A quiet revolution that could have major repercussions for the NRL has been unfolding in England over the past few days.
Amazon Prime is in the final throes of telecasting the most recent round of the English Premier League and the ARL Commission is watching closely as it counts down to the day when it will open talks with broadcasters over the next broadcast deal.
The success or failure of the Premier League could yet determine whether Amazon Prime becomes a factor in those talks.
The ARL Commission will no doubt be hoping it attracts rousing support given tension in the market can only drive up the price of the next broadcasting deal.
Amazon Prime paid an estimated £90m ($172.5m) for the right to broadcast 20 Premier League matches per season — one group of matches across a bank holiday weekend and the other a midweek program.
Amazon is dipping its toes in the water at a time when ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys continues to bullishly talk up the value of NRL rights, although it has become clear that changes must be made to maximise the code’s value to broadcasters.
The idea of splitting the game into quarters has been tossed up by V’landys but that would appear counter-productive to the concept of increasing player fatigue as a way of creating more space and greater opportunity for attack.
Certainly, making the game more attractive and reducing the impact of poor officiating was high on his agenda when he addressed the media at his unveiling earlier this year.
Regardless of the rules shake-up, V’landys’s best hope may ultimately lie in increasing the competitive tension in the broadcasting market and streaming partners will play a central role if that is to happen. It is something that is prominent in the mind of his fellow commissioners as well, one making that much clear recently when they suggested the next broadcasting deal would rely significantly on streaming services rather than the game’s traditional broadcasters — Fox Sports and the Nine Network.
Privately, NRL sources confirmed they would take an interest in Amazon Prime’s work in England, where the world’s largest internet company threatens to revolutionise coverage of the Premier League.
The Premier League gift-wrapped the packages of games with streaming services in mind and the NRL may consider the same option. Magic Round, for example, lends itself to being packaged up and telecast on a streaming service.
So too the period after the final game of the State of Origin series when interest wanes as eyeballs become weary. The clock is ticking. The Australian revealed earlier this year that the commission was ready to jump early on broadcasting negotiations as it looked to get a jump on the AFL.
Its plans are also clouded by the possible introduction of a second team in Brisbane from 2023. An expansion franchise would need time to prepare for the NRL, no doubt amplifying the commission’s appetite to begin broadcasting negotiations as soon as realistically possible.
The theory behind Amazon’s decision to chase Premier League rights holds true regardless of the sport as it looks to entice viewers to its platform and hopes that they will stay afterwards.
Earlier this year, Roy Morgan Research indicated Amazon Prime enjoyed the largest increase in users over the past 12 months.
Amazon, in particular has become a big player in American sport. It broadcasts the NFL and Major League Baseball. Now it has acquired rights to the Premier League.
The NRL may be small fry in comparison, but every dollar counts as the ARL Commission attempts to strike a deal that secures the future of its clubs and players.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...r/news-story/73fe0dfa3abba1f9aa4ab2ba0a0528c2
