What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

2023-2028 next tv deal discussion

Messages
15,595
Ever thought the NRL is feeling some responsibility to its clubs players, members and fans.Ensuring the code has financial certainty on which to plan ahead.Now V'Landys is pushing ahead for a 2nd Brisbane side.There is talk of the AFL extending their ch7 deal for another 2 years, something to do with financial certainty.And looking at cuts in their deals.

You should listen to people who deal with major financial issues within this
country.Business people, media business pundits,Govt advisers, the RBA, the WTO, the continuing frightening list of companies shutting down, cutting back ,people out of work who will never get a decent paying job back, the economic issues with China our major trading partner, the media print radio and television all struggling, automobile sales horrendous, charitable organisations being swamped for assistance.
Had Janine Perret on ABC TV Friday night, a well respected financial commentator for many years in the media.
She stated to the effect _don't think once this pandemic is over all the skies will be blue.Because after the late 20th Century recession and the GFC 2008 ,it took quite a number of years to get back to any normality, and this situation is far, far worse.The employment situation is far far worse than then.China then recovered quickly, and they have not taken the hit that exists now.
Federal Govt has a $50bn debt already,Sate Govt has cancelled the ANZ rebuild.

Yet you sit back and believe nah, this situation is no worse than what transpired before, and a code which has no assets, has commitments to management ,480 players and their staff and hundreds of thousands of their fans, can just wait until the skies may clear (whenever) and play hard ball with broadcasters that are already on the a*se of their pants.Let's keep everyone guessing so we cannot commit to expansion for example to Brisbane, and keep players uncertain of their financial future after 2022.

Fox got a long term deal, we got $1bn over 5 years.It sure as hell wasn't going to be more, if we waited til end 2021when deals had to be made latest.Even ch9 by not extending have ,stated they are concerned about the future in 2023.

Seriously you carry on ,like you're living in a bubble on Heard Island with a flock of Emperor Penguins.No world news, no Oz news available.

BTW 9 had legal advice also ,they had the grounds to re negotiate the contract.You understand legal costs or do you like the ARU story where Folau cost them a huge sum for legal fees.Also 7 had no interest in the NRL, as earlier indicated, with their intention to extend the AFL deal.There was SFA competitive tensions ,because the competitors were uncompetitive.
Mate anyone with an IQ above that of a house plant understands .
Sadly there's some on here who are clueless to the reality of the world today compared to six months ago .
 

tri_colours

Juniors
Messages
1,812
Thanks for posting


f**k off your buying the product which is the games being played. When I buy my car I don’t tell bMw how they should run their business, who they should employ or how they should spend their revenue. I’m not buying the designers, the guys in the factory that make the car or the salesmen who sell me it, I’m buying the product. This over inflated opinion of the role Ch9 and fox have in the game is at the heart of what is wrong with the administration of our great game.



and there you have it from the horses mouth. Another nrl ceo sacked at the behest of media because he wouldn’t give them the deal they wanted. Greenberg wanted to hold them to the contract, Vlandys gifted them $119mill. No wonder the media love him!



wtf this does even mean?

That Marcks is a smug bastard

Surely one of the other FTA channels will outbid this Twat. the 3 best club games each week, the finals matches (already owns the steaming for these), exclusive rights to the GF and Origin, tests and a new Brisbane team coming to boost his ratings even further. This Moron doesn't know when he's on a good thing. The guys a joke - a very sick one!...;.Please f**k of 9 or get rid of marcks
 

Cactus

Juniors
Messages
677
That Marcks is a smug bastard
..;.Please f**k of 9 or get rid of marcks

If its good enough that 9 want to dictate who gets fired in NRL management then its good enough for next time around the NRL diplomatically tell 9 to sideline Marks from the next negotiations.

Then when we choose 10 or other media company, Marks gets the chop, hopefully to become a fan cardboard cutout sitting facing the wrong way right next to the stadium toilet block.
 

Vee

First Grade
Messages
5,075
If its good enough that 9 want to dictate who gets fired in NRL management then its good enough for next time around the NRL diplomatically tell 9 to sideline Marks from the next negotiations.

