Highly unlikely that seven will invest much time effort or thought into the coverage of this. This is barely the comm games people know. It’s some sort of bizarre sports carnival with a few events over in Glasgow. Not sure it will get the traction they think it will. The limitations of the sports they’re showing and the ones they chose not to include is a scar on this once good event for Australians.
2 Likes
They could try someone from 7AFL, James Brayshaw or Brian Taylor for example? Maybe it’ll end up being Hamish McLachlan that calls rather than hosts?
Al Nicholson is good and moguls at Beijing 2022 suited him, but not sure he’d be the same with swimming, which I think requires a less joyful and lighter commentator and a more serious, analytical type (which yes possibly also rules out JB and BT). Also not trying to say Nicholson can’t be, but his moguls call of Jakara Anthony was more high energy and fun IMO.
Wouldn’t work given there is an overlap with the final 3 days of Swimming, and the first 3 days of Athletics, unless they have someone else cover one of those events for those 3 days.
I doubt either are in an exclusive arrangement with Nine - more likely freelancers or contractors who Nine use when needed.
I’d say there is a fair chance that Nicole Livingstone could also be involved - Grant Hackett and Jon Harker could also be other options given they were apart of Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Australian Swimming Trials when Amazon had those rights.
2 Likes
Athletics and swimming will rate well. Aussies love those events and we do well with medals at the Comm Games. We love winning.
2 Likes
The action is between 5.30pm and 7am and there are only two presenting shifts?
C’mon, surely there’s room for a third.
1 Like
Are they going to pull their key AFL commentators away mid-season though?
1 Like
I wouldn’t be so sure, at least some sort of ‘non-compete’ clause, as I can’t imagine Nine would allow or want them appearing on Seven for example while they’ve got Olympics and other complementary rights and until at least Brisbane 2032.
Nine have also had them appearing as guests at their other events such as the Melbourne Cup carnival and the Australian Open.
1 Like
How about Jack Heverin or potentially Jason Bennett?
He has called tennis before (during the final years that Seven had the Australian Open), so I can’t see why Seven couldn’t utilise him for the Comm Games. Swimming, potentially?
2 Likes
Gina Rinehart’s continued generosity towards Australia’s golden generation of swimmers may have spared the Seven Network a major broadcasting headache ahead of this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Australia’s richest person, Rinehart is worth an estimated $38 billion, according to the AFR’s 2025 Rich List. She has told members of the Dolphins squad she will again offer cash bonuses for medals won and world records broken in the pool at the Commonwealth Games.
2 Likes
I think it is a Smart sell from Seven. Lead on the “Where legends are born” given the weaker fields and status that the Comm Games now has vs the glory days. Not overselling it. Probably the way to go. Loses a little bit cos we know Gout Gout won’t be there for example.
6 Likes
I don’t care at all about this event. We should be taking part in the Asian Games with tougher competition for our athletes
1 Like
Golden opportunity: the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games are open for business
With just over 100 days to go to the opening ceremony of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, the Seven Network has already joined forces with multiple major broadcast partners.
Seven is the official Australian media partner for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, which run from 23 July to 2 August and will be one of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar this year.
The agreement with Commonwealth Sport covers broadcast, digital, connected TV, radio, social media and subscription TV rights, ensuring live and free coverage across Seven and 7plus Sport for all Australians together with coverage and updates on Southern Cross Austereo’s (SCA) Triple M network.
Glasgow 2026 will bring together 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories – representing more than 2.5 billion people, or one-third of the world’s population – across 10 days and 133 sessions of sport, with 215 gold medals on offer across 10 sports and six Para sports.
Seven will broadcast Glasgow 2026 in prime time from 7.00pm each night, with live coverage running through to 7.30am across all 10 days of competition. Seven’s coverage is projected to reach more than 12 million Australians.
The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on Seven will span about 150 hours of linear broadcast coverage and 7plus Sport will house more than 800 hours of produced content, including more than 600 hours of live sport across up to nine concurrent feeds. There will also be up to seven FAST channels on 7plus Sport and a 24-hour Glasgow 2026 channel.
The coverage will be supported throughout the day by extensive editorial via Sunrise, 7NEWS, 7NEWS.com.au and The Nightly.
The Triple M Network will run live audio simulcast of the Seven broadcast overnight, ensuring Australians can follow the content and stay connected with the Games. Complementing this will be hourly updates from 6.00am to 7.00pm on Triple M, with recaps of all the action and previews of the evening ahead in breakfast shows nationally.
The breadth of Seven and Triple M’s coverage of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games offers brands a limitless range of ways to connect with Australian audiences across broadcast, digital, audio and social, at every investment level.
With the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Seven commanded a 49–50% share of broadcast audiences, a 60% share of live streaming, and reached 2.1 million people on 7plus Sport, with on-demand viewing accounting for 31% of total digital viewing minutes.
Seven’s Head of Commonwealth Games, Anna Stone, said: “Aussies love watching Aussies win and Glasgow 2026 will be no different. Live sport has never been more valuable for Australians and for brands, delivering attention, emotion and scale.
“The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games are an accessible, authentic and values driven sporting event. The Commonwealth Games are the only Games of their size to fully integrate Para sport – a celebration of difference and achievement.
“The Australian team will be stacked with generational stars. Swimmers Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan will produce watershed moments, Para Swimmer Col Pearse is set for a breakout games, Nicola Olyslagers and Nina Kennedy will soar in their field events, Liz Watson and her Diamonds will sparkle in netball, and we’re all looking forward to the blistering speed of Lachie Kennedy and Torrie Lewis,” she said.
