With the coronavirus causing the NRL to suspend the season, Channel Nine have threatened to tear up the viewing contracts with the NRL.
Now, a few questions have been asked.
Can Channel Nine do that?
How will the NRL recover from it?
And will this end the NRL?
Allow me to answer these three questions.
1. Can Channel Nine do this?
As it’s a technical breach of contract, I believe they can. However, even though they can, they won’t. Channel Nine needs the NRL as they get so much of their income from them.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
2. How will the NRL recover from this?
The NRL has already planned to reschedule the season for Round 3 to continue in June at the earliest or September at the latest. If the contract is torn up, they’ll have to pick another channel or just stick with Fox, who aren’t planning to tear it up. This would mean everyone will be needing Kayo to watch the games.
3. Will this end the NRL?
For the season it will, and for 2021 onwards, it could. The NRL needs free-to-air viewing, so as much as they can rely on Fox and Kayo, that will be for borrowed time.
We all love the game of footy. No matter who you go for and what differences you have with anyone else, the one similarity is the game we love. When people ask me my favourite season, I always say footy.
The NRL needs to resume in June. Also, the game should continue with crowds in attendance.
That’s two months away and more than enough time for this coronavirus situation to die down.
The game is 80 minutes of our lives we can enjoy watching as a cut from life and our worries.
GWSingapore
Roar Rookie
"it looks like Nine want to leave the NRL temporarily high and dry. The NRL will find out who their true friends are in this crisis." There are NO FRIENDS here. It's a business decision.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
The number of new positives in NSW today has fallen to 127. Hooray., we're flattening the curve But the number of tests were only 3347, just over half as there were the previous day, for a positive rate of 3.8%.
scrum
Roar Rookie
Given the outright greed from the NRL clubs, players and player agents any complaint from them about the NRL not having a war chest is laughable. The NRL commission since its institution has sucked more money out of the game & even with mammoth broadcast deals the greed of the Clubs and players could not be satiated. They have reaped what they have sown. Other sports would have given their left arm for such income. Pity about community league. Nil sympathy from me for NRL Clubs and players.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Er, no. In NSW the positive/test percentage is 2.0% (1791 positives off 91308 tests). Yesterday the number of positives "fell" to 174, and this was off 6401 tests for a positive rate of 2.7%. The day before was 212 positives off 8623 tests (2.5%). You can't find something if you don't look for it It looks to be trending down, but this is solely because the number of tests fell. As people were still socialising and congregating and recent as a week ago, and symptoms take 10-14 days to appear, we are not close to to trending down. Don't look at the number of positives, look at the number of positives as a percentage of tests completed
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Er. Yes. They have. They have trended down for a week. https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers
Officer59
Roar Rookie
If it means we see less of Johns, Fitler & Lockyer then so be it. Those 3 are one reason I never watch or will watch NRL on 9. The most clueless of the lot is Johns.....Lockyer can't string a sentence together & Fittler is just a parrot!
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
the growth rate reduced
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
"That’s two months away and more than enough time for this coronavirus situation to die down." Love your optimisim but is based on medical advice or a guess
Nat
Roar Guru
While they might throw in some 'fillers', all those companies are sponsoring the game. NRL fans are their target market.They are paying for the right to be aired during footy not just on Friday night.
woodart
Guest
being held by the balls by TV is worse. league as a sport will obviously survive. whether a sydney centric club comp bankrolled by gambling and TV will survive in its current form? meh,I could care less. the fact that after three weeks on hold ,it looks as though the sky has fallen on nrl ,makes it look like a fairly shaky comp. all the big talk about the strength of the game now sounds like bollocks. the strength of the game should always be in amateur league and kids kicking a ball around in the back yard.
G Len N
Roar Rookie
I cancelled Kayo last week. Why pay for something that doesn’t deliver what I pay for which is access to live sport? It was only $25 a month but I am thinking that live sport will disappear for at least 4 months. So, $100 saved at least. My hours have been reduced, I have an eye on my dollars.
G Len N
Roar Rookie
If a lot of the current rugby league talent disappeared from channel 9 that would be a blessing.
G Len N
Roar Rookie
In my limited experience, booking TV advertising all came down to “TARPs”. Total Audience Response Programming. So, if it rated well and had a lot of audience in your demographic, you paid through the nose. So, NRL advertisers would pay because they got a predicted great response. Same advertisers wouldn’t spend advertising dollars on “Ellen” or “The Chat” because it wasn’t their TARP demographic. It’s a vicious circle though. The less you spend on advertising, the less your brand and product is seen so the less sales you make. Your revenue shrinks because of lack of sales so you contract your advertising dollars and spend less. The less you spend..... Vicious.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Fox are going broke, they have absolutely no hand here. And they don't pay the majority of the broadcast rights. Nine own 100% of the rights, Fox pay them a fee to show them.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
they haven't trended down. Did you pass high school math? Or just believe Scottys spin?
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
I'm not watching Channel 9 on Friday night now the NRL is postponed. So I assume the NRL sponsors were able to "break their contracts" subject to the games' resumption. We are in uncharted territory hence there are no precedents.
Nat
Roar Guru
How many family movies have Bundy rum and gambling ads?
Blocka
Guest
My bet would be the year 2022. If need be, just go back to semi pro or amateur until things pick up again. Full time professionalism is like a noose around sport's neck.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
I don't know if this question has been asked before but what about the sponsors whose ads are shown on Friday Night Football on Channel 9? Are they still advertising or is that arrangement/contract contingent on the NRL being televised or a separate entity? If the ads have been scrapped Channel 9 will be missing that revenue & finding replacement sponsors with no NRL coverage & less viewers.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
One thing will not change after this passes... NRL rates. TV has precious little that produces ratings. Nine can talk as tough as it likes but they still need product.... you can’t run a TV station without it. Fox without sport is practically dead. The former has some premium product to sustain it, the latter has zip. One thing is for certain both will need to get rid of the cast of thousands they have on screen... way too many commentators and pundits