Then when we choose 10 or other media company, Marks gets the chop, hopefully to become a fan cardboard cutout sitting facing the wrong way right next to the stadium toilet block.
Yeah, good luck with that. Let me know how you go.
 

Johnny88

Juniors
Messages
1,195
AFL to resist push for rights deal cut after Nine, Foxtel get NRL discount

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan is expected to drive a harder bargain with the code's commercial broadcasters Seven West Media and Foxtel after its rival the NRL accepted a discount in its television rights extension last week.

The Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven, which has been in discussions with the AFL about two-year extension on its existing deal, is looking to secure a similar reduction in costs to what Nine (owner of this masthead) received under its revised NRL contract. Pay TV operator Foxtel, which extended its contract with the NRL by five years, is also looking at a two to three year extension for the AFL.
But both media companies are expecting pushback from the AFL which believes NRL executive chairman Peter V'landys could have extracted more money from Nine and Foxtel. Media industry sources familiar with the AFL's thinking said its key executives believe the NRL could have driven a harder bargain.
The terms of Foxtel's deal with the NRL have not been disclosed. But Foxtel did decide to not make its digital rights available on mobile beyond 2022, meaning the sport may no longer be available on Telstra's Live Pass. Foxtel is part owned by Telstra and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

"We are... disappointed to learn the NRL through their agreement with Foxtel has decided not to make those digital rights on mobile available beyond 2022," a Telstra spokesman said. "We have not been a party to those discussions and will obviously need to engage with the NRL to understand what the implications are for our partnership in the long term."


The NRL and its broadcasters have tried to limit the amount of information about their new deal to keep the AFL and Seven in the dark. The AFL's existing $2.5 billion deal also expires in 2022. Foxtel is contributing $1.3 billion of the total, while Seven West Media's contribution is $840 million in cash plus $60 million in contra.

The AFL's return will boost Seven's ratings and strengthen Foxtel's subscriber proposition. But both media companies believe the games have lost value, in part, due to the absence of crowds and reduced lengths of games. For television broadcasters sport can be seen as a way to reach mass audiences, which attracts advertisers. But in recent years media executives have publicly disputed the amount they pay for sport, arguing it is a loss-making exercise as the production costs that they incur in addition to the fees they pay are not made up for in advertising dollars.

Media companies like Foxtel and Seven, which were already challenged before the coronavirus pandemic, are under increased financial pressure due to significant reductions in advertising spending caused by factors relating to the crisis.

Advertisement
Morningstar analyst Brian Han in April said that Seven's balance sheet had been compromised by the coronavirus to the extent that it was "incorporating the probability of there being zero value in the equity". The company has since sold its magazine business for $40 million, property in Western Australia, and is also looking to sell off assets includingparts of its Seven Studios business.

Foxtel has cut almost 300 jobs in the last few months due to coronavirus related factorsand has already spent large amounts of money onsecuring a multi-year deal with HBO, worth between $100 million and $200 million annually,the launch of entertainment service Bingeand the NRL extension.

But the suspension of sport has also put pressure on codes like the AFL, whichhas had to reduce staff numbers and recently secured new credit facilities with its banks. Unlike third tier sports such as the rugby union or motorsports, the AFL deal is a way to shore up subscriber numbers and advertiser interest.

"You can't play around the edges on the AFL and the NRL", one industry expert said.

The competition restarts on June 11, but sources said there is no immediate rush on Foxtel's end to lock in a revised deal, given paid the second instalment in advance. Seven, Foxtel and the AFL declined to comment.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/afl-to-resist-push-for-rights-deal-cut-after-nine-foxtel-get-nrl-discount-20200531-p54y4c.html
 

Steel Saints

Juniors
Messages
802
It will be interesting to see how Seven and Fox negotiate with the AFL. Seven and Fox are not in strong financial positions themselves. Plus this year, the AFL has reduced to 17 rounds from 22, and reduced quarters to 16 minutes, a 20% reduction in game time.

