Next TV rights deal

[Johnny88]

State of Origin valued at $100 million a year as free-to-air networks prepare for bidding way
THE jewel in rugby league’s crown, State of Origin football, has been valued at a whopping $500 million in the NRL’s next television broadcast rights deal which is tipped to reach $1.5 billion.
As the free-to-air networks prepare to go to war over the highest-rating program in Australian television, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the NRL intends to value Origin as 30 per cent of the next five-year TV deal.
Crunch the numbers and it works out at $100 million-a-year for the three-match NSW versus Queensland extravaganza or $416,000-per-minute of football played.
But while State of Origin I, II and III­ ­finished first, second and fifth in terms of the most-watched programs on Australian TV last year, the regular NRL competition suffers a lull during the same period.
For example, last Friday night’s match between Manly and the Tigers was outrated by Better Homes and Gardens in Brisbane.
While the Sea Eagles beating the Tigers attracted 139,000 viewers, Better Homes and Gardens on Seven attracted 158,000 viewers.
Equally as concerning for the NRL, Hot Seat at 5.30pm even beat the Friday night footy, rating 140,000.
Or as one television executive neatly summed it up: “Some of the games during the Origin period and once teams are out of the finals aren’t worth a burnt pie.”
By the time you include the Sydney ratings of 366,000 viewers it brings Channel 9’s average up to a respectable 505,000.
But compare it to the 4.5 million peak viewers for the Blues’ victory over Queensland and it is completely blown away.
And the numbers for the series-decider in Brisbane on July 8 will be even bigger, guaranteed to be the top-rating program on ­Australian television for the year.
While the NRL declined to comment about the highly-sensitive negotiations for the next deal, rest assured it will be just as fierce as whatever State of Origin III tosses up in 17 nights’ time.
“The NRL is currently declined to comment on the value of Origin because it is ­currently in talks with broadcasters on the next television rights deal,” an NRL ­spokesman said.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-for-bidding-way/story-fni3fqyo-1227407627329

 

[Desert Qlder]

One television executive = junior ABC journalist from Victoria.

 

[insert.pause]

probably why a second Brisbane side is a no-brainer, even still, to say ratings of 136k in Brisbane is not worth anything is rubbish, most reality shows like masterchef get around that and they can be recorded.

 

[Diesel]

There no reason why the Manly/Tigers game needed to KO at 8pm last night. The coverage was shit and not long into the 2nd half I turned it off and listen to it on the radio. C9 are not doing RL any favours ATM

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/sin-bin/nrl-wants-to-be-friends-with-facebook-20150620-ghst9a

NRL wants to be friends with Facebook in revolutionary deal

Date
June 20, 2015 - 10:00PM

Adrian Proszenko
Chief Rugby League Reporter

The NRL has held secret talks with Facebook about the prospect of forming a revolutionary partnership as part of the next broadcast rights deal.

The governing body is thinking outside the square about rights negotiations, particularly when it comes to digital assets. There is a belief sport will increasingly be consumed via smartphones and other devices in the future in a potential shift away from traditional mediums such as television and radio. Google already has a seat at the negotiating table, a move likely to put pressure on incumbent digital partner Telstra to ensure it retains rights ownership. Other digital multinationals have also been approached, but none are bigger than Facebook. According to the NRL's latest financial report, more Australians follow the NRL on Facebook, the world's largest social media platform, than any other team or sport in the world. The NRL already has a Facebook audience fast approaching one million on its official page. Global Media and Sports boss Colin Smith, who worked for the NRL on the last TV deal and has also advised the AFL and ARU in previous negotiations, believes the NRL's decision to engage potential new media partners will pay off.

"If you have the view that young people stay with smartphones and tablets [in favour of traditional media], digital in the next 10 years becomes the pre-eminent media," Smith said.

 

[carlosthedwarf]

By the time you include the Sydney ratings of 366,000 viewers it brings Channel 9’s average up to a respectable 505,000.
But compare it to the 4.5 million peak viewers for the Blues’ victory over Queensland and it is completely blown away.

Sounds like they are comparing captial cities and capitals + regional. Can someone confirm?

