As already posted earlier in this thread, the NRL has not been wasting money. In fact, it is widely accepted that clubs absolutely held the NRL to ransom and DEMANDED exorbitant cuts of the pie when the last TV deal was struck.
People are completely understanding the chokehold that Fox and 9 have had since super league. The product has been massively undersold, Fox continues to lowball and strangle expansion into digital fields.
And as you stated, this is exactly the end game. The next TV deal will be pennies. You are exactly right. Why is it pennies now? Because Fox and 9 orchestrated ANOTHER attack on the game. They could not stand that TG would not bow down to them, they could not stand the establishment and significant growth in digital sectors of the game. They wanted another yes man. Enter PVL.
TLDR: Fox & 9 angry, smear campaign on Todd, strike another lowball TV deal, NRL is fucked.