The AFL will cop a haircut this year. However will they also get a haircut in 21 and 22?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
Well given we are hiding how much we have caved in on the deal it’s going to be hard to see what the comparison is for a couple of years. By then Vlandys will likely be gone and when the bad news comes out he’ll miss the flak. Interesting I can’t remember reading one article saying NRL was playing hard ball!
 

Nerd

Bench
Messages
2,825
It will be interesting to see how Seven and Fox negotiate with the AFL. Seven and Fox are not in strong financial positions themselves. Plus this year, the AFL has reduced to 17 rounds from 22, and reduced quarters to 16 minutes, a 20% reduction in game time.

The AFL will cop a haircut this year. However will they also get a haircut in 21 and 22?
I don't think the AFL have a choice. 7 and Fox now know they both paid overs for a sport which is out ranked on both free to air and on Fox by the NRL. 7 without a major reduction in rights may not be around to see out their deal especially considering the way they are selling off assets at the moment. All the talk that the expansion teams and the extra games helps bring in extra value for the broadcasters has now been shown to be all hot air. Games featuring the Lions, Suns and GWS are ratings disasters especially when they play each other. If Fox and 7 want to survive, heavy reductions in line with the AFL's standing as the no 2 football code are required.
 

Steel Saints

Juniors
Messages
802
Well given we are hiding how much we have caved in on the deal it’s going to be hard to see what the comparison is for a couple of years. By then Vlandys will likely be gone and when the bad news comes out he’ll miss the flak. Interesting I can’t remember reading one article saying NRL was playing hard ball!
The AFL can play hard ball all they like, but if the economics isn't there from both Seven and Fox,, then they will cop similar treatment in terms of discounts.

The $2.5 billion deal was a massive jump from the previous $1.25b. They got that massive increase because Rupert was pissed off with the NRL.

Now in the present, we are in a pandemic. Advertising revenue will be low. How could a $2.5 b deal still be sustainable?
 
Messages
15,595
Well given we are hiding how much we have caved in on the deal it’s going to be hard to see what the comparison is for a couple of years. By then Vlandys will likely be gone and when the bad news comes out he’ll miss the flak. Interesting I can’t remember reading one article saying NRL was playing hard ball!
Same shit over & over .
It says in the article that it is not disclosed to keep the afl in the dark .
But you ignore that & go on your endless loop of antI PVL rants
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
It says in the article that it is not disclosed to keep the afl in the dark .

comveniant Lol. So we haven’t disclosed the Ch9 deal to keep afl in the dark? Yeh right.

I wonder if Vlandys accepted a Reduced deal for Nsw racing being screened by sky on foxtel? No mention of it anywhere.
 

T to the T

Juniors
Messages
460
How COVID-19 created sustainable rugby league for NRL, Nine and Foxtel
Against expectations, the NRL is back on the field and two decades of unsustainable broadcast rights inflation has ended.

In late April, interim NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and chief digital officer Alex Alderson were in a meeting with Nine managing director of commercial Alexi Baker at Rugby League Central on Driver Avenue in Sydney's Moore Park when the room began to shake.

Abdo was used to the shaking at NRL headquarters following the demolition of the Sydney Football Stadium and the beginning of a rebuild. Over the next month Abdo, along with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys and broadcasters Nine and Foxtel, led by CEOs Hugh Marks and Patrick Delany respectively, would shake the foundations of the NRL.

They were about to end two decades of unsustainable broadcast rights inflation with a rumoured combination broadcast discount of $150 million over the next three seasons.

Abdo, the South African-born former Deloitte director, had just been put in charge of rugby league in Australia, a role he holds ambitions to keep. His first major task was repairing a frayed relationship with long-time free-to-air broadcaster Nine, owner of The Australian Financial Review, which was unhappy with what it saw as a one-way relationship and was prepared to walk away from the second sport in as many years after dumping cricket in early 2018 in favour of tennis.

All of this came amid a shutdown of sport globally, thanks to the spread of the coronavirus, which instantly saw the NRL's largest revenue supply dry up, despite substantial growth in non-broadcast revenue in the past five years. V'landys committed the NRL to coming back by Thursday, May 28.

"This pandemic is accelerating trends that were already happening, they’re just happening a lot faster," Abdo says. "You can sit back and try and defend or you can embrace it and figure out a way to be more sustainable through it."