 

[Chief_Chujo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/sin-bin/nrl-wants-to-be-friends-with-facebook-20150620-ghst9a

Love it, this is why Smith is great for the game, he surrounds himself with best and they tell him where the money is. Nein, Seven etc mean nothing in comparison to having Google and Facebook at the table.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...l-ten-bid-for-nrl-rights-20150621-ghtkwr.html

ARL wary of Fox Sports-Channel Ten bid for NRL rights

Date
June 21, 2015 - 8:00PM

Roy Masters
Rugby League Columnist

Foxtel's acquisition of a 15per cent share in Channel Ten has sounded alarm bells with ARL commissioners who were troubled by the Fox Sports/Channel Nine joint bid when the broadcasters and the code last argued at the negotiating table in 2012. Then, Channel Ten, led by executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, did not have a bidding partner and was seeking Saturday night NRL games. This put it in competition with Fox Sports' highly prized Super Saturday coverage.

ARL commissioners were uncomfortable dealing with a joint Nine/Fox Sports bid, believing it to be anti-competitive. Now, it is faced with a possible Ten/Fox Sports partnership, which, if News Corporation gains management rights over Ten, effectively means the ARLC is dealing with a single entity. (News Corporation half owns Foxtel with Telstra but has 100 per cent of Fox Sports.)

So, while the John Grant-led commission was wary of negotiating with Channel Nine's Jeff Browne and News' Kim Williams three years ago, now it could be dealing exclusively with the newly installed boss of the global giant, Lachlan Murdoch.

Murdoch, who a year earlier had abandoned any ambitions for AFL to concentrate on the rugby league bid, was furious his bid was rejected. Williams, who released the ARLC from News Ltd's first-and-last-rights hold over the code in order to get the joint bid over the line, was subsequently sacked by Lachlan's father, Rupert.

After all, News had fought a Super League war for media rights and, as a condition of its exit from half-ownership of the NRL, had them extended to 2027.

Williams was subsequently appointed a commissioner on the AFL, whose next rights deal is also on the table.

News Corp now covets broadcasting rights to both winter football codes. Ten currently has zero premium sport, with some upside from Big Bash cricket and V8 supercars.

In the absence of any first-and-last-rights options in either code and with the cash cow delivered via News' investment in Ten, it can launch killer bids for both NRL and AFL.

The problem for both codes is the spectre of News Corporation running their games. ARL Commissioners fear a Ten/Fox Sports combine could shift top-rating games such as the Broncos v Cowboys and the Dragons v Bulldogs to Saturday on Foxtel, while Friday viewers on Ten would see, say, the Titans versus Warriors. That would certainly make Foxtel a must-have subscription.

But Fox Sports boss Patrick Delany is hugely respected across the NRL and has a top working relationship with an administration that can maintain power over its own scheduling.

News Corp's 15 per cent share in Ten still requires the approval of the ACCC. Insofar as AFL, rugby league and cricket are the three big sports on free-to-air

TV, the regulator will view any lessening of competition for their rights with some concern. Australia has the strongest anti-siphoning rules in the world, designed to ensure fans can enjoy the major sports free, with the codes having the money to produce premium product. Ten will cede much of its operations to Foxtel to reduce loss, a necessity for the cost-crippled and ratings-starved network.

One of the problems with the ARL assigning broadcasting rights to Ten, without a partner such as another free-to-air network, or News, would be the need to have a guarantor.

After all, Ten held rugby league rights in the early 1990s but the then Lowy-owned network went into bankruptcy, ceding them to Nine.

Ten has some tycoon owners, such as James Packer, Gina Rinehart, Bruce Gordon and Lachlan Murdoch, but they have hitherto had no unified strategy. Now they have as a partner News Corp, the media world's ultimate underwriter.

A News Corporation/Channel Ten/Foxtel/Fox Sports bid for either AFL or NRL or both would also be attractive to Telstra, which is News' joint-venture partner in Foxtel.

Telstra currently holds the digital rights to AFL and shares NRL rights with Fox Sports. There has been a significant migration away from free-to-air and cable TV viewing by the young, who are increasingly watching games on smart phones and tablets. Joining Telstra in a News Corp/Ten/Foxtel/Fox Sports consortium killer bid for all free-to-air, pay-for-view and digital rights could produce an offer too good to refuse.

Maybe Channels Seven and Nine will react to this prospect by seeking a partnership with Optus. If so, we would be transported back 20 years to the outbreak of the Super League war.

 

[Perth Red]

Is there are any stats on how many people watch games on devices? I'm thinking its lower than claimed, who wants to watch a full game on a phone?

