Morrison & his love of rugby league? The power of Nine & Foxtel (News Corp)?
Joking aside, NZ having done very well controlling COVID-19, and with airports empty, the risk right now is probably very low.
The Warriors do not have approval to fly into Australia with the ABF confirming they have received an application but they have not made a decision.
EDIT: Border Force has granted exemption to the NZ Warriors and 36 players and staff will fly from Auckland to Tamworth tomorrow (Sunday) to begin 14 days of self-isolation.
What Dutton’s department now isn’t just going with what NSW Health says?
Sounds like 9 don’t even want the rights. But they’ll have them for 3 years longer if they can pay less. Not sure what’s in it for the NRL. 9 claim it’s added security but really it’s them shafting the NRL.
Don’t worry its just spin to get NRL executives nervous, News Corp. style!
Of course Nine want the rights, they just want to have their cake and eat it too
Late this afternoon, Albury City Council voted 5-4 to ban Melbourne Storm players from training on council facilities.
Why not try the next town up, say Wagga Wagga?
They’ve found another venue instead, unsurprisingly
Nine and fox playing games.
And fox obsession with simulcast deals again. They don’t work and are bad for the sport. Just go away.
How on earth could seven or fox afford any of this is beyond me. It will send them to the wall.
Its the simulcast deals that get Fox subscribers and subsequently the NRL more money.
I don’t buy that they are necessarily bad for the sport - they may be bad for the FTA partner as it potentially limits their viewership of the simulcast games.
It’s not much of a choice for Fox - they need as many major codes they can get their hands on to at least retain a customer base.
Agreed.
I actually prefer simulcast deals - you have a choice between free but ad supported coverage, or you can pay for ad free coverage.
Whilst free to air will naturally get fewer viewers and less revenue, they also pay less to compensate for that.
“There’s a contract in place, a legally binding contract. And even Hugh himself would understand that,” V’landys said.
“So basically, he would have to get out of the contract. There’s a long way to play yet. He’s playing a strategic game and it’s working well for him.
“So I’m not going to criticise it. We’ll keep moving forward with them. I’m still confident we’ll come to a resolution.
“But never-the-less, as a good partner, we’re looking to assist them in these harsh economic times. We don’t want our partner to suffer significant losses.
“Naturally, we’re at the table talking about it.”
The FTA networks have to make a profit and even though they pay less, the reduced ratings will also likely affect their earnings. For FTA it would be in their best interest to get sports exclusively, plus viewers to a certain extent as all are able to access sports whilst simulcast for pay TV means many won’t be able to access as they can’t access pay TV at all.
The obvious argument is that the NRL has not delivered on their part of the contract (no rugby league games to broadcast), so lawyers could try to argue the contract has been breached or is void (depending on the contract’s wording).
I think old Roy has lost the plot. He’s rarely ever got any rights predictions correct.