I reckon Nine will go hard on a few things this time though, such as main channel Olympics coverage during NRL in Sydney & Brisbane (especially Brisbane 2032) and returning to 9Gem (or at least if could affect prime time or Nine News lead-in) for Storm games in Melbourne.
Also I wonder about Saturdays, if they could try and tap back into that, given ownership changes at Foxtel, though you’d think unlikely as ‘Super Saturday’ seems vital at Fox Sports.
Exactly, surely NRL wouldn’t dismiss Seven because of this. Nine mid-2000s anybody (when they covered both AFL and NRL)? Not to mention other global examples.
AFL would be main channel Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth (the latter 7mate in prime time as usual due to time zone and Seven News except for a big game like a Derby or final). 7mate HD in Sydney and Brisbane.
NRL main channel Sydney and Brisbane. 7mate HD other markets.
Not difficult.
Cost and potential AFL alienation aside, this has major positives for Seven, especially the crucial Sydney market and one they’ve largely struggled in post-MKR and COVID, or you could say after Seven News started dropping there after Ian Ross retired.
But I agree, it’s unlikely vs other scenarios, however perhaps not as unlikely as previous broadcast deals.
Bit off topic but I can’t imagine there won’t be a pause in the season (probably for the AFL too). Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Townsville and Gold Coast would be out of action, nevermind the lack of media attention.
Wonder if this Weidler’s opinion or Nine’s dictated position?
This is a disingenuous position - it makes sense for the game to try and make a competition of the rights, it’s a key driver in achieving some kind of uplift in value.
You might want to add PVL to the list of people bagging Nine - he’s been less than complimentary in the past of the FTA partner.
I think it is more to do with the section prior to your selected quote where he says that Nine are in a position of strength to buy the lot. While Paramount do have both the FTA and subscription assets, the question would be whether they could outbid for the whole lot.
Perth’s NRL ratings are absolutely dire. A Perth team would mean absolutely nothing to 7 given Perth is one of their strongest states. If 7 wants NRL, they want it for the Bris and Syd audiences.
I get what you’re saying but I don’t think Weidler is even accounting for 10. They made a $6b bid for the AFL that ultimately was not accepted but they still bid a fairly large amount.
9 are in the box seat no doubt. But with 9 buying up rights to Olympics, horse racing, rugby and potentially EPL and F1 then they may not have the billions PVL is looking for.
As for DAZN they need a free to air partner. Who knows who would partner with them.
Ratings in Perth without a Perth team aren’t really a relevant comparison. There’s lots of weekends where the Bears would be in clear air, with an away game for one or both of the AFL sides, there’s plenty of opportunities for building something.
They don’t need the AFL to lose to build something sustainable and over time it will boost the national rights value.
As for the deal in general, there’s no way I think it will look like it does now. In a streaming first market for pay TV, it’s all or nothing for Nine. 10 or 7 getting scraps of a deal with Fox or some weird hybrid with overseas streamers, etc.
If Nine and Fox are both involved again, then you are buying two subs to watch all games live, I just can’t see a full simulcast deal existing with streaming dominant.
The AFL prelim in brisbane outrated the NRL one per the CEO of Brisbane. Anyway, let’s not bring code wars into this. But anyone will tell you that AFL ratings are significantly higher than NRL in WA. Likewise, you’re ignoring fox and kayo.
Two of the best-run clubs in the NRL and AFL respectively IMO.
Both the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Swans have done well to remain under the radar in markets dominated by the other sport. Both won their codes’ respective premierships in 2012, beating the minor premiers on their regular home grounds in the Grand Final to do so (Bulldogs and Hawthorn, respectively).
Sure, but the survey is biased toward large markets, ask someone in Melbourne which nrl team they support & they say storm because they probably don’t know any other, same story with the swans in Sydney. It doesn’t mean anything.
I am fairly sure they didn’t make a $6 billion bid. The actual deal done was 2/3 of that, and all the reporting at the time was that Paramount were well below that figure. Unless I am missing something (which is possible)
The sale of Domain frees up some capital. Ultimately they would be relying on a significant increase in subscriptions to Stan, which if the EPL and F1 deals happen is not completely out of the question.