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Yeh maybe
I guess the downside with free to air streaming is it's tougher to catch casuals/channel flippers eh.
That's based on stand alones though on Thursday & Friday nights.
Love the way the bitch doesn`t mention highest rating winter sport by a country mile, having to write that would just be too painful for that fumblefan-kook.
Doubt Amazon or Netflix are genuine players or the NRL wants to put one game a week with either of them , & this has essentially been debunked by PVL, we're not the US .. our sport is not the NFL with its coast to coast dominance.NRL kicks off pitch for record broadcast deal – with a twist
Zoe Samios Apr 16, 2026 – 11.52am
The NRL has kicked off its blockbuster broadcast rights auction, demanding media networks submit bids listing how much each game is worth in a way that has fuelled speculation it could carve up marquee games between multiple broadcasters or streaming services.
The code sent tender documents to broadcasters on Wednesday, starting what is expected to be a hotly contested, multi-billion dollar sales process for one of Australia’s most valuable sporting properties.
The tender, which governs the seasons beyond 2027, asks bidders to list the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday games they’re interested in, and the rights they’d like to bid for – such as free-to-air rights, free streaming rights or paid streaming rights, for example.
One source with knowledge of the tender documents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the structure could set the NRL up to sell one night’s games to Amazon Prime Video, for example, and another to Netflix. (Netflix has said it does not intend to bid for the NRL rights). It could also pave the way for State of Origin to go to Network Seven while Sunday games could go to the Nine Network.
Parties likely to have received the tender documents include Nine Entertainment, Kayo Sports’ owner Foxtel (now owned by global sports streaming platform Dazn), Network Ten’s parent company Paramount, Amazon Prime Video and Southern Cross Media, which merged with Seven West Media (owner of Network Seven) earlier this year.
The high-stakes auction is a test for Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys, who has previously said he wanted more than $4 billion over five years. That would make the NRL’s deal bigger than the AFL’s six-year $4.5 billion deal.
One way to achieve this is to split the rights across multiple television networks and streaming services, but there is a chance this might fragment the audience. In an interview last October, V’landys said he did not want fans to have to pay more to watch games.
“Customers need to be able to afford the NRL,” he told The Australian Financial Review. “We are looking at making money from extra markets – New Zealand, England, the United States and Papua New Guinea. We don’t want our fans in Australia paying more to watch rugby league.”
The unorthodox structure of the NRL’s tender could be deliberate to give the impression it is open to splitting the rights across broadcasters and streamers. The NRL declined to comment.
The market is very different from 2023 when the AFL secured its deal, with looming changes by the Albanese government to sports gambling advertising and a wider free-to-air advertising pullback that would make a portion of the rights harder to monetise. That said, the NRL’s marquee games have drawn record audiences – the 2025 Grand Final was the most-watched in the code’s history.
V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo believe they can secure a deal bigger than the AFL because of the introduction of two new teams – the Perth Bears and the PNG Chiefs – and the popularity of its annual Las Vegas season launch.
“There are not many other sports rights in Australia in terms of this magnitude up [for negotiation] over this window,” Abdo previously said.
Nine Entertainment chief executive Matt Stanton and Southern Cross Media executive chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise have flagged interest in the NRL rights, but reiterated they needed to be fiscally responsible about any decision.
In the past two years, Nine has renewed the rights for rugby union and tennis, bought the rights to the English Premier League from Optus and recently secured a five-year deal with Netball Australia. It is also the broadcaster of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nine owns the Nine Network and is the publisher of The Australian Financial Review.
Foxtel and Nine, who have a long history of working together on broadcast deals across a range of sports, have been warned off working together by V’landys.
NRL kicks off pitch for record broadcast deal – with a twist
Rugby League’s governing body has sent out tender documents to television networks and streaming services, asking for a valuation for each game.www.afr.com
Casual misogyny. Nice. Some journalists still believe in reporting truth not propaganda.
The ones that don't work for ALF you mean ?
Afr is owned by neinNRL kicks off pitch for record broadcast deal – with a twist
Zoe Samios Apr 16, 2026 – 11.52am
The NRL has kicked off its blockbuster broadcast rights auction, demanding media networks submit bids listing how much each game is worth in a way that has fuelled speculation it could carve up marquee games between multiple broadcasters or streaming services.
The code sent tender documents to broadcasters on Wednesday, starting what is expected to be a hotly contested, multi-billion dollar sales process for one of Australia’s most valuable sporting properties.
The tender, which governs the seasons beyond 2027, asks bidders to list the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday games they’re interested in, and the rights they’d like to bid for – such as free-to-air rights, free streaming rights or paid streaming rights, for example.
One source with knowledge of the tender documents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the structure could set the NRL up to sell one night’s games to Amazon Prime Video, for example, and another to Netflix. (Netflix has said it does not intend to bid for the NRL rights). It could also pave the way for State of Origin to go to Network Seven while Sunday games could go to the Nine Network.
Parties likely to have received the tender documents include Nine Entertainment, Kayo Sports’ owner Foxtel (now owned by global sports streaming platform Dazn), Network Ten’s parent company Paramount, Amazon Prime Video and Southern Cross Media, which merged with Seven West Media (owner of Network Seven) earlier this year.
The high-stakes auction is a test for Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys, who has previously said he wanted more than $4 billion over five years. That would make the NRL’s deal bigger than the AFL’s six-year $4.5 billion deal.
One way to achieve this is to split the rights across multiple television networks and streaming services, but there is a chance this might fragment the audience. In an interview last October, V’landys said he did not want fans to have to pay more to watch games.
“Customers need to be able to afford the NRL,” he told The Australian Financial Review. “We are looking at making money from extra markets – New Zealand, England, the United States and Papua New Guinea. We don’t want our fans in Australia paying more to watch rugby league.”
The unorthodox structure of the NRL’s tender could be deliberate to give the impression it is open to splitting the rights across broadcasters and streamers. The NRL declined to comment.
The market is very different from 2023 when the AFL secured its deal, with looming changes by the Albanese government to sports gambling advertising and a wider free-to-air advertising pullback that would make a portion of the rights harder to monetise. That said, the NRL’s marquee games have drawn record audiences – the 2025 Grand Final was the most-watched in the code’s history.
V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo believe they can secure a deal bigger than the AFL because of the introduction of two new teams – the Perth Bears and the PNG Chiefs – and the popularity of its annual Las Vegas season launch.
“There are not many other sports rights in Australia in terms of this magnitude up [for negotiation] over this window,” Abdo previously said.
Nine Entertainment chief executive Matt Stanton and Southern Cross Media executive chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise have flagged interest in the NRL rights, but reiterated they needed to be fiscally responsible about any decision.
In the past two years, Nine has renewed the rights for rugby union and tennis, bought the rights to the English Premier League from Optus and recently secured a five-year deal with Netball Australia. It is also the broadcaster of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Nine owns the Nine Network and is the publisher of The Australian Financial Review.
Foxtel and Nine, who have a long history of working together on broadcast deals across a range of sports, have been warned off working together by V’landys.
NRL kicks off pitch for record broadcast deal – with a twist
Rugby League’s governing body has sent out tender documents to television networks and streaming services, asking for a valuation for each game.
Yes
My guess we'll end up with only 1 streamer for 99% of games - Stan, Foxtel/Kayo or Paramount.
It will be one streamer / pay tv network and maybe two fta networks (ten and seven)
He must have said it a thousand times, in almost every news story on the topic of the new broadcast deal, that it is his expectation that RL fans shouldnt be paying more or much more to watch RL once the new deal kicks in.
