The Australian reports that the NRL has its own team of analysts who have been determining the value of the game’s assets over the past year.
“I think the most important thing is to understand the value of the asset that you’ve got and we do,’’ Smith said. “We’ve done a lot of work over the last 12 months to really understand what the value of our rights are. My obligation is to the fans and make sure that we do the best deal we can. I think there’s lots of ways to skin the cat and many other professional sports segment their properties, they build franchises. The game’s got so much potential, so much upside.I do feel that I’ve not got both arms tied behind my back, there’s no first and last rights. We’re in a position whereby we can really pitch what we’ve got and recognise that it’s of some value.’’
