I think it’s only a matter of time before the NRL splits SOO from the broadcast deal which will undoubtedly up the price.
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We know Seven were keen (on SOO), tabloids kept reporting (former heads) James Warburton and Lewis Martin regularly met V’landys and Abdo at dinners…
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7 and Fox partnership as with the AFL rights will be a reverse of the 2000s. Nine has Olympics, Melbourne Cup and Rugby and SWM having the AFL/NRL
With Kerry Stokes owning the West and Perth not having a Nine Newspapers masthead, I wouldn’t be surprised if 7 gets the FTA NRL rights with a Perth-based NRL team on the horizon.
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But are they going to be willing to a deal that excludes Stan if it comes to that?
Whether the money is there or not will be something to watch - all three commercial FTA networks are in difficult positions at the moment that may impact their ability to launch a big attempt at securing rights. If I was at the NRL, I’d be trying to get more money and quite possibly greater FTA coverage, Saturday coverage should be a must and perhaps replicating some of the AFL’s arrangement to allow for greater breakaway coverage in each state.
Taking exclusivity away from FTA over Origin and the Grand Final might get a bump in subscription rights.
PVL met with Warburton earlier this season
7 cannot possibly afford NRL after AFL deal.
9 in the box seat. Going to really have to open the cheque book to go it alone with Stan.
With expansion. You can see a 9/Stan/Fox deal. Half the amount of games. Fox with the other half. No more Fox simulcasts.
9 Thursday/Friday.
Fox Super Saturday
Stan exclusive Sunday.
Just means 2 subscriptions.
Really is a poor time to go to tender with a big question mark about 10 currently
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Does Foxtel keep Fox League as a seperate channel for 3-4 games a week? They shut down the original Fox Footy Channel with the excuse that it didn’t make sense to run a channel for 3 games a week (of course they were running 5 of them to keep alternative games to the local FTA games).
V’landys wouldn’t want the product on Seven because he would have to share his product with AFL in promotions and air time in Seven programs
He already had a fit because Nine was promoting Super Rugby a few years ago and not his product.
The problem would be, extra games a week increase broadcaster costs in production of games, many of which will be low rating blowouts because there’s just not the talent in the Rugby League pipeline to fill 3 new teams in the space of a few years.
I’m sure all the PNG home games will be a big sticking point - will Government cash cover the extra costs associated with trying to deliver a broadcast grade product from PNG? Super Rugby do okay in Fiji with the Drua, but the security and poverty situation in PNG is certainly worse than Fiji which has a huge tourism economy that pushes it to be a very safe and enticing destination.
There’s “more” content - but do the broadcasters want it? Will NRL drive subscriptions in Perth if they get a team? Will you get expat Kiwis signing up in droves to support an upstart second NRL team over there which didn’t exist when they lived there?
The expansion markets are tough work, not free money for the NRL - other than what the Government tosses at them for soft power reasons.
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Doubt Nine would put Sunday exclusive on Stan since it gives a good lead into their 6pm bulletin, and onflow into primetime programming.
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What’s more important. Lead into news on a dying FTA platform or thousands of new subscribers??
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Given how much money Nine pumps into it’s evening shows, probably trying to support it’s FTA platform, given sport and news still rate.
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You not getting my point and the loophole that now exists for all to see.
Both 9 and 7 have previously stated, that if they do not get streaming rights for any future sporting rights rounds, they will not bother putting in a bid for the concurrent FTA rights. Therefore, what is to say a big tech streamer were to buy streaming rights that would cover both the cost of streaming and forfeited FTA rights that will result in no FTA coverage period? The loophole that exists could see this happening. Or this could see FOXTEL shutting down it’s satellite broadcast service and becoming a pure streaming service through KAYO only and be able to grab all the streaming rights including the live GF and therefore bypass FTA and not have to deal with any of them? That is what the loophole will allow.
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Worth noting that the changes to Gambling advertising could have an impact on what networks can afford.
Such restrictions also threaten the high prices currently paid for sporting broadcasting rights, which are bought with the understanding that the costs can be offset with lucrative gambling advertising dollars.
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Agreed, prices are already unsustainable, when you add on the revenue loses from that, more cuts will have to be made in other areas to maintain rights.
‘Too early to say’: Nine’s CEO on future bid for NRL broadcast rights https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/too-early-to-say-nines-ceo-on-future-bid-for-nrl-broadcast-rights/video/5c2e750b6086426f4f85c45cd1f002d9
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7 could partner with Fox if 9 withdrawals to focus on Olympics, Tennis and Rugby Union.
7 Perth has an opportunity to promote the new Western Bears franchise
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So Sneesby says it’s too early to know if they’ll continue to partner with Fox for its bid or try and get the rights through Nine/Stan partnership.
They may even own Foxtel or some of its properties by then, so it makes complete sense for him to say that.
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