Glasgow 2026 comes at a time of significant sports audience momentum at Seven, including 7plus Sport streaming up 90% year-on-year among under 40s, and total TV audience growth on Seven and 7plus Sport across Test Cricket (up 12%), the Big Bash League (up 9%), LIV Golf Adelaide (up 30%), the 2025 AFL Grand Final (up 3%) and the Supercars Championship Bathurst 1000 (up 31%).
Southern Cross Austereo Chief Commercial Officer, Seb Rennie, said: “Glasgow 2026 is a unique opportunity for Australian brands. Through a single conversation with Seven and SCA, brands can connect with Australians across broadcast, 7plus Sport, audio and our full digital and social ecosystem, engaging with all generations in brand-safe environments at real scale.
“Over 10 consecutive nights, Seven will deliver an average prime time audience of more than 1 million people. From tactical reach to bespoke brand storytelling, the Commonwealth Games will deliver scale, context and cultural relevance.
“At Seven and SCA, we work with brands to show up in meaningful and authentic ways across major sporting events. Our goal is to make brands a natural part of the story. When creative sits in context, performance follows: greater relevance, stronger engagement and a more memorable brand message,” he said. “For brands, major events on Seven also mean less clutter and greater cut-through, with fewer breaks per hour and less
commercial content than general programming.”Seven’s National Sport Sales Director, Rob Maclean, said: “Australians will be able to engage with the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games across broadcast, audio, extensive live and on-demand content on 7plus, 7SPORT social platforms and the Triple M network.
“With 215 gold medals on offer across more than 50 medal sessions in just 10 days, the Games will generate multiple high-impact, emotionally charged moments every day. Brands can be part of Glasgow 2026 across the full ecosystem – broadcast, BVOD, audio, digital, news and social – with entry points designed for every objective and budget.”
The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will lead into Seven’s packed second half of 2026, which includes the AFL Finals Series, the Rugby League World Cup, Test Cricket against Bangladesh and New Zealand, the World Athletics U20 Championships, the return of the Big Bash League and the Supercars Championship Bathurst 1000.
Seven is also the official Australian media partner for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, for which the host selection process conducted by Commonwealth Sport is currently in progress.
1 Like
Note they did not necessarily indicate whether 7mate would be involved (apart from the obvious timezone usages).
Time to consider the effectiveness of visual references in a medium you can’t see.
1 Like
100 days to go until Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
Live, free and exclusive on Seven and 7plus Sport from Friday, 24 July
The Seven Network is set to welcome Australia’s biggest sporting stars back to its screens, today officially marking 100 days to go until the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, live, free and exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sport from Friday, 24 July, to Monday, 3 August.
The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will bring together over 3,000 athletes from 74 nations, with the largest-ever integrated para-sport program, featuring a streamlined 10-sport program.
Glasgow 2026 will feature 10-days of jam-packed action, consisting of athletics and Para athletics (track and field), swimming and Para swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and Para track cycling, netball, weightlifting and Para powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and Para bowls, and 3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball.
More than 200 gold medals will be up for grabs across the 10 days of sporting competition including the biggest track cycling and swim programs ever seen at a Commonwealth Games, with 26 medal events in the velodrome and 56 medal events in the pool.
Legendary sports commentator, Bruce McAvaney, said: “The Commonwealth Games remains one of the premier events on the sport calendar and we are in for a golden campaign in Glasgow. Whether it’s in the pool, on the athletics track, or the magic our Diamonds bring on the netball court, we know we perform well on the world stage, and this year will be no different.
“If the Australian Athletics Championships this weekend past is anything to go by, we are in for a special event.
“For Lachlan Kennedy, to do what he did twice is extraordinary. When he ran 9.96 on the Saturday night in the final, conditions weren’t great for sprinting, so that was absolutely world class. Jess Hull was the whole story of the weekend, with the fall, and then not being fit enough to run, to then come back and win the 5000 metres. What a performance. We’re only just getting to know 19-year-old Cam Myers, how brilliant was he in the 1,500 metres?,” he said.
“As commentators, we are in such a privileged position. We are so lucky to be there as our Australian athletes break world records and add to our medal tally. We cannot wait to share those historic moments with Australian viewers 100 days from now, live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport.”
To mark the milestone, 7plus has today unveiled the first episode of The Pursuit of Unstoppable, a six-part Green2Gold2Great documentary series with Commonwealth Games Australia and AAMI. A fly-on-the-wall experience that goes beyond medals and moments, the series reveals the people, personalities and passion driving the green and gold campaign, offering a candid look at the ambition, grit and innovation shaping Australian athletes and the teams around them.
Featuring athletics, basketball 3x3, cycling, netball, para swimming and triathlon, each episode will take viewers inside the training environments and high-performance programs of Australian sport. Led by athletes and offering rare access, the series explores what it takes to succeed at the highest level – from cutting-edge equipment and data insights to sports psychology, Para sport classification, youth pathways and the pressures of preparation, with the launch coinciding with the release of the cycling episode, the first instalment in a rolling release ahead of Glasgow 2026.
Seven’s all-star commentary team for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will be announced in the coming months.
Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
Live and free from Friday, 24 July, on Seven and 7plus Sport
3 Likes
Nobody will be watching. This will be the lowest-rated sporting event. Didn’t even knew it was on
1 Like
It’s three months away. That gives you enough time to prepare yourself. 
2 Likes
