Having exclusive NRL coverage on Saturdays is highly valued by Fox - something they’ve tried to establish in their AFL and cricket coverage.
Fox went mental when the NRL sold the Saturday 7.30pm game to 9 in the initial 2015 deal. Which was later reversed when Fox bought the rights back from 9 - apart from the final 5 rounds, which we still have today.
And in their new world of SCA control, it would be very un SCA like for mega cash to be splashed.
I do wonder if there are cost savings though if they use the same commentators across triple M radio and 7’s broadcast.
In an extended interview by James Manning for Mumbrella, Seven’s director of sport Chris Jones explained his network’s interest in the upcoming rights deal.
When pushed about Seven’s interest in domestic NRL rights, Jones chooses his words carefully. Speculation is that Seven would love a piece of the NRL, particularly the three-game State of Origin series, or maybe Monday nights if they return.
"We’re absolutely thrilled with our AFL rights and the partnership that we have with the AFL is incredible. Of course, as different rights come up, in particular tier one sport rights, we have a look at them and see if there is any space to play within those.
"The NRL is doing a fantastic job at the moment with their sport, and that’s why we’ve invested in the Rugby League World Cup and look forward to staying close with Andrew Abdo [NRL CEO] and Peter V’landys [ARL chair] throughout the year as we build up to the Rugby League World Cup.”
The only problem with Seven chasing Saturdays, would be Foxtel’s long held strangle on those timeslots and their ‘Super Saturday’ exclusivity, especially given how hard they recently went with the same for Fox Footy’s new deal for the first time.
Didn’t Seven negotiate to reduce their CA contract? Warburton and Martin wanted it terminated and they had that bitter public court battle a few years back, as the one signed in 2018 was said to be too high/not worth it (including issues with quality, Big Bash).
Yeah they got the new cricket contract for less than what they paid in 2018. BUT I think there was a clause which said if performance metrics were met then the money 7 give would increase
I don’t think anyone ever considered them to have any interest
Mildly surprised they didn’t want SoO as a standalone thing but other than that, they were a non-event
Yeah if they’d shown interest in making Origin a worldwide property or perhaps pitched to own a strand like SNF it may have worked but otherwise was always unlikely.