25 Facts About NRL

The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership between the Australian Rugby League and media giant News Corporation-controlled Super League.

The joint partnership was dissolved in February 2012, with control of the NRL going solely to the re-constituted ARL, which was re-structured with an independent board of directors and renamed as the Australian Rugby League Commission.

Additionally, at the end of 1998 the NRL decided to close down former Super League club, the Adelaide Rams and former ARL club, the Gold Coast Chargers, despite the Gold Coast franchise being one of the few clubs to make a profit during the Super League war.

South Sydney challenged the decision in the Federal Court claiming that the NRL agreement was exclusionary, intended to unfairly exclude South Sydney, and breached the Trade Practices Act.

In 2005, the NRL reached record levels of popularity for its competition.

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In 2010 the NRL set a record total season average attendance of 17,367 per game and a record total season aggregate attendance of 3,490,778.

The NRL was left with a black eye after the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks were caught using performance-enhancing substances by ASADA dating back to 2011.

On 22 March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NRL became one of the last major sports in the world to continue playing games.

The following day after Queensland closed its borders, the NRL announced that the season would have to be suspended indefinitely.

However, the NRL released documents signed by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, showing approval for the NRL to continue without crowds.

Since the NRL commenced in 1998 there have been six CEOs, they are:.

Two of the clubs currently in the NRL were founded in 1908, the first year of rugby league competition in Australia: the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

In 2017, only one invited team from each league participated, with the NRL citing tight schedules, distant travel and long seasons as an impediment to the Series.

In 2019, the NRL introduced Magic Round, which featured all sixteen teams playing at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane over the weekend.

From 1998 to 2011, the NRL used the McIntyre Final Eight System but with the introduction of the ARLC, it was decided to change to the current format which was perceived as fairer for teams finishing in the Top 4.

Each club in the NRL has a "top squad" of twenty-five players, who are signed under a salary cap.

The Leadership Group hosts regular multi-day camps where all Indigenous NRL players are invited to learn more about Indigenous culture.

In 2010, following the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal, the NRL introduced requirements for players and their agents to sign statutory declarations pledging their contracts comply with salary cap regulations, where previously only club chairmen and chief executives did so for biannual salary cap audits.

NRL Judiciary is made up of former players who convene in three-man panels to rule on on-field incidents.

The Fox Sports contract was signed in May 2020 and the NRL extended their contract with Nine in December 2021 to match the length of the contract with Fox Sports through 2027.

Outside of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, all matches are currently available in high definition on the subscription streaming service Watch NRL which operates through its website and a dedicated app.

Selection of classic NRL games is available for free worldwide on the league's website.

NRL has several exclusive rights partners to broadcast matches live via radio nationwide.

Some Notable NRL cheerleaders are Jennifer Hawkins for the Newcastle Knights, Chloe Butler for the Emeralds and Tabrett Bethell for the Cronulla Sharks Mermaids.

NRL worked with the NRL to create the third logo for the 2007 season onward as part of a new sponsorship deal.

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