The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has today announced the unanimous endorsement for Peter V’landys AM to commence as Executive Chairman.
This was done after the Commission consulted its members namely the NRL Clubs, NSWRL and QRL. It accepted their recommendations relating to Mr V’landys’ appointment. The Commission also expresses its sincere appreciation to Mr Nick Pappas AM for coordinating and chairing meetings with the members.
This appointment provides certainty and continuity through an exciting period for Rugby League as the game expands domestically and internationally.
Mr V’landys has just secured the landmark $5.3 billion new media rights agreement for the game which provides an unprecedented platform for future growth and success.
ARLC Commissioner The Hon Peter Beattie AC said: "Peter has completely reinvigorated Rugby League during his tenure and the Commission is backing him in to grow the game even further."
During his tenure as Chairman of the ARLC, Mr V’landys has overseen the most successful and transformative period in the game’s history.
Mr Beattie said: "Peter inherited a game with limited reserves and no significant assets, one that had needed an advance from its broadcasters just to pay the Clubs and Players. He consistently put the fan first, and the record audiences and the biggest broadcast deal in Australian sport followed."
Mr V’landys said: "I am honoured every day to have the opportunity to give something back to Rugby League and could not be more excited for the game’s future."
"Rugby League is the greatest game of all and we are going to take it to the world."
Mr V’landys was appointed to the ARL Commission in March 2018 and, just 18 months later, was unanimously elected Chairman in September 2019.
Major achievements of the Commission during his tenure include:
- The landmark $5.3 billion media rights agreement. A seven-year agreement with Foxtel, Nine Entertainment and New Zealand’s Sky Network Television, the largest in Australian sporting history, built on five years of reforms that made the game faster and more entertaining.
- Leading the game through the COVID-19 pandemic. Within six months of Mr V’landys becoming Chairman, rugby league faced one of the greatest crises in its history. Against all odds, the NRL returned on 28 May 2020, the first sport in Australia and one of the first globally to return from COVID-19 shutdown.
- Record financial results. Revenue of $845.6 million in FY25, up 116% since 2016; distributions of $562.3m to Clubs, Players, States and development, up 175% since 2016; and a fifth consecutive operating surplus, totalling $291 million since 2021.
- Development of an asset base from a sport limited with assets, to the future proofing the game, with net assets of nearly $500m.
- Record audiences and attendances. 224.2 million cumulative viewers across the 2025 season, up 64% on 2019, a record Grand Final audience of 4.55 million, four of the five most-watched television programs of the year, and almost five million people at matches.
- Growing the women’s game. The NRLW has grown from four teams when Mr V’landys became Chairman to 12, and the 2025 Grand Final drew a record average audience of 1.33 million.
- Record participation. Total participation reached 1.12 million, including a record 207,744 registered Club participants and more than 50,000 female players, up 10%.
- Expansion into Western Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Perth Bears enter the competition in 2027 and the Papua New Guinea Chiefs in 2028, backed by a $600 million commitment from the Australian Government secured by Mr V’landys.
- Taking Rugby League to the world. Mr V’landys drove the move to open the season in Las Vegas, where more than 130,000 fans have attended the first three editions, and a Global Round with matches in Japan and Hong Kong is planned from 2028.
- Secured $600 million in Federal Government funding to support Papua New Guinea’s entry into the NRL and leveraging rugby league as a catalyst for social development, economic growth and regional engagement across Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
- Procured $500m from Governments for the construction of Centres of Excellence and upgrade to stadiums.
With the appointment of Mr V’landys as Executive Chairman, the Commission also established a Governance Oversight Committee to be Chaired by Dr Gary Weiss AM to ensure compliance of best practice corporate governance.
