Channel 7 hunting State of Origin rights as NRL TV deal race heats up

In a serious shake-up to the NRL media landscape, State of Origin could be set for a new home in the coming seasons. Find out what is happening behind the scenes.

The Seven Network is keen to get its hands on the State of Origin series

Rugby league could change channels on free-to-air television for the first time in three decades with incumbent the Nine Network facing competition from rival Seven Network, with Seven keen to win rights to the popular State of Origin series.

Seven has expressed interest to rugby league executives in bidding for the three lucrative and high-rating Origin matches, generally among the most-watched TV programs each year, and one NRL game per round, sources have told News Corp.

Network Ten is also understood to have indicated it is considering a bid for NRL free-to-air rights, currently held by Nine through to the end of the 2022 season following the renegotiation of its deal last year under former chief executive Hugh Marks at the height of the first Covid wave in Australia last year.

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A degree of enmity still exists between NRL officials and Nine after that deal, which saw Nine’s annual payment for rugby league rights drop from about $115m to closer to $90m in a contract that will expire at the end of the 2022 grand final.

At the time, Marks was heavily critical of the NRL under former boss Todd Greenberg, while saying it was not a given rugby league was part of the network’s future.

Channel 7 is keen to secure the TV rights for State of Origin. Picture: Peter Wallis

While a deal was subsequently struck, News Corp recently reported that the NRL earlier this year complained to Nine during the Australian Open tennis about the amount of promotion rugby union on newly formed streamer Stan Sport was getting during Nine’s telecast.

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo aim to have a new free-to-air broadcast deal clinched by Christmas and would want the value of the free-to-air component to at least return to pre-Covid levels.

At that level, the NRL would be looking at a deal worth at least a combined $600m through to 2027, the same year Foxtel’s pay-television rights deal was extended to last year.

There is a belief among NRL officials that their rights are increasingly valuable given they are one of the few properties to be available for free-to-air with most sports now on streaming services.

Rugby league administrators have met with new Nine CEO Mike Sneesby, the former Stan boss, and held a series of preliminary meetings with Seven and Ten officials.

While Seven boss James Warburton has said his network “would not blow our brains out” when bidding for sports rights, a scenario is unfolding where it could be a serious contender for rugby league for the first time since the days of Rex Mossop hosting coverage in the 1970s and early 1980s.

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys hopes to have a new free-to-air deal done by Christmas. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Seven still is paying about $75m in cash and $7m in contra for cricket rights annually, in a six-year deal clinched in 2018. The network and Cricket Australia were embroiled in a legal stoush last summer that saw Seven threaten to ditch its contract, though Warburton has been more conciliatory towards the sport with a lucrative Ashes series looming in the upcoming summer.

But Seven still has court action outstanding against Cricket Australia and could attempt to extricate itself from its cricket rights to have funds available for rugby league.

If it were to bid for the Friday night match it would dominate the popular timeslot around Australia, given it already holds AFL rights on the same evening.

Seven is also contemplating a bid for future Olympic rights, despite losing $50m on its recent high-rating Tokyo coverage.

State of Origin is regularly one of the most watched TV programs in Australia each year. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Sneesby will announce his network’s financial results to the ASX on Wednesday and will be asked by analysts how serious Nine is about retaining rugby league rights.

Meanwhile, Ten earlier this month launched its Paramount streaming service on which it will show A-League soccer games after signing a five-year $200m deal for A-League games, which will also see some games and the W-League shown on Ten’s free-to-air channels.

Ten subsequently agreed to pay another $100m to governing body Football Australia for Socceroos and Matildas games, and will also show National Basketball League games.

Given that expenditure, there are question marks about how much more spending Ten’s parent ViacomCBS could undertake on sports should it throw its hat into the ring for rugby league rights, though its executives have indicated it will at least consider a bid.

Originally published as Channel 7 hunting State of Origin rights as NRL TV deal race heats up