The ARL Commission has wasted little time in turning its attention to its next rights deal, forecasting the possibility of having NRL matches streamed live on mobile devices in 2013.
A day after announcing a $1.025 billion broadcast deal, ARLC interim chief executive Shane Mattiske said talks over new media rights were already well down the track.
Mattiske also revealed the league could go out on its own in a bid to tap into the potentially lucrative market, which has become a far more valuable commodity under the new television deal announced on Tuesday.
Under the current broadcasting deal, live streaming was only permitted to overseas destinations – with Australian audiences forced to wait until 24 hours after the game had completed.
But under the new television deal announced on Tuesday, those restrictions have been removed in what could prove to be a financial windfall for the game.
“A key element of what was held out of the broadcast deals was our ability to deliver a stream that’s simultaneous to the broadcast signal to people for viewing over mobile devices,” Mattiske told AAP.
“We’re in discussions now in terms of those media rights, we’re talking to range of parties and we’re also considering whether or not the game should exploit these rights on it’s own rather than granting them to a third party.
“I think it’s something fans can expect to see in the 2013 season.”
The AFL sold its new media rights to Telstra for $153 million in 2011.
Mattiske revealed the ARLC fought hard for the right to stream matches during its negotiations with broadcasters.
“We wanted to be in a position so that we can take advantage of the growth in consumption of content,” Mattiske said.
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