After more than three years of speculation, hand-wringing and boardroom wranglings, the long-awaited Australian Rugby League Commission will finally see the light of day today.
New chairman, Queenslander John Grant, a member of the 1972 Kangaroos World Cup team, will launch the commission at the code's new Moore Park headquarters on a historic day for rugby league in Australia.
NRL chief executive David Gallop will continue in a similar role alongside Grant, with seven other commission members made up of heavyweights from the world of business, education and advertising.
The new commission will see the dissolution of the current ARL and officially mark the end of News Limited's involvement in the running of the game.
The ARL will hold its final meeting at 8.30 this morning to officially dissolve the body.
The new commission will be unveiled at a media conference fronted by Grant at 11.30am, just under three weeks before the start of the 2012 NRL season.
It will take control of the game at a critical time, with television, internet and sponsorship deals all expiring at the end of the season.
Gary Pemberton, the man widely credited with securing record broadcasting rights for the Sydney Olympics, is on the new board and is likely to be entrusted with securing a lucrative new TV deal.
However, that task will be severely tested in the wake of last week's High Court decision to allow Optus to show delayed AFL highlights on its handsets, which is in direct competition to Telstra's exclusive contract worth $153million over five years.
The NRL is looking for a similar deal and there are now concerns it could be sold short again.
The end of the ARL will not affect the NSWRL and QRL, who will continue to oversee representative sides in each state.
The Country Rugby League will merge with the NSWRL.
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