I assume that Shute Shield and Hospital Challenge Cup will be shown on 9Gem in NSW and QLD respectively, so as not to clash with Nine’s NRL coverage on the main channel?
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The way it should be. Happy with the outcome and the growth of Rugby in Australia.
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V8’s are excluded from streaming on 7/Fox new deal
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The Shute Shield is played on Saturday afternoon, so I don’t think it will clash with any NRL games on Nine.
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Another dud deal.
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Bathurst won’t be able to stream on 7Plus like cricket and AFL next year.
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This is great as a new way to get rights. I was saying this for years with 10 using All Access to monetise exclusive rights. Good on Nine for doing this. Hugh Marks is a good operator and diversifies Stan which already heavily reliant on external output deals.
There should be some good niche rights up for grabs next year so Stan Sport can expand.
Rugby will be happy to have a deal that is exclusive and new as a selling point.
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Stan has a spare 100 million? Or going into debt I wonder.
I just hope they’re not going to reduce their spending on non sport programming.
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citation required
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Stan is 9, not a separate company.
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Good to see Nine and Stan get Rugby Union.
For Nine, glad that they’ll show Saturday night games of the Super Rugby competition. Even if it will be on the multis (Go or Gem). All the finals live is even better.
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Congratulations to the Nine network gaining the rights to the Rugby Union. The good thing is that CHannel Nine is using their streaming platform, Stan to beam matches live. Fox Sports had a great run of televising the Rugby Union after 25 years.
I think the Super Rugby will be shown on a multichannel (9Go/9Gem) - It may clash with Suncorp Super Netball. I suspect the Wallabies matches, especially the Bledisloe Cup will be on the primary channel in HD.
A new era, a new Rugby Union, a new game.
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Do you suspect it because it’s been explicitly said by Nine they’ll do that?
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Seven and Fox will have streaming rights under the new Supercars agreement
While the NSW & QLD competitions may clash with Super Netball, those games will probably air on 9Gem/9Go
I think they’ll give it a go on the main channel first up to see what the ratings are like. Saturdays aren’t a big ratings night so I think they’ll take the risk
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It’s a landmark day in sports media rights here in Australia with Rugby Australia embracing modern technology. Streaming is taking over broadcasting all over the world.
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Nine must’ve been reading our forum 
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So main comment for me on the substance of the deal - Nine really need to consider ensuring that the 1 FTA game per round is the local team, similar to how the AFL treats the Sydney/Brisbane teams.
The main followers of Union are the ones that are going to subscribe - because they’ll want to watch the whole competition - there’s plenty of content for them that can create the value for Nine.
But the only way this deal makes sense is that if it can grow Rugby Union - and that means the local people following their local team - boosting awareness of them in the market and then creating the demand, so they eventually start following the whole tournament and they convert the sub.
The current A-League deal means someone sees their team on TV at best once a month, maybe only a few times a season. This is as good as not being on FTA at all, that you need to pay to follow your team - something a casual fan just won’t do.
If there’s just the one match of the round, and it’s just seeing the Reds/Waratahs over and over, they might get the core rugby audience - but that’s a dying audience. For this gamble to pay off for Nine/Stan this needs to grow the competition, not just monetise the niche.
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Today was a great day for Channel Nine with the network securing Rugby Union. The good news is that many people are heading into streaming. Thankfully fans don’t have to put up with Foxtel. As well, fans will watch Super Rugby Live and Free on the channels of Nine for the first time. This was a one step up from the existing broadcast deal. 10Bold showed a replay of last night Super Rugby match.
According to the Media release, it didn’t mention having matches streamed via 9Now. Will there be rugby union matches beamed through 9Now?
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