NRL channel may help sweeten new TV broadcast rights deal
BY: SIMON CANNING From: The Australian May 07, 2012 12:00AM
A dedicated NRL TV channel is on the agenda in the bidding for broadcast rights. Source: The Daily Telegraph
A DEDICATED National Rugby League channel on Foxtel is back on the agenda as the pay-TV channel and the Nine Network submit their bids to retain the NRL rights today.
In their most important job since taking control of the NRL this year, the commissioners will start assessing the Nine Network and Fox Sports bids for broadcast rights, expected to be less than $1 billion.
The code is keen to expand its free-to-air presence up to four games a week, but the NRL remains vitally important to Foxtel on the east coast and in regional areas, where the company has taken over regional pay-TV provider Austar.
Fox Sports is originally believed to have ruled out a dedicated channel for the code, similar to its AFL Footy channel, but a proposal is expected to be part of the offer and could form a significant part of the contra element of Fox Sport's offer.
The bid for a billion-dollar pay day will rely heavily on the code's ability to leverage interest from the Seven Network and Network Ten, who will be allowed to bid if the NRL takes the rights to a public auction.
While the 16 clubs making up the competition hope for a cash windfall, another, no less important element may prove crucial in deciding who wins the battle.
Contra advertising -- free ads the NRL can use to promote memberships and ticket sales -- are expected to be an important factor in the winning bid as the NRL hunts for a way to fill its vast stadiums.
While the AFL can fill stadiums such as the MCG for its home and away matches, the NRL's decision to move from smaller suburban grounds and embrace bigger venues such as Sydney's 80,000-seat ANZ Stadium, the 52,000-seat Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the 45,000-seat Allianz Stadium in Sydney, the 30,000 AAMI Park in Melbourne and the 27,000-seat Skilled Park on the Gold Coast has increased the need to help promote its home and away matches.
The new venues have been criticised as lacking atmosphere due to empty seats.
More than 10 per cent of the AFL's $1.25bn broadcast deal came from similar contra deals and the code has been using the free advertising to great effect to promote membership and ticket sales.
Seven has filled its broadcasts with ads for coming games in various markets, and the contra has also been used to secure space in other broadcasts, in particular Seven's V8 Supercars coverage.
Over on Fox Sports, the code is also flooding the network with ads across all of the Fox Sports-owned channels and has launched the dedicated Footy channel.
There has also been keen interest from Seven to grab the jewel in the crown NRL State of Origin series if it fails in a bid to win the rights outright, while Ten would love to boost its ratings with some NRL games.
Nine retaining the code in a deal with Fox Sports remains the most likely outcome, but some observers fear that cash remains the overriding motivator for the NRL and the new commission, and it may be willing to split the two.
