V8 Supercars bosses are confident they can drive a hard television rights bargain in the wake of the AFL’s record-breaking deal.
The AFL’s $1.253 billion five-year TV deal is set to change the landscape for Australian sport, with the V8s one of the next cabs off the negotiation rank.
Their TV rights contract ends at the end of 2012.
There are several schools of thought as to how other sports’ television deals might be shaped by the Seven Network and Foxtel securing AFL rights from 2012 to 2016.
One is that the AFL deal lessens the pool of TV money available for other sports.
Another is that it makes them more sought after because networks need further sporting content.
Foxtel continues to be an aggressive seeker of sports programming to drive subscriber growth, while the Nine and Ten networks’ failure to get AFL could leave programming gaps they need to fill.
Current V8 broadcaster Seven’s intentions will become clearer next year when the V8s are made to work around the new AFL deal, which features four free-to-air matches and more live games.
V8 Supercars chief executive Martin Whitaker is confident his sport is in a strong bargaining position as negotiations continue with interested television networks.
“Our product’s very healthy, our racing’s great,” Whitaker told AAP.
“We’ve got really good content, improving content. We know we’re an advertiser’s dream.
“Irrespective of the deal (the AFL) have done, we’d negotiate hard anyway.
“They’ve done a great deal, it’s great for Australian sport.
“We’re a different sport. We’ve got other qualities, other advantages.”
The National Rugby League’s television deal also expires at the end of 2012, and that will also influence greatly how other sports fare.
The Ten Network, with new boss Lachlan Murdoch’s penchant for rugby league well known, is tipped to make a huge play for the NRL rights.
Ten is also seen as a key suitor for the V8s.
The network held the rights before Seven secured them in the previous deal.
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