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Good article from Roy.
Makes sense that they're courting Google and Facebook.

Is there are any stats on how many people watch games on devices? I'm thinking its lower than claimed, who wants to watch a full game on a phone?

NRL hope for State of Origin digital boost
May 17 2015 at 12:15 AM Updated May 17 2015 at 12:15 AM

The NRL hope to set more digital media records for the upcoming State of Origin series after experiencing rapid growth across all its digital properties during the first three months of the NRL competition.

Statistics provided by the NRL show that mobile growth for its mobile video traffic is tracking 95 per cent ahead of a year ago, having reached more than 30 million video views across the entire 2014 season.

"We've seen our biggest growth ever on social media, 80 per cent year-on-year across the NRL, teams and state leagues across all the major social media platforms with 7.75 million cumulative fans," an NRL spokesman said. "Equally, our platforms have seen their highest engagement to date, with individual videos reaching over 3 million fans at a time on the NRL's Facebook account."

More than 25 million minutes of live NRL has viewed via the NRL Digital Pass, compared with about 20 million for the AFL which started its 2015 season a few weeks later than the NRL. The NRL also recently became the first Australian sport and about the third in the world to adapts its app for the launch of the Apple Watch in late April.

The NRL will ramp up digital efforts for State of Origin, beginning with the first game in Sydney on May 27. It will again use its "mission control" social media command centre, which last year helped it reach six million people on the team's official Facebook pages.

More Australians now follow the NRL on Facebook than any other Australian or global sport, while more Australians follow the Queensland and NSW State of Origin sides on Facebook, and the Brisbane Broncos, than another other Australian or world team.

The NRL is in a digital joint venture with Telstra, which has brought all the NRL and 16 clubs and states onto one technology platform as part of a five-year $75 million rights deal.

More than 1.6 million Australians have downloaded the official NRL app on their mobile devices, including mobile phones and tablets, up about 700,000 from the beginning of the 2014 season.

http://www.afr.com/business/sport/n...-20150516-gh2be0?stb=twt via @FinancialReview

 

[Chook Norris]

I posted on the main forum about the NRL's facebook page but I think it got deleted due to the size of the pic i uploaded. Anyway, may as well as reiterate it here that the NRL's social media department is pretty much killing it. Ticked over 1million fans on their facebook page on the night of Origin 2. Roughly 300k more fans on the NRL's facebook page compared to the AFL's. People on social media love photos/video highlights and the NRL's FB page has pretty much nailed the content

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.afr.com/business/sport/f...ers-as-rights-bonanza-beckons-20150621-ghq212

Footy codes talk to Netflix, Fetch TV and others as rights bonanza beckons

by John Stensholt and Jared Lynch

The big football codes have held discussions with giant multi-national digital companies such as Netflix, Fetch TV and Google over joining the race for broadcast rights as a bold new era of sports broadcasting beckons.

Both the AFL and NRL are understood to have met with the online steaming services and digital companies in recent weeks, adding them to the list of likely bidders for broadcast rights later in the year alongside free-to-air and pay-television networks and the big telcos.

The AFL and NRL are both in the market for huge new broadcast deals, with each set to reap somewhere between $1.5 billion to $2 billion for five-year contracts thanks to unprecedented levels of interest in live sport, highlights on demand and digital content.

Talks are expected to formally heat up in the second half of the season, after several media and football executives take midwinter holidays, with both the AFL and NRL hopeful of resolving new deals by Christmas.

The entrance of the streaming services companies will add a completely new parameter to the negotiations, which have previously mostly been the exclusive domain of the free-to-air and pay-TV networks and telecommunications giants Telstra and Optus.

It is likely, however, the new digital companies would not win rights to stream live matches but potentially join with existing broadcasters and offer replays to consumers directly on-demand and highlights packages. They could follow in the footsteps of Apple, which struck a deal earlier this year with Cricket Australia to create a dedicated cricket channel on the Apple TV *network to show highlights, news *packages, historic matches and player interviews.

'Cold hard economics'

"There's no doubt [the football codes] are talking to everyone but ultimately what path they go down will come down to cold hard economics," said one digital media company executive.

AFL commissioner Kim Williams, a former Foxtel CEO, told a Collingwood corporate lunch earlier this month he did not expect the new entrants to play a significant part in the next rights deal, but they definitely would in the one after. "Television as we know it will change completely in the next decade," he said.

