Peter V'landys has promised club bosses a 17th NRL team will only be added if it does not hurt current franchises or "cannibalise" Brisbane and Gold Coast.
V'landys on Friday confirmed the game had avoided a financial catastrophe, revealing a lower-than-expected loss of $24.7 million for its last financial year.
That came despite a drop in revenue of more than $130 million, with significantly reduced crowds due to COVID-19 and increases in payments to struggling clubs.
The NRL's figures also do not include the money-spinning State of Origin series as the matches were not played during the NRL's November-to-October financial year.
Had the revenue from the three-game series been included in the numbers, the NRL would have posted a deficit of just $3.7 million.
Cost cutting largely saved the game, with a 32 per cent drop in expenditure, equating to around $50 million, including a savage 25 per cent loss of staff as well as a reduction in wages and axing events.
Those results will not have a direct impact on expansion but the way the game has handled the pandemic means it retains the option to consider a 17th team.
That now appears a three-horse race between the Ipswich-backed Brisbane Jets, Redcliffe and the Brisbane Firehawks.
V'landys told wary club bosses at Friday's annual general meeting the extra team in Brisbane for 2023 was still not guaranteed, and was dependent on the business case study.
"The 17th team didn't really depend on this result but it certainly helps," V'landys, who was re-elected as ARL Commission chairman on Friday, told AAP.
"But what I stressed at the meeting today is the business case has to stack up for the 17th team. It's not a fait accompli.
"It's got to not cannibalise the Broncos or the Titans, and it's got to bring a positive return to the game otherwise we won't do it.
"Do we have a 17th team, what does it bring to the game and what does it bring to the other 16 clubs? If it stacks up we'll go ahead and if it doesn't we won't.
"We'll certainly be consulting all of our 16 clubs before we do it."
V'landys added he expected the inclusion of two Origin series in the next financial year meant the game was far better placed for 2022.
The positive figures come after V'landys warned last March of potential catastrophic losses for the code caused by the pandemic.
"We increased net payments for clubs by 300 per cent to ensure they all stayed viable and have funds for the future," V'landys said on Friday.
"This is in stark contrast to other sports, which either reduced funding to their clubs or maintained the same level of funding in their clubs' time of need given the disastrous impact of COVID-19 on their other sources of revenue."
Australian Associated Press
