As I said on another thread, this 3 month period is the time that the NRL needs to be putting pressure on 9. 9 have the weaker stand point. When a Melbourne game is blacked out it needs to be slapped back in their face. Whenever coverage is of a poor quality it needs to be thrown back at them.
Forcing Nine to concede points now like better coverage standards means they won't expect to reduce their bid (see what happens if they try). In turns this means the other networks are likewise obliged to provide a level of service that the NRL demands - also for no fee reduction - because Nine have already agreed to do it and to compete at tender they need to match it.
I still haven't confirmed one Foxtel thing but I can confirm one thing - problem the subject that been scrutinised the most on here - and that's the first and last rights that Channel 9 have.
Apparently Premier Group are "supremely confident" that they have a legal standpoint based on the original contract wording to conject that 9's first bid is required to breakdown the individual components that make up the summary i.e. 9 can't just say $500,000,000 for the lot - they are required to specifically break down which money is for which component and for what degree of coverage upon request from the NRL - which the NRL have requested both 9 & Fox Sports already do.
What this means for example is that Friday Night Football Double Header will have a specific valuation attached to it. If 10 were to come in and bid 20% more for that specific component then 9 no long control the "last rights" for the component.
I'm waiting for another confirmation on this but the words that were specifically used were "supremely confident".
This is the game changer.
