Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis has revealed rival clubs were “shocked” by his suggestion the NRL should consider expanding to 20 teams.
Politis was behind the push at a recent Annual General Meeting of clubs, where expansion was one of the topics discussed.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has publicly flagged the possibility of an 18th team as soon as 2025, with an increase to 20 by 2032.
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Speaking on 2GB’s Wide World of Sports radio, Politis says the code has no option but to add more teams.
“We have to,” he argued.
“For the first time in the history of the game, the clubs, thanks to Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo, the grants have increased to a level where just about every club is making a profit.
“That was a great achievement by the current administrators. To grow we need more and more revenue.
“To get more revenue from the media networks we’ve got to give them more product, it’s pretty simple.”
Politis, arguably the most powerful club chairman in the NRL, said his proposal to increase the number of teams took rival bosses by surprise.
“I suggested at an AGM a couple of weeks ago that maybe we should consider 20 teams. I think everybody was a bit shocked,” he said.
“We’ve got to grow, if we’re going to be a national sport we’ve got to be in every state.
“I’m not saying do it now, maybe it will take 5-10 years or more. We’ve got to work towards it and we’ve got to talk about it to make it happen.
“That’s how you grow any business, you’ve got to go forwards, not backwards.”
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Writing in his weekly column for Wide World of Sports, NRL great Paul Gallen conceded that while expansion is inevitable, admitting an 18th team in 2025 was “a stretch”.
“If that’s going to happen we need to know who it’s going to be within the next couple of months, because they’re going to need time to put everything in place,” Gallen wrote.
“Remember, players can start negotiating for 2025 from November 1 this year. The Dolphins had a similar timeframe and never came up with a marquee signing, and that was with the attraction of Wayne Bennett.”
Gallen said that there was “no doubt” the renewed interest in expansion was driven by the Dolphins unexpected 2-0 start to their first season in the competition.
“I can accept 18, but to get to 20 by 2032 you’re looking at a new team every 3-4 years, and I think that’s a bridge too far,” he wrote.
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