The Perth NRL License - SportsIndustryAU

With expansion firmly on its mind, the NRL again began looking in earnest westward, with Perth firming as a front runner for expansion alongside Papua New Guinea in 2028-2029.

The initial WA consortium behind the bid was led by Cash Converters executive chairman Peter Cumins and remains committed to a stand-alone bid, and Freshwater Strategy, which helped the Dolphins put together the bid that secured the NRL’s 17th licence, will put together the proposal.

On February 5th, 2024 Vlandys told the Telegraph that he was continually being asked when the Bears were returning to the league.

“Everywhere I go, that always the question … when are you bringing back the Bears? I didn’t realise they had so many old fans,” V’landys said. “They’ve got to be in the equation. They can’t be stand-alone in Sydney because there’s too many already. However, they can certainly be part of a new team, whether it be in Perth, the Pacific, wherever. They’re so passionate and you want that.”

“It makes sense that we bring them back in some capacity, because they’ve got 200,000 members. That’s important,” V’landys said.

The Bears have welcomed ARLC chairman Peter V’landys’ revelation that they could return to the NRL, but the foundation club has four non-negotiables.

“Two, ideally four games to be at North Sydney Oval, the colours and the logo,” Dickson said.

Im May, 2024, Vlandys said that the Perth bears was the ideal parternship, saying there was no way that Norths could stand on their own due to the number of teams in Sydney.

““Perth are absolutely on our hit list for expansion and it’s sooner rather than later… There’s no way North Sydney can be a stand-alone team at the moment because there’s too many teams in Sydney as it is.”

In June, 2024 it was reported that representatives of Perth’s NRL expansion bid team will hold talks with possible suitors North Sydney Bears and Newtown Jets over the next two days.

In October, it was revealed that the Cumins led license bid had failed to impress NRL headquarters as V’landys revealed their bid fell “significantly short” when it came to the NRL’s financial requirements with the ARL Commission reportedly holding concerns around the Western Bears’ multimillion-dollar licence fee.

The proposal spectacularly unravelled over a decision not to offer a license fee, at a time when head office was seeking a figure of about $20 million. The NRL also felt blindsided by the decision to include Sydney Kings part-owner Paul Smith and former NRL executive Paul Kind in the ownership group.

Cumins expressed disappointment and frustration.

“Disappointed would be an understatement, and we’ve spent a lot of money for nothing,” Cumins said.

“The frustration from our point of view is there has never been a licence fee paid by any club in the NRL, including the Dolphins. The Dolphins have been going for 75 years with $100 million worth of real estate and they’ve got all the facilities they need.

“We’re a start-up in an AFL state, so our start-up costs are massive. There’s a $16 million burn before you even kick a football. “We’re bringing new eyeballs to the game to help with negotiating broadcast rights, new sponsorship dollars because we’re not competing with east coast sponsors.

“None of it commercially made any sense [to offer a substantial licence fee], which is why we elected not to.”

The Herald reported that head office had reassured the North Sydney Bears that they will be included in the venture in some form, a move that will revive the foundation club’s name and heritage.

In late October it was reported in the Financial Review that Peter V’landys’ ambitious plan to expand the NRL into Perth has hit another hurdle, with the West Australian government rejecting an initial request to inject millions of dollars into grassroots rugby league.

Anonymous government officials said that said the NRL had asked for approximately $12 million in annual funding for the next decade.

The WA government confirmed it had rejected the NRL’s initial funding request but would not discuss the figure proposed by the rugby league body. It is still offering to upgrade HBF Stadium and build a high-performance facility.

On November 2, News Limited reported that Queensland loomed as a genuine option for expansion if Perth didnt get up, hower Vlandys insisted that the Perth bid wasnt dead.

“Another Queensland team is something we have never ruled out so, yes, that’s still a possibility,” V’landys said. “I’m still confident the Perth Bears will go ahead but if not, all options are on the table and that includes a Queensland team.

On November 21, 2024 it was reported that the NRL looked to choose a funding and infrastructure proposal from the state government worth upwards of $500m for a Perth-based team.

The WA government had initially offered a $120m grassroots funding request over 10 years
The funding would include investing $350m to increase Perth’s rectangular HBF stadium from 22,500 to 27,000 and upgrade the facilities to ensure the new team can earn up to 70 per cent of its game-day revenue from corporate partnerships.
Other funding would see $25 injected into a temporary high-performance facility at Ken Allen Field in Fremantle while a long-term centre of excellence will be built as a community asset in Malaga.

On December 13th, the Australian reported that Vlandys was still hoping to get Perth over the line but it was all in the hands of the WA Government now.

“It is in the hands of the WA government,” V’landys said. “We have made them aware of what our requirements are. They have never shown any concern about the requirements. They have been very positive about what we’ve said. “If that translates into a deal then it will be done very shortly. (The goal) is still 20 teams. There is still a bit of work to get to 20. This is the first one. Western Australia is next and we have many options for the 20th team.”

On January 28, 2025 AAP reported that the now defunct Cumins led consortium that backed a Perth-based bid to enter an NRL side in 2027 was rebuffed despite making a revised offer of a $20 million licence fee to join the competition.

“After our bid was rejected we re-submitted a counter-bid to the NRL, which included a $20 million licence fee,” Cumins told AAP. “We were led to believe that was what the stumbling block was. We also made some other concessions about retaining a certain level of working capital and around bank guarantee-type things.”

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