We’ve had more kite-flying this week about the relocation or removal of Sydney clubs and the expansion of the NRL at the behest of Channel Nine.
Nine’s director of sport, Tom Malone, has been up front about his network wanting to keep the number of teams at 16, because as he told The Daily Telegraph, “More clubs and more games just adds more cost – but is unlikely to generate any incremental revenue.”
This muscle-flexing by the free-to-air network is hardly a surprise. Broadcasters want more eyes on screens, more chances to make cash and they’ve put a truckload of their own money on the line for the chance to do so.
Whether fans like it or not (and usually it’s not), the price of doing business at this level is that your broadcast partner gets a big say in how things run – like scheduling, for example. That’s why big-drawing teams like Brisbane are on free-to-air so often.
In 2015, when the NRL’s current television broadcast deal was up for negotiation, then-NRL CEO David Smith was widely panned for leaping into bed with Nine at the earliest opportunity, seduced a little too easily by the allure of $925 million.
The network’s bid basically offered nothing new on what had always happened and there was little if any appetite from Smith and the NRL work in any new broadcast requirements – they just rolled over.
The CEO resigned shortly after signing the Nine deal but before an agreement was reached over the pay-TV rights.
Smith’s decision and lack of investigation of other options showed the NRL was borderline subservient to Channel Nine. There were a stack of things that needed to be addressed about the coverage, but the NRL through Smith squibbed the tough conversation yet again.
Is it just a sure thing then that Nine will get the rights again from 2023? Is that in the interests of rugby league? You could make a strong argument that the network takes the game for granted.
This year Nine promised “a brand-new, fresh look that takes rugby league into the future”. But there is little to no innovation or creativity in their suite of offerings.
Until the last five games of the season, when a Saturday night game is added, they still only show three live games out of eight.
Their talent pool is also pitifully small. Because there are only three games, it’s the same play-by-play and special-comments people for almost every broadcast: Phil Gould, Paul Vautin, Wally Lewis, Darren Lockyer, Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler.
Additions like Ruan Sims, Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston offer variety of opinion but overwhelmingly we are getting more of the same banal in-jokes and whinging.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
That NRL commentary team spends more time complaining about refereeing decisions and pining for the old days than they do telling us what’s going on out on the field.
Post-game coverage has devolved into which of the expert panel can dramatically editorialise about how a refereeing decision ruined everything or how the game is soft and not like it used to be.
Once they’ve all agreed with each other about how the game is in crisis, it’s into the rooms for painfully awkward interviews with players that have absolutely zero to do with the game we just watched and serve no purpose other than letting Nine post emoji-loaded social media videos of these apparently hilarious antics.
That’s for those lucky enough to see the post-game coverage, anyway. Broadcasts into cities like Melbourne are cut the instant the final whistle blows, suddenly switching to a movie or some other pointless show. This even happens with State of Origin games, the supposed showcase of the best of the best.
If the NRL were serious about getting the most of out their broadcast deal, maybe they’d look at a partner or partners who have some semblance of interest in growing the game rather than treating it like its own plaything.
The sports media landscape is changing rapidly. Budgets are tight and while marquee leagues like the NRL and AFL will still command the biggest deals, there are no guarantees that numbers like the $1.8 billion for the current contract will be matched.
So the NRL need to be smarter about how they approach this round of negotiations. There are opportunities, such as selling Origin as its own package, selling Magic Round as a stand-alone product and requiring every game be broadcast live, selling different nights to different channels, and an allocation for simulcast pay-TV-only games if the league requires it – say, for example, this Sunday’s Tigers versus Sharks top-eight decider at Leichhardt.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
I’d be most surprised if there weren’t digital-exclusive games broadcast on the NRL TV platform for a nominal fee. If they’ve spent so much money building the platform, why not use it for the premium content?
Currently Telstra has the digital rights. Surely the NRL would bring that in house and look at how they can boost paid subscriptions? One option is team-only packages where you can watch your club’s games live for the season.
The options are endless and there’s a stack of ways to package the game to boost the cash injection, grow the game around the country, and give fans something new and fresh compared to this same old, same old. Rugby league is screaming out for it.
