Both the AFL and Cricket turned them down despite big offers. Theyve since been merged and have new leadership. Its hard to know whether they'll bid again.
Its more than that - its also Seven getting to show the local teams in their own markets which gives Seven local wins in SA and WA, while getting higher ratings than otherwise expected if they only showed the national game like the NRL do.
This also detracts from Foxtels rights, something theyve begun to address with delayed coverage (3 games in each market), and giving Foxtel exclusive Saturdays for the first 8 rounds of the season, and no coverage on Saturday in Melbourne before round 15.