The NRL has secured a record seven-year, $5.3 billion broadcast agreement with Nine and Foxtel, in what the code says is the “largest broadcast and media partnership in Australian sporting history.”
The deal, worth around $750 million annually, eclipses the AFL’s broadcast package for the first time in the NRL’s history. It could grow to almost $800 million a season with the addition of a 20th franchise, a tenth game per round and New Zealand television investment.
Australian Rugby League (ARL) Commission Chairman V’landys said the structure of the new deal marked a significant shift from previous agreements. “95% is cash, 5% is contra. This compares to the previous deals, where the contra was 10%, so we have got a 90% uplift in cash,” he said.
“This has been achieved by some very hard work in the past five years.”
Nine has retained the commercial rights to the game, including exclusive coverage of State of Origin and the grand final. Foxtel, meanwhile, retained the rights to broadcast all other games via its Fox League and Kayo platforms.
Foxtel had pitched to work in conjunction with the Seven Network and Network Ten to simulcast the Origin series and the grand final. Nine is understood to have offered additional money to retain exclusive access to both properties.
The deal includes a clause for the addition of a 20th NRL team by the 2029-30 season, most likely based in New Zealand. The Perth Bears will join the competition next year, expanding it to 18 teams. The PNG Chiefs will enter in 2028, followed soon after by a further team, with a consortium from New Zealand or Queensland the frontrunners for that licence.
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Under the new deal, Foxtel and Kayo will broadcast nine live games a round, six of them exclusively, while Nine will continue to broadcast three matches a round. Foxtel has also secured the rights to the additional match once the competition expands to 20 teams.
At 20 teams, Foxtel will broadcast seven matches a week live and exclusive on Fox League and Kayo, simulcasting the remaining three with Nine.
V’landys and departing chief executive Andrew Abdo led the negotiations for the code.
From Mediaweek