Next TV rights deal

[Bulldog Force]

Oddly enough, with TNF we are going to have football on most nights of the week for most of months of the year, imo it is a bit of overkill.

That said, 1 TNF 1 FNF 3 sat 3 sun 1 mon means nine games and two more teams.

Bring back the Perth / Brisbane Bears!!

MNF is on it's way out.

 

[BuffaloRules]

MNF is on it's way out.

According to Slothfield..

Im not convinced Fox will be as keen to give up their highest rating RL slot of the week.

 

[Incorrect]

According to Slothfield..

Im not convinced Fox will be as keen to give up their highest rating RL slot of the week.

True dat...

But they might if they are guaranteed to get a Sunday evening match instead which might provide even better ratings

 

[carlosthedwarf]

Foxtel also gets a Thursday and Friday night match. I'd prefer to watch on Fox in HD with no ads over Nine.

I'll cop Thursday games if it means the end of Monday and three games on Sunday.

 

[taipan]

My maths FWIW and yes it's a simplistic viewpoint.
$1.7bn over 5 years equates to $340m per annum.And I realise there are non cash inclusions.

16 teams x grants of $12m = $192m pa.

Leaving $148m in the kitty pa to cover admin ,grassroots,future fund etc.But other income streams such as merchandise ,NRL sponsorship to be added to the annual figure.

IMHO if the NRL were to increase the no of teams to 18 ,i.e. Banana 2 and the Perf(sic) Reds,an additional 2x $12m in grants would be outlaid =$24m

That leaves per annum $124m allowing for any non cash offsets
to run the show.
Remembering when the great Gallop was in charge, the code in toto relied on less than $100m pa.The great $500m over 6 years deal.:sarcasm:

My view (if we crack $1.7bn) the code can increase to 18 teams,and still have plenty to grow the game,fund the admin and grassroots ,pu away for infrastructure funding and player insurance/welfare.

 

[docbrown]

1 - It's a Rothfield article.

2 - No source is cited, not even one of his usual 'anonymous' ones.

3 - Another NC paper recently said talks had stalled -- this is what we call an each way swinger.

4 - He's slapped a $$$ number on it for the headline even though anyone with half a brain knows the negotiations are still in progress and the NRL could still choose a number of options that would affect that final amount.

5 - This is highlighted by the fact that he's not even confident enough to say who gets what.

6 - The middle section about club grants is pure speculation (so is most of the article), you can see it in the tone of his writing. I doubt that even at NRL level that they have started locking those numbers in.

7 - He claims there has been no talk of expansion or extra time slots but then says there will be a special clause -- that's idiotic because the reason there is a special clause is because they have been talking about expansion. The reason why it's a special clause is because the NRL this far out are unsure about which year within the next deal they will have the 2 teams ready for the 9th game to start. Everyone knows I've spoken about the strength Bears brand previously so I have no particular bias in this but people keep saying they will tender out specifically targeting Brisbane and Perth. The NRL is playing its cards close to its chest but as previously stated the 9th game is to satiate the NRL's desire for 4 F2A & Fox's 5 games.

So what did Rothfield get right?

- Fox want simulcast & all live - they wanted that last time too
- 2nd Friday scrapped
- Thursday nights instead - 9 won't scrap 2nd Friday unless they get Thursday
- NRL doesn't want 5 days so Monday night may go - as Thursday is potentially worth more if simulcast but there's a big if over this though as it's dependent of simulcasting & Fox getting 5 games (hence the special clause). They may also be persuaded with a Sunday Evening slot though. There's too big a ? over this to call it locked in.

To be honest you can't rule out Saturday post news or 2nd Sunday for F2A for 1 of the 4 F2A slots at this stage either. Obviously Sunday has less clashes with Fox & they want to boost that lead in (they got that partially by going live though their arms had to be twisted) but the 4 team lead in concept is still alive. However if Fox is satiated with simulcasting the 4 F2As, has 5 games exclusive including Sunday nights, don't be surprised if you see a game after the news on F2A on Saturdays.

Despite what Rothfield says all this stuff is still in play.

 

[LineBall]

Fail to see how Thursday night is going to be that much better than Friday night for crowds. After the novelty factor wears off - it will be just as bad.

