge online and mobile NRL content for fans
NRL chief executive David Gallop says club grants will not match the salary cap for some time yet despite the announcement of a $90 million naming rights deal with Telstra. The NRL finally came to agreement with the telecommunications giant just weeks after it was reported the deal was about to fall through due to a dispute over online and mobile rights. The six-year arrangement will see Telstra become the longest running sponsor in premiership history. But it won't result in an instant windfall for the 16 NRL clubs, Gallop admitting there will still be a shortfall between the $3.25 million in annual grants given to clubs and the $4 million salary cap. "It's a goal (to get parity), we're not there yet and we won't get there in the short term, but we're certainly aiming toward it. "We're certainly conscious that the funding gap is a burden to our clubs, but at the same time we want to see the cap continue to go up in the future."
Previously those rights were bundled with the television broadcast rights sold to the Nine Network and Foxtel.