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In a move that is the broadcasting equivalent of the 1992 Parramatta Eels defeating the travelling Lions side, Channel Seven has secured the Australian rights to broadcast every match of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
That is pretty damn cool, if a little bit unexpected. No scratch that, completely unexpected.
When my rugby league affiliates first told me the news Channel Seven would be hosting the World Cup, I wondered why people kept talking to me about hockey. Or badminton. Or horse racing.
No, no, no… the Rugby League World Cup.
Eh?
And they would be showing all matches, live, in high definition “as part of an all-encompassing agreement covering broadcast and subscription television rights, IPTV, interconnected TV, catch-up TV, HbbTV, pay per view, video on demand and digital rights, including online and mobile.”
Is this… real life man?
The news is remarkable on a number of fronts.
First of all, the level of coverage for free-to-air TV is unprecedented. For a an international rugby league fan, like myself, used to trying to find some grainy stream in the remote corners of the interwebs for any games not featuring Australia, having the ease of access via Channel Seven and Seven Mate is quite novel.
This is not to say Fox wouldn’t have covered the Cup in full and do a good job of it, but hey not everyone has the remote with the big buttons.
And then there’s the fact that Channel Nine’s rugby league monopoly has been so stunningly broken, without any real warning.
When Channel Seven spoke about being involved in the bidding process for rugby league games in the last TV rights deal it was a bit like hearing about plans to re-develop Brookvale Oval. Good for a bit of speculation on The Roar, yeah, but never going to happen.
The station had thrown a lot of dough at the AFL, and it had been years since it had showcased Test match rugby league in the early 90s.
Hell, I can remember in the days before the 2008 World Cup opening match the face of Channel Seven, David Koche, going on an extended tirade about the tournament being a ‘farce’ and generally speaking about it as if it was a giant dog turd squished to the bottom of his Italian leather ankle boots.
Yet, here we are.
But where is Nine?
As the face of free-to-air rugby league, it’s pretty easy to slag off Channel Nine for every mistake they make, but in the furious mob’s defence they have made a few over the years.
Their treatment of the 2008 World Cup was extraordinarily shabby, with the coverage level shrinking from mediocre to poor as the tournament progressed.
And, if there Rugby Union World Cup coverage from 2011 was any indication, things didn’t improve an awful lot in this area over time.
While it will be interesting to see the final details of the deal particularly with regards to coverage in each state and a commentary team, Channel Seven appears to have has slotted through a gap, drawn the fullback and put the viewer in support comfortably under the posts for a four pointer.
Here’s hoping that international rugby league can nail the ‘conversion’.
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