 

[applesauce]

Concerns Ten deal could give News Corp too much power over AFL, NRL

Foxtel's purchase of 15 per cent of the Ten Network could give Rupert Murdoch's global media conglomerate News Corporation too much power over Australian sport, opponents of the deal say.
Any terrestrial television network bidding for the right to broadcast sporting events would have to co-operate with pay-TV network Foxtel, which is 50 per cent-owned by News Corp, and there are fears in the media industry and professional sport that Foxtel would want to include Ten in any deal.
A source suggested that the two main football codes might receive only one offer each: a joint bid from Ten and Foxtel or Fox Sports, which is 100 per cent-owned by News Corp, and either Nine Entertainment Co or Seven West Media.
The Australian Football League and National Rugby League would like record-breaking broadcast deals of $1.5 billion to $2 billion each over five years. They hope for intense competition between free-to-air networks, Foxtel, Telstra and other companies keen on gaining some digital rights.
Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein has said previously that the potential stake in Ten would not have much of an impact of sports rights negotiations and the pay-TV provider would work with whoever had the best deal.
Competition lawyers have suggested that if the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approves the Foxtel-Ten deal it would increase the level of scrutiny of sports rights contracts to make sure Ten would not be given an unfair advantage.
The NRL and AFL want at least one more match a week shown on free-to-air television, up from the three and four Nine and Seven respectively show under current arrangements.
The sporting codes had hoped Ten would bid for an additional match but fear a consortium would bid for only the current number of matches but change the mix across the networks.
Global Media and Sports chief executive Colin Smith, who worked for the NRL on its last TV deal, said if the Foxtel-Ten tie-up was vetoed by the ACCC sport could suffer, given Ten's financial future would be called into question.
"What you would have then is a cosy duopoly with Seven and Nine for free-to-air rights and I don't think you'll ever see anti-siphoning (which guarantees prominent sports for the free-to-air networks) disappear completely."
Another source said Nine could be keen to bid for large portions of both the NRL and AFL, in an effort to overtake Seven as the highest-rating network.

 

[Incorrect]

Fail to see how Thursday night is going to be that much better than Friday night for crowds. After the novelty factor wears off - it will be just as bad.

Perhaps...

in any case, the NRL don't really seem to care about crowd numbers, only how much they can generate from their TV deal which is what this is all about...

 

[LineBall]

Perhaps...

in any case, the NRL don't really seem to care about crowd numbers, only how much they can generate from their TV deal which is what this is all about...

The holy grail is top dollar from TV and improved crowds, but it appears that to get one, you have to sacrifice the other.

 

[BuffaloRules]

My maths FWIW and yes it's a simplistic viewpoint.
$1.7bn over 5 years equates to $340m per annum.And I realise there are non cash inclusions.

16 teams x grants of $12m = $192m pa.

Leaving $148m in the kitty pa to cover admin ,grassroots,future fund etc.But other income streams such as merchandise ,NRL sponsorship to be added to the annual figure.

IMHO if the NRL were to increase the no of teams to 18 ,i.e. Banana 2 and the Perf(sic) Reds,an additional 2x $12m in grants would be outlaid =$24m

That leaves per annum $124m allowing for any non cash offsets
to run the show.
Remembering when the great Gallop was in charge, the code in toto relied on less than $100m pa.The great $500m over 6 years deal.:sarcasm:

My view (if we crack $1.7bn) the code can increase to 18 teams,and still have plenty to grow the game,fund the admin and grassroots ,pu away for infrastructure funding and player insurance/welfare.

I just want to point out that the "non TV/media revenue" was $124 Mil in 2014, and will be likely a minimum of $150 Mil come 2018...

So if you add it to your leftover $124 Mil a year assuming 18 teams then there is $274 Mil a year for the NRL..

 

[Incorrect]

The holy grail is top dollar from TV and improved crowds, but it appears that to get one, you have to sacrifice the other.

Yep, that certainly seems to be the case

 

[docbrown]

The holy grail is top dollar from TV and improved crowds, but it appears that to get one, you have to sacrifice the other.

