Andrew Abdo has resigned as CEO of the NRL so he can take up a position with Tennis Australia.
The administrator was hired on an interim basis in April 2020 and got the job permanently in September that year.
Abdo’s time at the helm has been a success as the NRL stole a march on the AFL with initiatives like the season-opening matches in Las Vegas.
The code has also raked in a fortune through its TV broadcast deals and expanded to bring two new clubs into the competition: the Perth Bears from next season, and the Papua New Guinea Chiefs from 2028.
Abdo’s role with Tennis Australia has not been formally revealed but his move comes after the organisation’s prior CEO, Craig Tiley, announced his resignation in February.
Tiley will take up the role of CEO of the United States Tennis Association.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo (pictured) is resigning from his role to take up a position with Tennis Australia after six successful years in footy
Abdo (pictured with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys) had a baptism of fire when he took the top job in April 2020 as the game reeled from the effects of the Covid pandemic
V’landys (pictured left with Ricky Ponting, centre, and Abdo) described the outgoing CEO as ‘one of the best commercial brains in Australian sport’
Abdo’s move – which has come as a shock to footy fans as it wasn’t rumoured prior to the news breaking on Monday – is a huge loss to the NRL as it negotiates its next broadcast deal.
The current agreement governing the code’s broadcast rights expires at the end of the 2027 season.
In February, the Australian Rugby League Commission’s annual report showed that the NRL enjoyed record growth during the 2025 season.
The game attracted 224.2 cumulative viewers, a 64 per cent jump on the figure achieved in 2019.
Almost five million people attended games last year, and Abdo’s time in the job also saw the NRLW grow to eclipse the AFLW as Australia’s leading first-grade women’s footy competition.
The South Africa-born 49-year-old began his time as interim NRL CEO as the code was reeling from the effects of the Covid pandemic in April 2020.
His predecessor Greenberg stepped down as the game scrambled to keep the season alive, with the fixture shortened by four rounds and matches suspended after round two.
At the time, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys described the NRL CEO position as ‘one of the most challenging and difficult roles in Australian sport, with a diversity of passionate shareholders’.
‘Andrew has one of the best commercial brains in Australian sport,’ V’landys said when Abdo nailed down the CEO role on a permanent basis in September 2020.
‘The Commission could not be happier with his work ethic and the way he has led the game through the pandemic.
‘There’s no better person to take rugby league in a new innovative direction.’
Abdo’s resignation also means he will not be involved in the NRL’s negotiations to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the Rugby League Players’ Association.
More to come…
