With Optus purchasing the English Premier League TV rights in Australia for their Fetch TV service, Fox Sports are set to lose the rights to the biggest football competition on the planet.
Football fans in Australia and Fox Sports will feel like they have lost out in a big way by the new deal, while the biggest winners are the biggest rugby league competition on the planet, the NRL.
With five channels to fill, plus Fox Footy, Fox Sports need a solid sports program to attract and keep subscribers to their service.
They teamed the Premier League up with the A-League and the occasional replay of other major competitions for plenty of pulling power over football fans. However, with the loss of the EPL from the start of the 2016-17 season, many Foxtel customers have threatened to disconnect from the service. Their main reasoning is that the A-League alone is not enough content to justify forking out $50 per month.
So, how does this benefit the NRL?
Earlier this year the NRL signed a $925 million deal to show four games each weekend on the Nine Network from the beginning of the 2017 season. Fox Sports – a long-time partner of the NRL, with six live and exclusive games each weekend – were not at all happy with the deal, with many speculating it ended up costing former NRL CEO David Smith his job.
Signing the deal with Nine really put Fox Sports executives offside. However, without the EPL for extra content, Fox Sports need to secure the NRL – they might even need to replicate what they have done with the AFL and Fox Footy to lock in subscribers.
The upcoming deal between Fox Sports and the NRL could determine Foxtel’s future. Without premium NRL content – which means lots of live games, whether they are exclusive or not – Fox Sports will lose a lot of their remaining subscriber base, which will surely result in massive downsizing.
Fox Sports can ill afford that, which means they must keep the NRL.
This gives the NRL extra bargaining power in contract negotiations, and they can really get a good dollar value out of Fox Sports – plus maybe even their own channel, which fans have been crying out for after seeing the workings of Fox Footy over the last number of seasons.
Whichever way you look at it, this English Premier League deal with Optus has fallen right into the NRL’s lap and saved whatever they lost by signing early with the Nine Network and upsetting executives at Foxtel.
As an NRL fan, exciting times are ahead.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
Jethro
Guest
How can you follow a code where the neutral ref bought in for the second Eng/NZ test to make sure there is a decider sits in the video box for the decider- the amateur hour never ends...
Jethro
Guest
Glad to see you follow it = time on your hands...
Mamma
Guest
AFL - $1.5bn with a bit of contra incl as are all deals...Funny the daily sports report in the PM on the ABC news channel is from Sydney - but of course that is different for one-eyed NRL people which you certainly are not.......
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Funny you brought that up,whilst Roy was out in his calculations ,so in fact were many AFL fans on this site for the last NRL deal.Ranging from $700m to $800m max.Many slid away in hiding ,a couple justified their calls by stating oh we didn't allow for...............One in fact who continues to haunt these corridors with his latest guesstimates. The AFL deal BTW wasn't by my recollection $1.5bn but I understand $1.25bn.Close enough good enough. If the likes of P Smith, and C Jones can retain their positions in the media,and ditto Rebecca Wilson,then Masters is a shoe in to retain his.Smith and Jones are ignorant on matters of rugby league,yet pretend as though they are experts at times.It's obvious the Offsiders is very flexible when it comes to accuracy on the NRL and at times the Australian.. As someone rightly suggested Melbourne based Melbourne biased.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
A fair swag hang out at Big Footy.
Mamma
Guest
Roy said the AFL wouldn't get a $1bn the deal before and then they got $1.5bn and he spent the next 5 years trying to justify his miscalculation by taking every $$ out of the AFL deal.but not doing likewise for the NRL - why he is still employed is a mystery although perhaps the pool is not deep...
Mamma
Guest
The NRL does not get more unique viewers week to week (you cant count SOO viewers in week to week). AFL people are generally happy with 4 FTA games a week and go to the pub to watch their team if they have to hence Fox Footy to attract subs. AFL has higher genuine interest in Australia but the NRL and AFL ratings for a year are roughly the same but the AFL has higher week to week because of extra game offset by no SOO. Generalisation of the year for a 14 year old -" AFL fans....are brainwashed. NRL fans are not like that" and then says that NRL ratings deserve their own channel but are less than AFL panel show ratings because of brainwashing...These people have to hang out somewhere..
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
But its Roy Mr F.Remember no one takes Roy's comments seriously or that's what we are constantly told. I'll bide my time until a press conference is held and the mugs of Grant,Delaney,and Telstra Reps appear on stage,all buddy buddy ,smiles on faces,as if what transpired in august ($925bn big ones ) never really happened and Rupert's dummy spit was really his way of clearing his choked up throat.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
netflix don't so sport, nor have any interest to
Cowelly
Guest
Netflix is producing films.. I think that isn't an issue buddy
no one in particular
Roar Guru
All this talk about money, as if that is the barometer of how successful the deal is Four matches on FTA, available to 100% of the population, is a better deal then three matches on FTA and 5 available to 30% of the population, even if it's for less money. The more people are able to access the game the more interest they will take in it. That leads to more participants and more viewers down the line. Look at the interest levels of Super Rugby and A-League, and how they sold their souls to pay-tv. The man on the street could not name 3 players from each team. Too many people, including the media, fans and clubs, are too obsessed with what the AFL got. Who cares? It's a different beast, with more games per week and more ads. It's like comparing the deal I got on my home loan to the deal you got on your credit card. The media will dissect it because of vested interests. The clubs will whinge because they just want more and more, and carry on like kids of billionaire parents - have no idea how to control spending and just have their hand out. What is more important - access to more fans and a greater exposure, or more money?
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Roy has just chimed in, figure now around $1.9 billion for five years: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/g-20151112-gkxcaw.html Possible breakdown: Nine 925 - 200m Sat night game - 100m simulcasting = 625m/125m pa (+38%) Fox 200m sat night game + 650m 4 other games + 100m simulcasting = 950m/190m pa (+65%) AUS Total = 1.575bn/315m pa + NZ 100m/20m pa + Telstra 200m/40m pa = 1.875bn/375m pa (~+56%) Probably now getting pretty close to the mark.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
He's talking about how the only consistent advertiser during union on Fox is Land Rover.
dayer
Guest
Daniel, what are you on about ... you do not make sense what so ever. Union is poor in Australia so what this garbage above "high end retailers" crap.
Bruce
Guest
I wouldn't worry about that no one.......the way things are evolving so quickly I could probably produce it from my outhouse shortly.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Paul Kent stated on Twitter that the AFL got a dedicated channel because they asked for one and the NRL didn't, and when asked if they would like one said no. The length these newsltd journos go to lie is breathtaking. I'd take the supposed new deal with a grain of salt
no one in particular
Roar Guru
It's a long way from being signed. The NRL are in no rush, and the new CEO is a higher priority. Unless Fox come in with an offer that blows away everybody then the NRL are in no rush to do anything.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
If the NRL sign with Optus or any other streaming service then how will game be broadcast? How is producing the broadcast and who pays for that? Where to the talent, cameramen, directors and technical staff come? The EPL deal involves Optus receiving a feed and passing it on. Who is producing the feed for the NRL?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Fox Footy as a channel rates – yes. That is because AFL fans consume everything about the game, they are brainwashed. NRL fans are not like that. NRL360 does not get the ratings AFL360 does. However, NRL games get more viewers, and more importantly unique viewers, then the AFL does. The AFL channel exists to attract AFL subscribers. There is no NRL channel because the NRL is a mature product on the platform. You could say 501 is de-facto NRL channel anyway
Ken
Guest
That's not really apples and apples is it? Due to politics they've never had an exclusive NRL channel. The games do tend to rate higher on average. Truthfully there's not much in it.