True and that's just the nature of negotiation. The question is - can they get a better compromise than last time?

Just hypothetically - say they end up with:
9 games with 4 F2A, 5 Fox and all simulcast
All live & no clashing timeslots

F2A: Thursday Night, Friday Night, Saturday Night, Sunday Afternoon

Fox Exclusive: Saturday Afternoon, Saturday Twilight, Sunday Arvo Early, Sunday Evening plus another game which changes between Monday Evening (on public holidays), Saturday Arvo Early & Sunday Noon (for Warriors at home or special events)

Plus event holiday games on Friday Arvo & Monday Arvo covered on F2A & Simulcast.

That would be a better balance in $$$, every game live, getting NRL F2A TV exposure (preferably across 2 channels) and crowd friendly slots - you'd have potentially 4 to 5 slots a week where games finish before 6 to 7pm with only 1 game a week where people have work/school next day. Heck, if 10 jags Saturdays or Sundays we could end up with 4 regular Saturday or Sunday slots.

That's what the NRL are going for.

 

[Incorrect]

As an aside... I'd make the comment that I don't think there's the depth/quality of talent in the game at the moment to service 2 more teams.... I think it should stay at 16 for at least 5 more years. By adding 2 teams and with the rise of the salary cap, I think you end up seeing old crocks like Watmong hanging around well past their used by date... which benefits the player, but not the fan (especially an eels fan like me in reference to Watmong )

 

[LineBall]

As an aside... I'd make the comment that I don't think there's the depth/quality of talent in the game at the moment to service 2 more teams.... I think it should stay at 16 for at least 5 more years. By adding 2 teams and with the rise of the salary cap, I think you end up seeing old crocks like Watmong hanging around well past their used by date... which benefits the player, but not the fan (especially an eels fan like me in reference to Watmong )

Possibly. I do think that having extra teams would make it easier to make the draw fairer.

Having 18 teams - ideally you would have a 17 round comp - play each team once, - then go to finals. Have break mid season for Origin - Pacific tests etc.

Of course the problem is having less games to sell. Need to promote quality over quantity when pitching this to the broadcasters.

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

The most interesting rumor about this is the salary cap going up to 11 million. That would make the competition VERY interesting

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Don't know about the lack of players if the game expands really, with a bigger cap the NRL clubs can go after ex League players currently in Union and maybe a few decent younger union prospects and of course emerging nation League sides. The PNG Hunters will be producing players as if by conveyor belt it's just up to the clubs to actually go out of their way to cherry pick the talent they want. We also have Fiji joining the NSWCup next year and if they can do half as good as the Hunters have so far in the QLD Cup, we will have another option again with players doing all they can to make a pro team and better their and their families lives, two new conveyor belts and not one in the NRL taking up a place for a local team and also having to fork out 20 pus million a year just to get off the starting line, win win if you ask me.

 

[hutch]

I don't buy the not enough talent for more team line either. In every comp, salary cap or not, there will be good teams and there will be bad teams. We have some good players in nsw cup, qld cup and running around in PNG, NZ and the pacific islands. We may also attract players from rugby union both here and overseas.

 

[Desert Qlder]

The Rothfield report, though we should put very little stock in it, is interesting for one reason.

It would effectively mean one night game is replaced by an extra Sunday game. That would be a very good result for the game. It was also good to hear the NRL is aware of fan fatigue.

Thursday night football is far more palatable if it means the end of the second Friday and Monday games.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

If the NRL get as much as stated, they could actually throw a pittance into a London Franchise (compared to running an NRL club, about a quarter if that I think) and poach all the locals that come thru that are stands outs for the NRL plus send some of the better players to the team in their "last hurrah" from the NRL to keep the team at a competitive level thus helping RL in that area that has been chased to be cracked now since Sutherland? back in the 1930's from Sydney who wanted London propped up along with the soon to have been Pro/Semi Pro French League of the 1930's... I can understand people saying no let England and all the rest in that Hemisphere stand on their own but in a time like this when you actually have the finances, sometimes it's better to just get on with it because you may never have a chance again, and who knows if it works and works well, it'll have flow on effects right through the whole game not just in the South of England

*Should actually talk about this in the international section.