And unlike the sombrero pay caps, the Roosters were the third lowest of all clubs with only $69,000 worth of private sector TPAs. Although Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco benefited from an entire game sponsorship that was not included. To increase transparency and increase fan skepticism, the NRL has released a full breakdown of the arm-length agreements paid for in 2019. All third-party contracts must be pre-registered and approved. The goal is to ensure that they do not become a way for clubs or players to use sponsors or third parties to undermine the salary cap, as well as for gambling, to ensure the protection of the intellectual property of clubs and games. Third-party agreements are used with the salary cap to ensure that high-level players can play for the club. TPAs allow the club to offer a large amount of money, some from third parties that are not counted below the ceiling. The NRL`s crackdown on third-party agreements last year led to a drop in out-of-ceiling payments of nearly $2 million, with Premiers Sydney Roosters being one of the lowest and Melbourne the highest. The money is not guaranteed by the association – it is up to the third to pay it. “These figures show a significant decrease in the number of third-party agreements across the game,” said Nick Weeks, NRL Chief Operating Officer. The NRL released third-party agreements last year for the first time to improve confidence in the integrity of the Code`s contract process, and they did so on Friday – revealing that there had been a $7.8 million reduction in TP in 2018 to just $6 million this year. “For the first time, fans, clubs and others can see exactly the volume of third-party contracts in the game. We think that`s a good thing,” Weeks said.
The cowboys arrived in a distant third, but probably fell significantly in 2019 after Johnathan Thurston Semerit, while the Rabbitohs – a strong brand with a series of stars – were the only other club sitting above average. The Salary Cap auditor monitors each club`s salary cap throughout the year based on information provided by the clubs. In addition, the Salary-Cap auditor can conduct investigations into player compensation in the event of anomalies. These investigations generally concern the club and its related entities and cover all payments and agreements that may result in benefits to players. Players can also enter into agreements with sponsors called sponsorship agreements. There is no maximum amount and they are excluded from the salary cap. The fourth and most controversial part of the TPP is the agreement on the length of the private sector. In order to clarify one of the taboo themes of the game, the NRL decided last year to make the third-party agreements public and took up the occasion again on Friday to highlight the improvement of the transparency and integrity of the code`s contractual process. In a historic milestone, the NRL has released the total value of each third-party club`s agreements, in a step that will improve the transparency and integrity of the code`s contractual process, while misconceptions about clubs` trust in TPAs are dispelled.
