Insight

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is joining the National Rugby League (NRL); underpinned by a $600 million Australian Government investment package over a 10-year period. It’s major progress for a pacific country where Rugby league isn’t just popular. PNG is the only country where rugby league is the official national sport, with over 50% of the nation often tuning in to watch The Kumuls.

Picture: PNG celebrate after beating Wales, Port Moresby, World Cup 2017

But this isn’t simply a league expanding its territory; PNG’s new team has geopolitics running through the centre of it. The deal explicitly curbs China’s Pacific influence; a heightened issue after China signed its 2022 security agreement with the Solomon Islands. The deal is directly tied to regional alignment – PNG is restricted from entering into security agreements with any country outside the “Pacific Family.” Should Australia assess that PNG has breached this condition, funding for the team would be withdrawn, triggering the NRL to remove the franchise from the competition.

Picture: View of Asia and Oceania, with China in dark blue, Solomon Islands in blue square and Australia and Papa New Guinea in green.

It’s a clear reminder that in today’s sporting landscape, the commercial value of sporting properties can’t be assessed in a vacuum. The tangible value within deals is widely agreed upon, but intangible values are at the heart of almost all of the biggest deals in sport today. The strategic aims of stakeholders, economic markets, current geo-political landscape – these are likely to have a larger influence on deal value than simply engagement rates.

Our model has been adopted by UEFA, the Premier League and various other organisations to establish a framework for evaluating sponsorship value in relation to financial fair play processes across the sporting sector. If you’re working through a sponsorship question that needs clear, credible evidence, we’d welcome a conversation. Contact us to find out how Platformation can help.

Interesting Facts about Rugby League:

1.4 Million people from across five countries are following the Australian National Rugby League.

In comparison, 1.2 Million people from across five countries are following the Super League, the only other professional Rugby League competition apart from the NRL. Super League is a Northern Hemisphere Rugby League competition.

The NRL Women’s Premiership has a followership of just short of 800k.

Analysed countries were Australia, France, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Sydney, Australia – October 5, 2014: A group of late supporters walk towards the ANZ Stadium at dusk, as the NRL Grand Final between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury Bulldogs prepares to get under way.