Rugby league's summer from hell had the potential to cost the game hundreds of millions of dollars in lost broadcast revenue, according to NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.
The claim was made in Greenberg's affidavit tendered to the Federal Court during St George Illawarra forward Jack de Belin's fight against the NRL and ARL Commission to be reinstated.
De Belin was sidelined under the game's "no fault" stand down policy after he was charged with aggravated sexual assault.
He has pleaded not guilty.
His arrest in December was one of the most high-profile incidents during the game's tumultuous summer marred by a string of negative headlines.
Justice Melissa Perry is expected to hand down her judgment in the next fortnight with de Belin's career hanging in the balance.
During the four-day hearing this week, Greenberg and the NRL argued they had to introduce the policy, which allows them to stand down any player charged with a serious crime, because the game's sponsors and broadcast revenue were at risk.
He said that television broadcast rights holders Fox Sports and Channel Nine both expressed to him concern about the wave of bad publicity.
The game's $1.8 billion five-year broadcast deal expires in 2022 and Greenberg said unless they acted, the value of the next broadcast contract could take a significant hit.
"A downturn in ratings will ultimately lead to the lowering of the value of the broadcast rights, which given the length of broadcast contracts has the potential to cause losses to the NRL in the hundreds of millions of dollars," Greenberg said.
In his affidavit NRL chief commercial officer Andrew Abdo said that clubs had lost four sponsorships totalling $2.6 million and the game had lost $7.5 million in grassroots sponsorship as a direct result of negative press.
Greenberg also justified standing down de Belin by saying he had feared that he would be booed and that fans would hold up banners attacking him.
During the case it was revealed that Greenberg penned a statement which he presented to the NSW State of Origin forward in the hope that it would convince him to stand down of his own accord.
"Rugby league is my life ... it always has been," the statement said.
"So it has been incredibly painful for me to see the impact of my current court proceedings on the game I love.
"For that reason I have decided to stand down from playing with the Dragons to concentrate on clearing my name.
"I am innocent of the charges brought against me and I will fight them vigorously.
"I had hoped do that while continuing to play for the Dragons.
"But I am not prepared to allow my situation to overshadow the start of the 2019 season."
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