Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys has revealed that fans being looked after, not total value, will be the key to the next NRL TV deal.

At a press conference where it was announced that CEO Andrew Abdo was standing down from the NRL in mid-July, V'Landys revealed that the aim will now be to have the deal done before Abdo steps down from his role.

"Andrew's contribution will be extraordinary. That's why I'm hoping it will all be done before Andrew leaves," V'Landys said of the TV deal, with Abdo to leave for Tennis Australia.

"As I said, we have presentations tomorrow on broadcast, and that's very exciting because the game is in a great position. I've never seen so much interest in getting our broadcast rights."

Much has been made of the true value of the NRL's next TV rights, with some suggestions that it could be split up across multiple platforms, and the likes of the finals series and State of Origin sold separately.

V'Landys seemed to indicate that it won't be happening, or at the very least, decisions will be made with the fans' best interests in mind.

"As I've said all along, it's not about the money, it's about making sure our fans can afford the subscription. We aren't going to make the cost prohibitive," V'Landy's said. 

"The greatest negotiation isn't how much we get, it's how much is going to be charged back to the fan. Any person, any broadcaster will naturally want to recoup what they want to invest in the broadcast because they aren't there to make a loss, they are there to make a profit.

"The last thing we want to see is that the cost becomes prohibitive, so that's going to be the hardest part of the negotiation."

It's believed the NRL are tracking for an all time record when they put pen to paper on a new deal.

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