who knows mate, who knows.
i've said elsewhere that this TV contract is one that the NRL just has to suck up and cop. the first and last rights clause, in my view, was the biggest hindrance on the rights and to have it removed will be an enormous windfall for the game in 3 years time.
ch7 seems to have the AFL in lockdown and will continue to do so. ch10 bidding on it will mean an incremental increase in their rights value. if i was ch10, i would see ch9 as vulnerable to a losing part of the NRL rights.
ch9 is struggling financially and there is backlash to their coverage of the sport. ch10 must surely know it's an easier target to get winter sports content and will go some way to prising that out of ch9 & fox sports hands i think.
meanwhile, AFL fans seem happy with their ch7/fox dual coverage and that will likely continue. as fans it sucks now, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
in the meantime, the NRL needs to get a few things in order. fix the reffing, look for expansion and implement changes at the junior level to see a streamlining of juniors via a draft. if they're all in place by 2016, or at least a plan for this to take place, then we're sweet.
and all the rest will take care of itself.