It was revealed last week that the NRL has spoken to Google, while Singtel-Optus chief executive Allen Lew revealed his company would fight rival Telstra to be part of the next rights deal for either code.

Both the AFL and NRL have established working committees to gather information and lay the groundwork for what will be intense negotiations. AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan will play a major role, alongside AFL commissioners Kim Williams, formerly the CEO of Foxtel, and SEEK co-founder Paul Bassat and AFL executive Simon Lethlean. Macquarie Capital boss Robin Bishop is also understood to be assisting the AFL.

NRL CEO Dave Smith will be assisted by Australian Rugby League Commission member Graeme Samuel, once an AFL commissioner, and NRL strategy head Andrew Fraser, the former Queensland state treasurer. Credit Suisse boss John Knox is also part of the NRL broadcast rights team.

Both codes have also held several meetings with the free-to-air broadcasters and Foxtel and Fox Sports management in recent weeks. The networks have told both codes they are extremely keen to bid for all or at least some of the rights.

Deals up for renewal

The AFL's current $1.25 billion five-year deal with Seven West Media, Foxtel and Telstra expires at the end of the 2016 season, while the NRL's $1.20 billion five-year contract with Nine Entertainment Co, Fox Sports, Telstra and Sky Sport in New Zealand ends in 2017.

Nine will fiercely defend its NRL rights and also compete for at least a slice of the AFL. But it could also pitch a huge bid for both in an attempt to wrestle the top ratings position from rival Seven.

The NRL is keen for networks to bid separately for the State of Origin series, which averaged 3.9 million viewers nationally for game 2 last week, and for a dedicated NRL channel on Foxtel as the AFL has with Fox Footy.

Ten's tie-up with its new shareholder Foxtel could see it join the bidding for at least one AFL match per round and the State of Origin, while Seven will defend its AFL rights and lob a bid for at least some NRL games and State of Origin. Telstra and Optus will compete for digital rights.

The NRL is also understood to be considering as many as 12 Thursday night games in a new deal, while a possible source of additional revenue could be placing a new team in Brisbane to rival the incumbent Brisbane Broncos. It is estimated a new team could add $100 million to $200 million to a rights deal.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.afr.com/business/media-a...ays-ten-network-boss-mclennan-20150621-ghqvo9

Google a 'scary' competitor for sports rights, says Ten boss Hamish McLennan

by Paul McIntyre

Ten Network boss Hamish McLennan has described rumblings of Google making a bid for AFL or NRL sports rights as "10 out of 10 scary" as the week-old $1.2 billion MCN-Ten Network advertising joint venture declared an all-out assault on Google, Facebook and other hungry online video networks.

In a joint interview after inking the proposed $1.2 billion advertising sales joint venture last week between Ten and Foxtel, Mr McLennan and Multi Channel Network chief executive Anthony Fitzgerald said the new free-to-air and pay TV alliance would simultaneously leapfrog current broadcast TV turf wars and counter rapidly emerging competitors in the online video sector.

"Google is a really scary threat," Mr McLennan told Fairfax Media.

"They have got deeper pockets than all of us and I think that is part of their mission. They have got virtually unlimited resources and they can afford to lose money to achieve a commercial outcome over time. It's reasonable to think Google now or in three years' time is a real live competitor for sports."

Cause for concern

The rapid expansion of US venture capital-backed tech-media start-ups is an escalating concern for Australian media companies challenged with turning profits against these new digital players burning cash to build global scale.

"A lot of these publishers are raising money on the basis of being a tech business rather than being just a content play and that's why they're getting such big valuations," said Neil Ackland, CEO of Sound Alliance, a local, independent digital publisher focused on younger audiences.

"But to justify their valuations they're going after global scale. So for us what it's really about is how local publishers and media need to prepare for this. That's definitely going to impact on our market in the next two or three years."

The closure of Wendy Harmer's The Hoopla in April was a case in point – Ms Harmer said at the time the economics became too hard as online publishing was "evolving at dizzying speed and increasingly becoming one for players with very deep pockets".

Online video challenge

Mr McLennan said the challenge for local broadcasters from offshore online video competitors was equally serious.

"Our competitive set is not a Seven, Nine and Ten play any more," he said. "We have to compete with overseas technology companies so our universe is much larger than ever before. This [MCN alliance] is about premium video in all its forms. The quality of our [advertising] inventory, the quality of our product and the way we integrate brands is far superior than online pre-roll ads running on [YouTube] cat videos."

