In the second in this series of pieces on South African sports administrators who have succeeded abroad, Dylan Rogers profiles Andrew Abdo, the Chief Executive of Australia’s National Rugby League.
So, what does a 43-year-old accountant from the Eastern Cape know about rugby league?
Well, I’m assuming a fair amount now, now that he sits at the top of the organisation that runs one of Australia’s most popular sports. That being said, the learning curve must have been steep, with Abdo only arriving in Oz in 2012.
That was after being schooled at Selborne College in East London in the early-1990s – he was Deputy Head Boy in 1994 and was in the same year as Proteas cricket coach Mark Boucher – and obtaining a Business Science qualification from UCT between 1995 and 1998.
By all accounts, Abdo has a range of sporting interests, including running, cycling, surfing and golf, and played social cricket and rugby at Selborne, although “not very well,” he says.
His corporate career started at Deloitte in 1999 and he went on to complete his tertiary qualifications in 2006, when he earned himself a MBA from the University of Pretoria, graduating top of his class, the same year that he completed his first Iron Man – no mean feat.
Along the way, there were Director positions at Learninglab, Atcor and the South African Forestry Company, before Abdo and wife Anna – the sister of South African golfer Ulrich van den Berg – decided to relocate to Australia in 2012. There he was appointed Director of Deloitte Australia in the Private Growth Advisory Practice.
He told the Aussie radio station 2GB that, “we came here on holiday, fell in love with it and then stayed, and this has been home ever since.”
It was soon after that move to Australia that Abdo had his first taste of rugby league, having, obviously, grown up in a country more interested in – and acquainted with – rugby union. A friend took him to watch a Rabbitohs-Bulldogs game in Sydney and he was blown away, despite knowing what he describes as “zero” about the game.
“The speed, strength and skill of the players is unparalleled, but the thing that captivated me the most was the spirit of the game – it is deeply tribal,” he says. “The passion of our fans runs deep. There is such a rich history of rivalry and wonderful stories of overcoming adversity.”
It’s probably fair to say that in that moment Abdo would never have dreamed of running that particular sport in Australia, never mind even taking up a job at the NRL. But that’s exactly what happened in 2013.
Deloitte was tasked with developing a strategy for growing the NRL’s commercial revenues and Abdo saw an opportunity.
“I used my prior experience in corporate finance to apply value creation to a sport by looking at sports globally and the changing dynamics of consumer trends to present a strategy for doubling commercial revenues,” he says.
The NRL liked the strategy, offered him a commercial strategy role, and the rest is history, with the numbers telling a story. In 2012 the NRL’s commercial revenues were $69 million (R722m) and today that number sits at over $210 million (R2.2bn), with total revenues including media rights at $550 million (R5.76bn).
With Abdo successfully heading up the NRL’s commercial department from 2013 to 2020, it’s no wonder he came into the frame when successors were being discussed in the wake of former CEO Todd Greenberg’s departure in April of last year.
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Abdo was appointed Interim CEO and eventually given the full reins last year – in the process being given a ringing endorsement by Peter V’landys, the Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission.
“Andrew will probably be the best CEO the NRL will ever have,” V’landys said. “He’s had the longest job interview ever. Andrew has led the ship through this emergency, he’s been calm and his work ethic has been extraordinary. He’s been thrown in the deep end and was either going to sink or drown. He’s swum the English Channel 50 times and done it in one breath.”
Abdo says he wasn’t expecting to be offered the role, but now finds himself with one of the biggest jobs in Australian sport, at a time – thanks to Covid-19 – of great upheaval and change.
“The world is changing and Covid-19 has acted like an accelerant for change for the sports entertainment industry,” he says. “The sports that adapt to this change the fastest will see an exponential growth curve.”
It’s clear that Abdo’s vision for the NRL is for rugby league to be one of those sports, as he keeps a close eye on his market and its behaviour.
“People’s habits are changing radically,” he says. “We are all streaming way more now. Traditional linear television is declining and on-demand and multi-platform options are essential for fans. More short-form content, more derivative products and more engagement. Fans are following individual players more than teams. Fantasy products and NFTs are a great way to engage younger fans. Sports betting is growing exponentially, and of course we need to create a much more connected and engaging live experience as well. You have to embrace the fragmentation occurring in the media landscape, be part of the disruption, and find ways to stay relevant and provide a great experience for people – whether they are playing or watching.”
With this in mind, Abdo regards getting his league back on the field after its suspension due to Covid-19 as his greatest achievement as CEO. The NRL was one of the first sports to get back to playing and safely completed 180 professional matches without a single infection or stoppage. According to Abdo, that required meticulous planning and the development of excellent bio-security protocols, along with constant innovation.
“We pioneered the ‘fans in the stand’ cardboard cut-out concept and worked with broadcasters to simulate crowd noises for a better fan experience at home,” he says proudly.
Despite this, Covid-19 has had a devastating financial impact on rugby league in Australia.
“In 2020 we were forced to renegotiate all our broadcast and commercial contracts due to the suspension of matches,” says Abdo. “We were losing $13 million (R136m) a week. We had to find a way to re-organise, stem the bleeding and find a way through it, before we depleted all our financial reserves.”
This year, with the high infection rate in New South Wales and Victoria, the NRL relocated 13 of its 16 clubs to Queensland. That involved 1,500 players and families being transported into five ‘hotel hubs’ that the NRL converted into self-sustaining high-performance centres.
“It has been an expensive exercise,” says Abdo. “Last year we restructured our business and were able to reduce our cost base by about 25% or $50 million (R524m) per annum. We are leaner and more adaptable, but it has been a challenging and tough transformation.”
Despite all of this “learning at the coalface”, Abdo believes he’s still not qualified to answer my question on what the key to successful sports administration is. But, he will say this.
“Leading any business, you have to have a clear vision that people believe in, you have to communicate it well, and mostly you have to get everyone aligned to simple plans that will make that vision a reality,” he says. “No BS, no political speeches or death by Powerpoint. Clear, simple actions that lead to tangible outcomes. It’s simple, we should be judged on two things – are we getting more people playing our sport (grassroots participation) and are we getting more people watching and consuming our sport (sports entertainment business)?”
So, what does the road ahead for Abdo and the NRL look like?
“We want to be the first sport in the world that has all players and officials fully vaccinated,” he says. “That is going to be a great challenge for us, but one worth fighting for.”
Dylan Rogers