Dispute over control of top-flight rugby league in Australia and New Zealand
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Super League war
Date
1990s
Location
Australia, New Zealand
Caused by
Competition and rivalry between the two leagues
Resulted in
Formation of the National Rugby League (NRL)
Parties
Australian Rugby League (ARL)
Supported by:
Optus Vision
Super League
Supported by:
News Corporation
Lead figures
Kerry Packer
Rupert Murdoch
The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s.
Super League, backed by Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation, competed with the ARL, supported by Kerry Packer and Optus Vision, in and out of court for broadcasting rights and supremacy in the sport.[1][2][3] Super League had attracted several clubs disenchanted with the existing administration, and introduced two new clubs, as it attempted to establish itself as the dominant competition. After much legal action, when the ARL tried to block the new league, Super League ran one season parallel to the ARL's in 1997.[4] At the conclusion of that season a peace deal was reached and the two leagues united to form the National Rugby League, which continues today.
^Maquire, Joseph and Possami, Catherine (2005). Power and global sport: zones of prestige, emulation and resistance. Routledge. p. 87. ISBN 9780415252799.
^Headon, David (October 1999). "Up From the Ashes: The Phoenix of a Rugby League Literature" (PDF). Football Studies Volume 2, Issue 2. Football Studies Group. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
^P. Dorian Owen; Clayton R. Weatherston (December 2002). "Professionalization of New Zealand Rugby Union: Historical Background, Structural Changes and Competitive Balance" (PDF). Economics Discussion Papers No. 0214. University of Otago. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2009.
^Cockerill, Ian (3 October 1999). "Eye of the Storm". The Sunday Age. p. 4. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
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