While the deal is a win for Fox Sport and News Corp, the NRL is the biggest victor, managing to achieve the broadest possible platform for the code.
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Super Saturday, featuring three live games, will be retained by Fox Sports.
Having previously claimed that News Corp would not match the $550 million they paid for the current broadcast rights after the NRL’s deal with Nine, the company has now spent $1.175b to continue broadcasting five matches per week on Fox Sports.
News Corp papers then moved to try and push down the value of the remaining rights reporting that the code would struggled to even as much as $1.7bn for the rights package.
Additionally, in 2017 Fox Sports Australia will launch a new National Rugby League channel.
Fox Sports will show all eight games every weekend – including five exclusive telecasts each weekend.
Either way, 2016 has the potential to be a very good year for the NRL audience.
So keen was News to grab rugby league – a key reason for subscribers to take up Foxtel subscriptions – it has even agreed to pay an additional $20 million in both 2016 and 2017 to Nine for the right to show the three games live it doesn’t now telecast under the existing contract.
In a media release on Thursday, Nine said a deal had not been done yet but confirmed it was in talks to offload its Saturday night game. “Compared to our current schedule, this result still means more games live and free for our fans and gives grass roots and elite clubs and organisations enormous financial benefits”, he advised.
Andrew Penn, Telstra Chief Executive Officer, said the new agreement reaffirmed Telstra’s leadership in giving Australians access to world class mobile sporting experiences.
After an often vitriolic campaign by News publications, Smith stepped down as NRL CEO – though some observers argued he was pushed out the door and made a “fall guy” for the Nine deal and the subsequent reaction by News.
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The Australian Football League (AFL), which runs the indigenous Australian Rules code, in August sealed a 2.6 billion dollar deal with Foxtel, Telstra and Seven Network to run for six years from 2017. “And together, with our digital partner Telstra, we will deliver the most dynamic NRL coverage to fans than ever before”, he concluded.