Foxtel's $500 million advertising unit MCN – which Ten will take a 24.9 per cent stake in pending competition approval – will take over selling Ten's airtime from September and hand Ten an early lead over its free-to-air broadcast rivals for automating airtime bookings, on-air ad placements and participating in sharemarket-like trading of TV ads through "programmatic" exchanges, as they are called in the industry.

"This to me is the defining moment for television I've been talking about for 11 years since I left Channel 7," said Mr Fitzgerald, who is broadly credited with turning MCN, Foxtel's $500 million advertising sales unit, into the industry's most advanced programmatic TV trading operation.

"The vast majority of all video consumed today on any device is broadcast quality content. We need to look at redefining the industry. The headlines are so wildly exaggerated about the death of television or that TV is dying. It's just not the case. People are watching as much TV as the have ever done but they're doing it on many screens and devices so it just opens up the opportunity to redefine television."

New alliances

Last week's deal has already triggered a possible power shift in the broadcast industry as TV networks head into the annual $4 billion TV rate and marketshare negotiations from September, when the new muscled-up MCN-Ten alliance starts.

"This is a landmark shift in the TV sector and is likely to be the first of many moves as the industry adjusts to the disruption that is building at the hands of digitally distributed video content," said the CEO of OMD, Peter Horgan, who buys media schedules for large advertisers such as Telstra, McDonald's and Qantas.

"Fundamentally this signals a change in the pecking order of [annual] deal conversations. There will be a case to be made for MCN-Ten to be the primary deal, leaving Seven and Nine to fight out the second slot in rationalised deal structures."

For TV networks to compete against online video players, who will generate upwards of $250 million in advertising revenues this year and growing fast, they must develop new audience targeting capabilities beyond traditional TV audience demographics and have automated trading capabilities to rival online video operators.

"This is an absolute priority for the business but we need to pull our IT people together with Ten's IT people and have a look at the development that is required," Mr Fitzgerald said. Hopefully it's less than 12 months."

Mr McLennan said the new alliance "breaks the 40-20-20 deadlock that Seven and Nine have had" in marketshare in the TV ad market although Mr Fitzgerald said he was "no longer just focused on TV" but video anywhere.

"This is the most innovative move that has occurred in television in years," he said. "Actually it's the most innovative move in television since MCN lunched programmatic TV last week," he quipped.

 

[Haffa]

Is there are any stats on how many people watch games on devices? I'm thinking its lower than claimed, who wants to watch a full game on a phone?

You don't have to watch the whole game on your phone. Screen share to your tv.

 

[Canard]

You don't have to watch the whole game on your phone. Screen share to your tv.

I regularly watch games on my tablet.

For $90 a season its a valid option.

However I've recently discovered the virtues of going Zen, mate.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Is there are any stats on how many people watch games on devices? I'm thinking its lower than claimed, who wants to watch a full game on a phone?

Sure it sounds shit, but once youve got it, its a pretty good option...

Just dont try to share the screen. :?:?

 

[Desert Qlder]

For football, the future has already arrived • Inside Story

Reports that the nation’s two dominant football codes are in talks with Google, Facebook, Netflix and Fetch TV over digital and mobile coverage rights have caused a stir over the past week. The fact that these stories began circulating the day before the second State of Origin rugby league match appears more than coincidental. Played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of over 91,000 spectators, the game was the highest-rating television program of 2015 so far, peaking at a national audience of 4.193 million viewers. Broadcast television can still attract massive audiences for live sport events, and this highlights exactly why global digital media behemoths like Google and Facebook might want to get in on the action.

The attention the news attracted says as much about the changing dynamics of television and video consumption as it does about the prospects of the football codes. This particular future has been arriving for some time. Google purchased YouTube almost a decade ago and has been slowly but surely professionalising and commercialising the content on this online video-sharing platform. Netflix might be new to Australia, but it launched as a DVD hire service in the United States nearly two decades ago and made a concerted push into streamed online content between 2007 and 2010. A year later, the then CEO of the online television streaming service Hulu, Jason Kilar, provoked industry controversy when he laid out a vision for television’s future in a company blog post: more online consumption, fewer advertisements, multiple screens, lower margins and rapid innovation all feature.

