One clear message has emerged out of today’s NRL rights deal: dollars outweigh fans.
The rise in the price tag, now over the $1 billion mark with New Zealand rights included, has simply continued to indulge Channel Nine’s habit of forgetting those the game should serve – the fans.
The details of the new rights deal are as follows:
Nine will broadcast:
– Three weekly matches (two on Friday and one on Sunday).
– Three Thursday evening matches over the course of the year.
– A stand-alone Test and City versus Country weekend.
– Wednesday night State of Origin matches.
– A night-time grand final (7.15pm kick-off).
– The Roosters-Dragons Anzac Day matches.
– Two hours of rugby league content each evening on digital Channel 94 plus two hours of content on Saturday and Sunday morning.
– Nine will ensure that all of its matches are telecast on either the ‘primary’ or ‘digital’ station in each state.
– The Queensland Super Cup.
Fox Sports will telecast:
– Five weekly matches across Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
– Thirteen Sunday evening matches (6.30pm) over the course of the year.
– The Storm versus Warriors Anzac Day game (other than in 2014).
– Three non-NRL matches each week played in conjunction with the Telstra Premiership game (which will be shared between Toyota Cup, NSW Cup and GIO Schoolboys Cup).
Other main points include:
– Nine and Fox Sports will provide coverage of The Four Nations Tournament.
– The first 20 rounds of the premiership will be scheduled in advance of the season.
– The final six rounds will be scheduled at Round 16.
So essentially nothing has changed despite the increased price that Channel Nine and Fox Sports have forked out for the exclusive rights.
Nine CEO David Gyngell said he was “unapologetic” about the fact that one Friday night match will remain delayed, rather than being shown on one of their digital channels.
The NRL and its broadcasters have passed up a crucial opportunity to put the fans first, and the fact is Gyngell and Channel Nine simply don’t care.
Compare this to the AFL negotiations last year, worth a similar amount, that resulted in every game being shown live in HD and a standalone AFL channel being re-booted.
Granted in Queensland most AFL games are on Fox, but there is an opportunity for people to see all nine games on the weekend live if they want to.
In their negotiations, the AFL showed that they were willing to at least move towards a more equitable solution for fans.
This new rights deal is a slap in the face to many NRL fans and Gyngell’s argument that exclusivity grants them the right to do this is absurd.
Even accepting the premise that they have the prerogative to do this, the broadcasters should want to do more, and the NRL should demand more.
Sports broadcasting is an incredibly competitive industry, particularly with the advent of live streaming and a 24-hour online news cycle, and a deliberate decision to stand still puts them on the back-foot.
It wouldn’t matter if they had paid 10 billion for these rights because there is essentially no change in what is being offered up.
The NRL was in the box seat on this one, in that the AFL had shown its cards and locked in their coverage well before and it had a chance to match it.
Those at the top of the game will happily spruik the fact that the overall financial benefit rivals that of the AFL, but fans aren’t going to take solace in that.
As long as Channel Nine chooses to delay games in spite of the criticism and backlash they have received, and in spite of the opportunity to do more, profits are irrelevant.
All I can say is, thank goodness for Fox Sports!
Shaun
Guest
Im glad Im not the only one who hates channel 9, I thought I was going crazy. Ive been watching the game plan on channel 10 and I think I remember them saying that they where wanting to have 4 games Live a week, I dont know what people would rather on Free to Air TV, 1 game Live or 4? I dont know I must be crazy for wanting 4? I guess the new "Independent Commission" dosnt really care about the "Game" or the Fans, they only care about Dollars. I would like to know how many dollars each of them will be getting from this deal? I thought the whole reason for them being there was for doing the right thing for the Game, I know money is important, but ethier way Channel 9 or 10 it would of been a fair amount of Money and Rugby League would of Survived ethier way. I guess we just have to put up with channel 9s bad coverage for a little longer. Thank God for Pay TV!!!!
Nik
Guest
Channel nine in the past ten years i can say has sux for the nrl but for others sports it has been a toouch better then the nrl . I really want ch 10 to get it because i wanted something fresh and new im sick of the same stuff nine does ONE live match you are you kidding on FTA im sure ten would on showen more matches on ten one friday night live match two live on saturday onehd could show one at 530 pm then the main channel or stay with onehd at 730pm and other match on sunday live at 3pm either ten or onehd and the rest on fox something like would be good but ch 9 isnota new deal all they did is re signed the contract good luck nine may i add nine didnt dogood olympiccoverage im not in the country atm but all i readabout on fb comments about nine i can imagine thats how nine is poorly run sports they care about their nit the nrl fans thats why people who dont have fox would watch afl ciz it live eg saturday night or afternoon
Neil
Guest
What does the reds and lions have to do with NRL on tv!! Your point is null and void. We are talking about rugby league supporters here. I for one believe that the Friday night games must e rotated between the broncos, cowboys and titans. But Brisbane people who do not support rugby league but are watching are more likely going to at least watch a Brisbane team instead of a nsw team
Neil
Guest
The reason crowds will drop is because Sunday nights and Thursday evenings are not family friendly time slots to physically goto the footy... Same as a Monday night people have to work the next day. Thursday's an Sunday's combined totals 16 games per year in a non family friendly time slot that's 16 games this year that would have been played on a Friday or a Saturday therefore crowd figures will be hurt. Monday nights draw approximately 60% of the usual crowd that goes on a weekend.
