Canberra will have their most free-to-air television exposure this decade after being rewarded for their run to the grand final in the 2020 NRL draw.
The Raiders were on Tuesday given seven free-to-air games on the Nine Network, their most since the current broadcasting structure began in 2007.
It marks an increase on five regular season games from 2019 before they became the story of the NRL’s finals.
It also comes after years of frustration at the Raiders for their commercial exposure, given they had as little as one game on free-to-air in 2013.
“Most of our sponsors are very loyal, they have been with us through the hard times,” chief executive Don Furner said.
“They are very loyal. We’ve always only averaged two or three Channel Nine games a year.
“To get seven and possibly more is a reward for them.
“Moving forward we will get that reward commercially, because your sponsorship strip is worth more. Down the track we will capitalise on that.”
The Raiders were the story of the draw announcement, with their grand final rematch against the Sydney Roosters to be played in Perth in round 11.
The bulk of the Raiders’ free-to-air games will be played on Sunday afternoons, after the club requested to stay away from the freezing Thursday and Friday night home slots.
“I think that augers well for Canberra. I think they would be pretty happy with their draw,” NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
“All I know is Canberra and Ricky Stuart will be hoping they have another year like they did last year.”
Parramatta will open the season against Canterbury on March 12 at Bankwest Stadium, and have a golden start to the year with six games against bottom-eight sides from 2019 in the first two months.
Manly coach Des Hasler will return to Belmore in round 10 with a clash at his former club Canterbury’s suburban ground.
The Bulldogs will later close ANZ Stadium before its redevelopment with a clash against South Sydney.
Allianz Stadium and Cronulla’s Pointsbet Stadium are also out of action for the season, further muddying the process for the NRL after it began planning the draw in January.
“It’s a really complex draw primarily around venue restrictions,” Greenberg said.
“It limits where you can play those games, and add into that broadcaster selections and player workloads.
“Every year you get differences and difficulties, but I am very pleased with where we landed.”
Meanwhile the NRL also lauded a slight reduction in five-day turnarounds for teams from 26 to 25, but well down on the high of 46 they reached in 2015.
Cronulla, Melbourne, Parramatta and South Sydney each have three five-day turnarounds, while Brisbane and the Gold Coast escape with none.
The grand final will return to the SCG on October 4, marking the 54th time it has been played at the venue and the first since 1987.