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Nine Network boss warns of the NRL of perils of splitting the broadcasting rights
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys needs to increase broadcasting revenue to convince the clubs to back expansion Picture: Jonathan Ng
- Senior Sports Writer
@brentread_7
Media Editor
- 8:36AM August 26, 2021
Nine Network boss Mike Sneesby has fired a shot across the bow of the NRL, warning them that they risk diluting the value of their broadcast rights if they sell the State of Origin series and premiership matches as separate entities.
The Australian on Tuesday revealed that the Seven Network was eyeing off the jewel in rugby league’s crown, State of Origin. Seven are also said to be interested in securing rights to at least one premiership match per round while the Ten Network have been linked with grabbing a slice of the NRL pie.
At the moment, rights for the premiership and Origin reside with the Nine Network, although their agreement with the NRL is set to expire at the end of 2022.
The NRL has been locked in negotiations with Nine over an extension to their existing deal and Sneesby warned the game’s powerbrokers they would be taking a financial risk by splitting the rights for Origin and premiership games among two or more networks.
“I’m not going to go into details around where we’re up to with a commercial negotiation with the NRL,” Sneesby said.
“Suffice to say from a broad perspective – and this applies with anything that we’re looking at in sport – if rights are split with a major sport like the NRL, the value of those rights gets diluted.
“If you look at our media platforms, our total television business, and our ability to really get behind the long-term growth of a sport, and the plans that (ARL Commission chair) Peter V’landys and (NRL chief executive) Andrew Abdo have for the NRL, we are the best-placed media business to be able to help support the growth and the future of the game, in partnership with the NRL.
“If you begin to split rights, that starts to dilute that opportunity, and makes it increasingly difficult.
“Certainly, our view is, keeping the rights together is a much better outcome for the game.”
Sneesby declined to buy into speculation that the NRL was unhappy over the amount of promotion Nine gave to rugby union – shown on their streaming service Stan – during this year’s Australian Open tennis.
“I’m not going to go into responding to things that have either been speculated or quoted in the media,” he said.
Origin is a sure-fire ratings winner, consistently among the most watched shows on Australian television every year.
Nine would be loath to lose it and it shapes as a key plank in broadcasting talks as pressure mounts on V’landys and Abdo to deliver a bumper new deal for the code given they are intent on expanding to 17 teams, potentially as early as 2023.
Final discussions have already been held with the three bidding parties – Redcliffe Dolphins, Brisbane Firehawks and Brisbane Jets – over their respective bids and the NRL’s expansion committee will meet again on Thursday to discuss the next step.
There is a chance at that meeting that they could make a firm recommendation to go to the ARL Commission next week on when and if expansion should go ahead. Their next challenge will be getting the existing clubs on side.
Whether that happens will largely depend on the ability of V’landys and Abdo to extract additional money from the broadcasters. The likelihood is that talks with free-to-air partners may not be complete until later in the year, meaning the ARL Commission will largely be reliant on Foxtel to come to the party.
It has been reported previously that the commission had a clause built into their deal with Foxtel that catered for fresh talks should the game move to 17 teams.
There is a view that Foxtel and Kayo numbers in Queensland in particular would benefit from an additional team, but the question will be how much additional money they are willing to pay to cover the fresh expense of another side.
The Gemba Group report, commissioned by the clubs to review the implications of a 17th team, found that a new team would generate 2.6 million extra viewers if all 12 additional matches were broadcasted via Foxtel and 9.3 million if they were broadcast via Foxtel and a free-to-air provider.
Based on the current broadcasting deal, that would lead to a $13 million increase if the 12 additional matches were on Foxtel and $25 million if they were simulcast. Even that may not be enough to appease the existing clubs, who have suggested expansion needs to be worth as much as $40 million a season for them to jump on board.
It means V’landys and Abdo are under extreme pressure to maximise their broadcasting revenue if they are to succeed with their expansion plans.
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