Boydy
Guest
And so would I. I have absolutely NO problem with a Qld team involved in the 7:30 game, that's just common sense. I'm even willing to bet that it would rate equally as well because Qlders will watch anything as long as there's a Qld team involved. My argument is the only reason that it's the Broncos every week is because Ch9 is a sponsor. If it's not bad enough that we have to sit through their games every Friday night now they also have their own show on a Sunday afternoon (I'll bet we never see the ratings on that one). A mate of mine (who is a Broncos supporter) said to me the other day in reference to that Sunday arvo show, "You know what, this sort of thing is why the supporters of every other club in the comp hate us"
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
"Is that how you came up with your theory that everyone in SEQ prefer to watch the Broncos???" I'm going by the television ratings for Friday NRL matches that are broadcast into south-east Queensland. I don't know what they're like this season, but over the past few years they've been at their highest when the Broncos are playing. That's why Nine put them there. If the Cowboys and Titans drew higher ratings then they would get the bulk of the Friday night games. I'm not a Broncos supporter. I hate them. I'm a Cowboys supporter who happens to live in Logan. I'd love it if there were more games involving the Cowboys on FTA.
Boydy
Guest
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League, I actually have Foxtel and I watch just about every game over the weekend but I, like most people are sick and tired of having to watch one team every Friday night in prime-time. As for your remark about people in SEQ preferring to watch the Broncos, here a few stats for you to mull over: There are 3.1 million of the 4.5 million Queenlanders living in SEQ. Of this percentage, the Bronocos have a membership of approx. 25,000. (I'll let you do the maths). The Reds and the Lions both have bigger memberships. No doubt you are drawing your assumptions that people prefer to watch the Broncos on the fact that you, like most Broncos supporters, sit and watch their games all huddled together so you can all agree that they're the greatest team in the world when they win and were totally robbed when they lose. Actually I just did a vox pop here at work and it totally blew your theory that people in SEQ prefer the Broncos because I just asked the 5 blokes here in the office who they support and only one said the Broncos, therefore 80% of the people I interview said they didn't like Brisbane. Is that how you came up with your theory that everyone in SEQ prefer to watch the Broncos???
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
well said!!
Australian Rules
Guest
What if they're just a real sports fan?
Australian Rules
Guest
Completely agree. Most of the comments in all these articles mention the AFL almost obsessively. I guarantee when the AFL announced their deal, the NRL wasn't mentioned once.
sheek
Guest
Gaz, You kidding me? The Daily Telegraph is the mouthpiece of rugby league, swarming with a dozen or more journalists who stake their careers reporting & writing on rugby league. You might have a sensible approach to the TV rights deal, but believe me, there are also plenty of rugby league folk who WANTED..... WANTED desperately the billion dollar fugure for bragging rights. And that includes the likes of Gyngell & Grant.
marco
Guest
channel 9 paid too much. Rugby league got too little in return. Simple. Why try to match the AFL.They don't seem to care what the NRL does.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
They don't care? Then why, in the press conference to announce this deal, would they mention the AFL multiple times? As Gerard Whateley said: "I'd bet my life that when the AFL announced their new media rights deal, the NRL wasn't even mentioned once". It's like a war where only one of the sides know they're in it.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
The Slingbox is made by the same group that runs Beyonwiz and Homecast. Beyonwiz used to advertise it on their WizTV service. http://www.slingmedia.com.au/
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
eagleJack, Soccer fans in England don't get to see any Premier League matches. Rugby fans in NZ don't get to see Super rugby or NZ Tests. Cricket fans in England don't get to see their Test team play. At least rugby league fans in Australia can say they're getting three NRL matches on FTA. Fans need to realise that they're not helping the game by confining themselves to watching a few matches on TV. They have to join their clubs and go to the matches. If they got off their bums and attended more matches then the ARLC would have been in a position to take less money in exchange for better coverage. People need to grow up and stop whinging. If they couldn't be bothered becoming club members and attending NRL matches then they are just fairweather fans. Rugby league needs fans who are passionate about the game. Investing time and money into the game is part of being a fan. People who just want to watch the odd match FTA are obviously not interested in giving up their precious time and money. How can a rugby league fan say they're a true fan if they aren't willing to give a bit back to the sport that gives them so much enjoyment?
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
The Broncos will always rate in south-east Queensland.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
At least our sport has FTA coverage. Soccer and rugby union fans would give an arm and a leg to get just one A-League/Super 15 game on TV, even if it wasn't delayed by an hour or two.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
A real rugby league fan wouldn't watch AFL when the rugby league is on.
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
Why don't you go to more games?
Queensland's Game Is Rugby League
Guest
Boydy, People in south-east Queensland prefer to see the Broncos. That's why Nine televises Broncos matches into south-east Queensland. If you want to see OTHER teams play then subscribe to Foxtel or wait for the 9:30pm game.