Exclusive: London Broncos back NRL to invest in Super League
The London Broncos rugby league team have backed the proposed Australian NRL investment in Super League.
Officials from the richest league in the sport, the NRL, are set for talks with Super League representatives and other officials in the game later this month as the southern hemisphere competition looks to buy a stake in its European counterpart.
English rugby league chiefs have hired Deloitte to help it explore options and the Australian owners of Championship side London Broncos, led by former Brisbane Broncos legend Darren Lockyer and mining tycoon Grant Wechsel, are strongly in favour of the proposal.
“We definitely back the idea of the investment,” Wechsel told Morning Wire, “as long as the financial improvement is there for the clubs.
“If they get a full distribution and it’s making the competition stronger, then the money they make from their own efforts can be reinvested into the game.
“The NRL don’t just give them [Australian teams] the full salary cap but give each club Aus $5m on top of that — effectively paying for staff on top of players.
“That’s a huge head start out here and it’s given the clubs a platform to grow the game, grow talent and improve performance.
“How it actually gets done, I have no idea, and I’m not going to tell the RFL or the NRL how I think they should do it, but money coming into the game and support from the biggest rugby league competition in the world makes sense if it can help grow the game in the UK.
“Down the track, if that’s worked and they want to pull back out, I’m sure there are options as to how long it’s done for. But it seems in the short term to be a positive thing for the game.”
London Broncos in Super League?
Wechsel reiterated his hope that London Broncos would be given a place in the Super League before the end of the season, whether through an expanded roster of teams from 2027 or by other means. Senior Championship club sources have told Morning Wire that they would rather the Broncos be promoted as soon as possible given the disparity in budgets in the second tier.
But a deal, Wechsel said, would need to come with guarantees from the sport’s governing body that every team receives their Super League salary cap of £2.1m in central funding.
“If the deal looks like the NRL makes a minority investment and brings whatever funds they’re putting forward or TV funds, and that tallies up to an amount where all the clubs can get the full distribution and still grow the game, then that’s the first priority,” the Australian added.
“London needs to get into the Super League in 2027, whether the NRL are involved or not. But separately to that, the NRL is thriving in Australia. So if they can come and be involved and boost either the broadcast deal or a combination of the broadcast deal and their own injection of funds, and bring that to the game and help it grow and thrive rather than just survive, then it’s going to be good for the whole game and obviously London’s going to be a beneficiary of that.”