As for relocating clubs, removing clubs or adding teams, that’s going to happen no matter which channel is broadcasting. The NRL have made clear their intentions for expansion, and for it to work properly, the broadcaster needs to back it in. They won’t if they don’t get a say in it.
Whoever holds the broadcast rights will have a huge amount of sway in what happens and where. That’s the price of doing business.
The next deal is a great chance to move away from the traditional arrangements and create something that can suit pretty much everyone.
If Channel Nine want to be part of it, I’d hope the NRL has the courage to tell them how things will be, rather than get overawed and treated like a patsy yet again.
mushi
Roar Guru
Didn't nine have first and last rights during the last round? I thought that was a big reason for a single negotiation to remove the first and/last rights. Also worth remembering that most analysts lampooned nine for the $ paid per advertising minute for the ratings.
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
As long as it includes the gold coast titans, your 2021 premiers
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
For a start Tim.You have previously stated it(rl) hasn’t grown for 124 years, meaning from 1895. Rugby league officially started in Oz in 1908.Rugby league started in PNG during after the war years in the 1940s.Rugby league wasn’t around in NZ 124 years ago.Rugby league was not played in Fiji prior to the world 7s in the 1990s.Nor France til 1938. Rugby league wasn’t played played in Ukraine/Serbia/Spain/Czech Republic,/Italy/Norway/Malta/Serbian/Lebanon/Turkey,nor Ghana,DRC,Morocco ,nor Jamaica,nor the Pacific Islands til the noughties,regardless of the number of teams playing.And in the last couple of years some South American countries. To say there is no growth is absolute rubbish.If you start with nothing and you have something that is growth. Nor was rugby league officially allowed in the British Armed Services on a regular basis til the 90s. I’m self employed ,to show where you are constantly wrong and your telling untruths, which is an easy job for me, and to call you out because you constantly get away with it. So your smart comments re lack of supposed growth in 124 years ,have zero to do with what heritage players do in Western Sydney. All anyone has to do ,is do some research it’s not hard.No need for me to change an alias either ,to do it. When I make a statement I try to back it up, which I’ve done, something you could learn to do instead of anti rl sniping with your usual Western Sydney routine . Are you employed to come onto rugby league threads (with various name changes over the years) to bag anything to do with rugby league?Hater’s going to hate is most apt.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Let's all whinge about 9's commentators, and how how having to pay for the privilege to listen to Dan Ginnane, Matt Russell, Andrew Voss, Steve Roach, Justin Hodges, Danny Buderas, Mark Gasnier, Michael Ennis is better
Nick
Roar Guru
It’s very hard to find NRL in bars in A-Pac. I think they only way people show it is either through quasi-legal satellite subscriptions, or rolling the dice and VPNning in and showing fox sports/channel 9…which I do from my home, but is absolutely illegal in a public setting. Which is why the AFL have an easy win. It’s cheap, easy and 100% legal to show the AFL.
John
Guest
I see more bars showing live AFL games in Hong Kong than NRL.
John
Guest
I was going to say, I remembered seeing a lot of live NRL matches on Setanta in a fair few expat bars in Hong Kong over the last few years and only just noticed that the coverage has the FOX logo. I guess that explains why NRL coverage in Hong Kong has dropped off significantly, used to be able to watch State of Origin live in a lot of bars in Wan Chai.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Clipper Kayo ATM is small by comparison for the NRL ,but a lot cheaper than having Foxtel .
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Thanks Big Daddy.Not hiding mate had several things to attend to , time consuming.Just recently came up for fresh air.Such is life.
Fix the scrums
Guest
Where will the Thursday night NRL game be shifted to now that channel 9 has ditched it? Plus I wish commentators like Phil Gould would stop saying " we should be doing things like the AFL ". It's becoming tiresome. The AFL has a different model and is looking seriously at a 20 team competition, including Tasmania. But the NRL has origin and internationals. Both codes play to their strengths. That's the way it is. Just have to make the most of it. FTA tv is essential to growing a sport. Kayo and Fox appeal to rusted on supporters. Advertiser's and sponsors want to see games rating well on FTA nationally. Not just in two states. If nine shifts Thursday nights game it may not be in a prime time spot. Saturday night NRL is usually reserved for Foxtel.