Cutting out $70 million
In that April meeting at NRL HQ, Abdo, Alderson and Baker went through the NRL's plans, how it would cut $70 million of costs out of the sport to focus on getting revenue into its 16 clubs and developing the wider rugby league game, as well as how Nine commercialises the NRL.

Analysis by the Financial Review showed that NRL TV rights had grown by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8 per cent from 2001 to the first year of the most recent deal in 2018, while media company revenues went in the opposite direction.

The NRL's core team to get the new deal over the line was Abdo, V'landys, Alderson and general counsel Eleni North.

Foxtel's team was made up of CEO Delany, Fox Sports CEO Peter Campbell, Foxtel general counsel Lynette Ireland, chief financial officer James Marsh and Foxtel chief commercial officer Amanda Laing, a former Nine executive who worked on the broadcaster's current deal, once she completed Foxtel's HBO-Warner renewal in early May. Laing is also a former ARLC commissioner.

Nine's core team was Marks, Baker and general counsel Rachel Launders.

Most meetings were done via the phone and video conferencing, although V'landys had face-to-face meetings with both Marks and Delany at Racing NSW headquarters in Druitt St, Sydney, where the ARLC chairman is CEO. In a mid-April meeting, the three executives, in the only meeting with all of them together, laid out what shape they wanted a COVID-19 season to take.

Less than two months ago, Nine and the NRL couldn't have been further apart.

On April 9, Nine had launched a scathing attack on the NRL, effectively aimed at then-chief executive Todd Greenberg, accusing the game's administration of years of mismanagement and a bloated head office at the expense of players, clubs and supporters.

Greenberg, who would dispute such claims, was sidelined from crucial broadcast conversations with Nine and pay TV broadcaster Foxtel. V'landys would take the lead. While there had been rumblings about Greenberg's future well before COVID-19, Nine's statement was the nail in the coffin for his time at Rugby League Central. By April 20, the former Canterbury Bulldogs CEO was gone.

Marks was frustrated at a lack of collaboration from NRL leadership at the time and an insistence rugby league would play out a full season, just pushed back later in the year, and that would be enough to meet the contract, and payment, requirements.

Before the negotiated discount, Nine was paying, on average, $115 million per season for its contract, although the actual amount differs due to a $50 million upfront payment to help NRL cash flows in 2016. Nine's $27.5 million a year saving for the 2021 and 2022 financial years includes rights fee discounts as well as production and service arrangements.

On March 13, the NRL and AFL had been thrown into disarray when the Morrison government announced it would ban gatherings of more than 500 people to stymie the spread of coronavirus. The ban would come into effect after the NRL's first round on Monday March 15. Rugby league planned to push forward with its season, but without crowds.

A week later, on March 22, after the NRL had played most of its second round without crowds, Fox Sports CEO Peter Campbell rang Greenberg. Campbell, a former member of the AFL's 10-person executive team and its former general manager of media and broadcasting, had a suspicion that the AFL was planning to suspend its season. He was correct, with the AFL calling a media conference to make the announcement that day at 4pm.

Greenberg was adamant the NRL would play on. However, the next day, the season was officially suspended.

Before COVID-19, Foxtel, which completed a merger with Fox Sports in 2018, had been going through its own massive, and at times painful, transition as it sought to recast itself as a streaming business and massively reduce its broadcast cost base. In November 2018, it launched its sports streaming service Kayo.

After a fall back from 402,000 paying subscribers in November 2019 to 370,000 in February, it had hoped the NRL and AFL seasons would see that service take off again.

On April 8, Foxtel announced 200 redundancies and would add at least another 70 in the following weeks. Delany expressed his desire to transform quickly. Conscious of staff morale, the Foxtel CEO didn't want a long stream of job losses to become a weeping sore.

Streaming-led future
Delany and Campbell's approach going into negotiations with the NRL was maintaining the rights it had and securing them long term as a pillar of its streaming-led strategy.

In order to reduce the number of people leaving Foxtel amid the lack of sport, the business opened up its movie channels free to sport subscribers, and made all its other tiers available for free for all subscribers.

