D-Day for NRL to strike revised TV deal with Channel 9 and Fox Sports
Channel 9 executives have been urged to stop delaying organisation of the 2020 season and strike a deal at a crucial meeting between the NRL and Fox Sports on Friday.
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Channel 9 executives have been urged to stop delaying organisation of the 2020 NRL season, with free-to-air rival Channel 7 understood not to have made any approach about taking games.
Rugby league’s D-Day arrives on Friday morning when ARLC chairman Peter V’landys finally sits down for his highly-anticipated meeting with Nine CEO Hugh Marks and Fox Sports boss Patrick Delany.
While Nine is said to be hesitant about showing NRL games this season — having already stated publicly it will save $310 million with a cancelled competition — neither Channel 7 or Network Ten appear interested in bailing out their free-to-air rival.
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It comes as NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg emailed all 16 club bosses on Thursday to re-confirm that a May 28 return remained the league’s priority. Some of the code’s biggest hitters at club level are becoming increasingly concerned by the ongoing broadcast negotiations, which have to be sorted before the competition format can be finalised.
What is known, however, is that a scheduled Friday meeting of Project Apollo — the committee charged with getting the game back within seven weeks — has been delayed.
It is also increasingly unlikely that the Warriors will fly out of Auckland on Sunday as initially planned, with some concern the season may now be resumed without the Kiwis.
Regardless, the meeting between V’landys, Fox and Nine shapes as crucial in determining not only when the season restarts, but what shape it takes in both stadiums and on TV.
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Late Thursday, Seven insiders said they had not contacted the NRL about acquiring content should Nine look to offload one of its three free-to-air matches this year.
It was a similar story at Network Ten who, despite being owned by US television giant CBS, is said to be uninterested in taking rugby league games unwanted by Nine amid the COVID-19 crisis.
If Nine intends to change any part of the broadcast deal it must do so with Fox Sports, who currently has a commitment to show all eight matches live. The Thursday, one Friday game and a Sunday match are simulcast with Nine but Fox Sports retain exclusive rights for their trademark Super Saturday.
It has been reported that Nine wants to attain some exclusive matches, including the Friday 6pm slot, in exchange for Fox League showing Thursday night games alone.
Fox, however, is not keen to relinquish any matches.
Speculation about Nine stalling have not gone down well in clubland, with a host of franchises situated outside Sydney, most notably the Warriors, desperate to get information about the competition’s direction.
It comes after all 16 NRL coaches had agreed to hold off on training until the Warriors had not only touched down in Sydney, but were also free from their 14 days in isolation.
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Elsewhere, the Melbourne Storm and Queensland’s three NRL sides are also waiting to get more clarity on the shape of the season before committing to where exactly they base themselves.
On Thursday, a Ten spokesperson said the station was offering “no comment” to the ongoing impasse involving Channel 9 and the NRL.
However, those close to the situation said the broadcaster, which has recently hosted the Wallabies, Supercars and Melbourne Cup, was unlikely to throw itself into the situation alongside rivals Channel 7.