The real SC
Roar Rookie
You can watch the State of Origin and the NRL GF on 4 alternate camera streams on 9Now so that you won't have to put up with the ads and Gus and Ray talking dribble during the 80 minutes of the match. The alternate camera streams will mean that there is commentary free. Go back to last year and the ratings was about 2.3 million for Game 1 at the MCG. Game 1 at Suncorp Stadium this year was down but still won the night for Nine by a lopsided margin over Seven. Some people are going into streaming the matches on 9Now. If you look at the ratings trend, you can see that numbers will start to fall by a fraction with some people opting for the streams. Some people want to opt for the streams so they don't have to put up with the stupid promos of The Voice, pop up ads and the stale commentary. In 2020, the Live VPM will go up further.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
Hope you're right about Foxtel, in the near future, Planko. To subscribe to Kayo, for around the same money, you need to be with Optus (very limiting), getting just the footy, for that money, will appeal to many, including me.
Big Daddy
Guest
Makes Sense. Have you been hiding. Haven't seen your posts on here for a while.
Don
Roar Rookie
It began with the success of the Footy Shows. The actual match broadcast over time morphed into a 80 minute live action footy show. The success of the sports based light entertainment program meant the content of analysis and reporting made way for opinion and the "in joke."
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The NRL is unlikely to comment til they start negotiations.Why? Greenberg is apparently doing research authorised by the ARLC to look at the structure of the comp for the next TV deal, and whether expansion forms part of that. The results supposedly due about November, whether they will be made public then, is anyone's guess. The the way I read it, armed with how the comp will look, they intend to go to the TV networks 1 year earlier next year ,with their proposals. Malone from ch9 has since pulled his head in.No need for the NRL to comment.Malone is a novice when it comes to the politics and fan involvement in Sydney. Malone needs to look at his bland, jaded commentary team, the over the top negativity emanating by at least one of his commentators(Gus Gould),it's a turnoff for a lot of people.Yet apparently he cannot see it.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The large proportion of the TV rights is Pay TV, I would have thought.Nine is not insignificant ,but another player ( ch10) is at least backed by the CBS network, and judging by the reality dross they are dredging up, a popular sport would be welcome to their programming, especially with respect to ad income. The code is doing financially well on its digital platform.
Big Daddy
Guest
If the t.v. deal is smaller the flow on effect is the grants to the club's will get smaller which will put a lot of pressure on the less financial clubs. We don't know what agenda Ch9 are cooking up but if they are so vocal about keeping 16 teams and moving clubs and the NRL don't like it what can they do. They can't grow the game without t.v. coverage. All this bravado from Ch9 and we haven't a peep from the NRL.
Nick
Roar Guru
yeah...that's not true. Sure, AFL will not have, and will never have the week in, week out following overseas as it will in Australia. But, it does have a strong ex-pat following, and it's got an ability to bring in non-Aussies into the local leagues/kick arounds as well. People do watch and people will go to bars to watch. As far as I know, there is no legal sport package you can buy in A-Pac that will show the NRL. The AFL isn't even on a sports pack. ABC Australia comes as a default channel in most payTV packages in A-Pac. The point is, the game gets cheap and easy exposure in pubs and bars overseas where non-Australians watch, while people don't even know there is a distinction between league and union. People view AFL as chaotic, violent and fun whereas they don't even know rugby league is a sport.
Nick
Roar Guru
Well said, qwetzen. They did it with the cricket too...started treating the viewers like chumps, started treating CA like chumps, got super complacent and then one day found themselves outbid and gone! The viewing public deserved better. Channel 7 and Foxtel heard the plea for a better class of production and commentary and saw that investing in it would pay off. The same might happen to channel 9 with the NRL if they don't watch out. Another broadcaster might actually be prepared to spend more and better respect the viewer as a result.
Insider
Roar Rookie
FT “Joey Johns sharp” oh for a second their I thought you were talking about Andrew Johns lol, Ice Hockey yeah ?