ARL commission chairman Peter V'landys said on Friday the NRL would decide over the next two months if a side playing out of WA could be the game's 19th team for the start of the next broadcast deal.
The NRL has already agreed to admit a Papua New Guinea club into the competition from 2028, the year after the game's current TV contract with Foxtel and the Nine Network expires.
V'landys told reporters in Sydney after the NRL's 2024 AGM that he was seeking to procure "record returns" as the game kicks off talks over its next TV rights deal.
But the ARL chair said he wouldn't be relying on a team from Perth to make that happen.
"We're going to make a decision over the next two months for the next broadcast cycle," V'landys said.
"We will have either 18 or 19 teams, we will finalise that sooner or later and we're very confident that we're going to procure record (broadcast) returns.
"We downed our tools on Perth a few weeks ago.
"We gave a commitment to the government of Western Australia, we will put our tools down and respect that there's a (state) election (on March 8).
"It's unfortunate it has been made an election issue in Perth, but when any reasonable person looks at the proposal, they will see the biggest beneficiary is Western Australia."
V'landys' confidence in claiming a Perth-based NRL side was not a necessity is backed by the strong financial results tabled at Friday's meeting.
Boasting record revenue and crowds, the NRL says rugby league is now the most popular sport in Australia and the Pacific.
The NRL also claims to have surpassed the AFL as the most-watched sport in Australia.
The governing body revealed a $62.3million surplus on a revenue of $744.9million in its annual report after purchasing two new hotels - one in Brisbane, the other in Port Macquarie - over the past 12 months.
But V'landys and Abdo were keen to stress that they wouldn't divvy up the game's broadcast rights in a variety of packages just to improve the sport's bottom line.
"We have to look at all formats," he said.
"The jewel in our crown is State of Origin.
"There are other channels (that would want it) and ideally we'd like it all in one (place) but you look at the NFL and how they do it.
"There's one important point which I need to make with the broadcast, which a lot of sports don't consider, and that's the price point.
"We don't want to make it unaffordable for our fans.
"We want to make sure whatever deal we do that it's affordable for the fan to buy a subscription, because it's a waste of time if you get all this money and your fans can't watch your game."
V'landys said the game's expansion to PNG - the most populous country in the Pacific region outside of Australia - would also give the NRL extra clout in selling its broadcast rights.
"There's a complete new market there. The PM's XIII match that was streamed over there had over a million people watching it, which is more than what we get in Australia," he said.
"That's potentially a big market for us.
"I don't think people are realising the (financial) potential of the Papua New Guinea deal."
THE NRL'S 2024 SEASON BY THE NUMBERS
*Attendances - total: 4.79million - up 3.8 per cent
*TV viewership - total: 200.5million - up 8.6 per cent
*Participation - total: 1.03million - up 20.6 per cent
*Asset value - total: $322.4million - up 24 per cent
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