The NRL could have lost more than $10 million (NZ $10.4m) in potential sponsorships during the off-season alone as the reputational hit from player behaviour strips revenue from clubs. "When you are talking about 13 points at $500,000 a point, that's $6.5 million lost to the game in potential sponsorship. Clubs are saying they are on the verge of signing major sponsors and sponsors are walking away because of the stench around rugby league. "We're OK but I'd hate to be looking for a couple of major sponsors right now. Watt said there could be even more longer-term financial pain unless the NRL altered the perceptions about portions of its playing group.

Source: Stuff February 17, 2019 02:04 UTC