So far, the almost unrivalled value of live television sport to major advertisers has protected commercial free-to-air and pay television networks from significant disruption. But as advertising revenues shift towards online and mobile platforms globally, so too do growing portions of sport content. Viable technology and revenue models for streaming sport and monetising online video have been in development for several years.

Red Bull Media House is an international pioneer in the creation and distribution of online video featuring action sports such as surfing, skateboarding and motocross. It uploaded its first video to YouTube in 2006 and now operates the Red Bull TV platform. YouTube streamed the Indian Premier League cricket tournament live in 2009, and in 2011 streamed the Copa America football championship to over fifty countries. Live streaming of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, accessed via rights-holder sites and apps owned by ESPN, Univision and ITV, set new traffic records around the world.

The US National Football League, or NFL, has recently teamed with YouTube to create an official channel featuring daily content, including game previews, in-game highlights and clips. The NFL has also signed a revenue-sharing deal with Twitter encompassing in-game highlights and clips, which resembles a similar deal with NASCAR motor racing. The spectacularly violent Ultimate Fighting Championship has given fans free access to selected fights on Facebook. Even the Australian Football League, or AFL, has made noises about selling games direct to fans online once its current coverage rights deal expires in 2016. Viewed in this light, the notion that Facebook or Google might one day own the coverage rights to the footy is less than novel.

What might turn out to have been a landmark moment in the history of online sports coverage occurred less then a month ago. On 3 June, Yahoo! announced it had secured the exclusive rights to stream an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars, to be played in October at Wembley Stadium in London, paying a reported US$20 million for the privilege. This will be the first time a regular season game is streamed free to online viewers around the globe. A fascinating feature of this announcement was the intense competition involved in securing the rights to the game, with Yahoo! successfully outbidding Twitter. The London event represents a concerted attempt to expand the NFL’s international audience. It is also a test-bed for the development of an international online viewing model that, initially at least, sits alongside existing domestic broadcast coverage arrangements.

Despite the codes’ blunt negotiating tactics, Australia’s limited market size works against the stimulation of competitive tension, particularly given Telstra’s overwhelming dominance of the telecommunications sector. The last round of coverage deals saw Telstra pay approximately $153 million (to the AFL) and $100 million (to the National Rugby League, or NRL) over five years for digital and mobile rights packages. With perhaps the exception of Optus, no other Australian telecommunications carrier is in a position to deliver these amounts, suggesting that Telstra has limited incentive to significantly lift its offer in the next round. The introduction of Google, Facebook, Netflix and Fetch TV to the negotiating table expands the range of potential bidders.

These negotiations also reflect the fact that there are limits on how much the free-to-air networks and Foxtel can pay for future broadcast rights. Men’s professional sport is as popular as ever, but the story of the television industry as a whole is one of uneven audience numbers and stagnating advertising revenue. From the perspective of the AFL and NRL, marked revenue growth is far more likely to be found in the digital and mobile world, as the deal between Yahoo! and the NFL indicates.

The events of the past week signal the moment the future arrived for followers of this country’s two biggest football leagues. Multiple screens, mobile and tablet devices, live streaming and digital delivery platforms are increasingly integral features of sport and media. In contemplating how this realisation finally dawned in Australia, it is worth recalling an aphorism attributed to science fiction writer William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.” •

http://insidestory.org.au/for-football-the-future-has-already-arrived

 

[El Diablo]

it's the lurker so not really worth much as he has a terrible strike rate http://www.sportal.com.au/league/nr...land-reds-wallabies/8tjbyxpgqtk01ftkgblkce527

Ten muscles in on Nine territory

The NRL hopes to secure a new broadcast deal worth about $1.6 billion.

Channel Nine will again be favourites but watch for rivals TEN to enter the bidding war in a MASSIVE way.

We hear TEN are readying themselves for an offer that will blow Nine out of the water.

TEN and Fox Sports would form a joint venture and table an offer that would be the biggest in rugby league history.

 

[beave]

Please, please be true though.

9 is the scum of the earth.

 

[ek999]

it's the lurker so not really worth much as he has a terrible strike rate http://www.sportal.com.au/league/nr...land-reds-wallabies/8tjbyxpgqtk01ftkgblkce527

Seeing as though in the same article he says Shane Flanagan may soon be taking up the football director role at Salford, which Tim Sheens has has announced he has accepted, I wouldn't believe much of what he says