Fox Sports kept its core Fox League Live and Fox Footy Live shows running every day, but with fewer suits and more shorts and t-shirts and broad conversations, ranging all the way to Matty Johns talking about drug addiction within the ranks of the Third Reich in World War 2.

Foxtel, a much more sport-led business than Nine, was keen to get the NRL going again as soon as possible, but held reservations the game's administrators could resume games by May 28.

Then, in late April, video emerged of NRL star Nathan Cleary breaching social distancing rules and, in a separate incident, players Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr breaching self-isolation protocols. It was the last thing the NRL needed as it tried to convince broadcasters and governments to help them.

But seeing how hard the administration came down on the players, Delany and Campbell became convinced V'landys could get the game back on track at the end of May.

"It shifted the conversations, they could see we were very strong on it. To earn the community’s trust we had to do better," V'landys says.

By May 18, the NRL, Nine and Foxtel had agreed to the main principles of a new deal. If it had been under normal circumstances, a final deal would probably have been announced at that meeting. In 2015, the NRL, Foxtel and Nine all locked themselves in the offices of law firm Clayton Utz and thrashed the deal out.

With COVID-19 restrictions, it took until last Thursday to seal the deal, with negotiations over phone and Microsoft Teams from offices and the homes of all those involved.

The new deal, sealed within an hour of the return of the NRL at Suncorp Stadium with the Brisbane Broncos and Parramatta Eels last Thursday, gives both broadcasters discounts for a shortened 2020 season, for the final two years remaining on the current TV deal, and for Foxtel an extension to 2027.

"It provides certainty to us, we’ve got seven years of certainty to get our house in order," V'landys says.

"The traditional broadcast model returns the most to a sport. As that traditional model turns to [streaming], I think that won't return as much to the sports, I think we need to take advantage of the traditional model."

https://www.afr.com/companies/media...eague-for-nrl-nine-and-foxtel-20200529-p54xra
 

taipan

Referee
Messages
22,402
Maybe Fox should send their man Pete to take charge of the AFL to get what they want.

Ironic the AFL honchos have in fact been praising Peter getting the game up and running, making it more attractive to watch,getti g Govts on side.
And horror of horrors the Offsider's gave him a rap, except Aly who carried on as though he knew the NRL TV deal.

But Fox's prior man Greenberg who was loved by everyone, was quite happy to let things roll along as per usual, while crowds were struggling ,TV ratings down, and grassroots needing a boost and clubs being ignored at times.Yet someone gets a nice diamond ring.
 

taipan

Referee
Messages
22,402
comveniant Lol. So we haven’t disclosed the Ch9 deal to keep afl in the dark? Yeh right.

I wonder if Vlandys accepted a Reduced deal for Nsw racing being screened by sky on foxtel? No mention of it anywhere.

So you believe that knowing the value wouldn't assist the AFL LOL.

V'Landys got a far better deal than the AFL from the betting agencies.,but of course the AFL is always on teh ball,according to you.

I don't believe V'Landys needs to consult you before making any decision.
 
Messages
15,595
Even if the AFl get a haircut similar to th NRl ....you can Guarantee one thing .
This whiney bitch from Perth will continue to bitch & moan .
Doesn't matter what happens he will be ranting .
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
comveniant Lol. So we haven’t disclosed the Ch9 deal to keep afl in the dark? Yeh right.

I wonder if Vlandys accepted a Reduced deal for Nsw racing being screened by sky on foxtel? No mention of it anywhere.

So ch9 won’t report it too their shareholders?
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,411
So ch9 won’t report it too their shareholders?

Not necessarily, if its classed as commercially confidential they dont have to report the exact figure of what they have paid. It will be hidden away in the financials in an expenditure line item with other things in all likelihood.
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Not necessarily, if its classed as commercially confidential they dont have to report the exact figure of what they have paid. It will be hidden away in the financials in an expenditure line item with other things in all likelihood.

That won’t help the share price
Makes sense now as to just get the game going. Sort out funding to clubs etc then can be an off season discussion when we see where other clubs sit
 

Latest posts

Top