there are so many ways to access digital content now though.
the AFL's rights deal that commences this season got itself a great "new media" deal. foxtel and the AFL are both saying that all games will be live through "internet foxtel" which is available through an xbox or a tbox.
they also have a mobile deal with telstra where all games will be available on mobile devices (presumably at a fee.) telstra also nabbed a live game for it's bigpond tv, but it would seem a bit redundant because as far as i know it's only available where internet foxtel is already available. (perhaps through their website for bigpond customers?)
to ignore these developments would be negligent of the NRL, because it's where the future is going.
and this isn't a monopoly at all. theoretically Sony could bid for digital rights and make games available through a PS3 app. Channel 7 already have an app available through the PS3 (and could easily do the same for xbox, as ABC iView does), so there's a number of new media options available.(thinking about it, I could theoretically bid for the rights myself if I could get the money from a device and from sponsors to make money - though i'd have to pay for the fox sports/fta coverage, which limits options for bidders)
the telco's are in such competition now they'll be falling over themselves for the mobile device deal (assuming Telstra don't have this locked up already - which will have been short sighted by the NRL if so.) Say what you want about Vodafone - they can't create a decent phone service, but damn they put together a good cricket app.
do these deals take money away from the game? not at all. because for this rights deal, proven results should see fox sports paying a lot more than they have been (as in, twice as much as they have been). mobile devices and internet tv are added income.
and if they take off? well, in 5 years time maybe it takes away from the television rights - but if it's because people are using new media options, then they are worth more money.
i just can't believe new media isn't a cash cow. iTunes has proven over a long period of time that piracy was less about money and more about access. if you make this stuff accessible, people are prepared to pay for it.
i dunno how you do it. I don't know whether you just sell all new media to Telstra and let them broadcast live on mobile device and bigpond tv. I don't know whether you split up internet tv and mobile devices as the AFL have done. Maybe you hold onto your own internet tv rights and offer an xbox/ps3 app and tbox/apple tv channel on a game pass type option as the NFL has done. (most new tv's are internet ready and could offer this functionality without the external device as well).
either way - this is the future of broadcasting. as long as there is the vision to ensure that a mobile deal (ala vodafone and cricket australia) is not at the expense of internet tv (because they're different markets), and there is due dilligence by the NRL to actually understand the importance of this, it has to be a winner.
it's critical that they get it right though - in 5 years it'll be too late. i have no issue admitting that the AFL does its broadcast deals much, much, MUCH better than the NRL. so in a way, perhaps we should be grateful that the AFL went first. people will say it's cost us money in the tv deals - i don't agree with this. the same tv networks will still offer as much as they would have before - in the case of Channel 10, they'll probably offer more.
so the AFL going first is a good thing, because they've shown the NRL how new media needs to be treated.
but i have a horrible feeling that the whinge after the next deal is done won't be about finances, because I think they'll get their billion. the whinge will be that the NRL did nothing to further its new media presence, and instead ended up with the same bigpond tv deal as they have now (24 hour delay) so as not to go against foxtel (which would be unacceptable, we need this to be a live option), and maybe an increased mobile device presence. though if it helps to get foxtel to cough up $600m, they may just get internet tv. at least it will be a presence to build on going forward.
