Fox Sports in dialogue with NRL over broadcast deal

Channel Nine has said it won’t pay the next instalment on its broadcast deal after the season was suspended but Fox Sports is still in talks with the NRL.

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Fox Sports remains in negotiations with the NRL about its broadcast deal as it continues to deal with the fallout of rugby league’s unplanned hiatus.

Channel 9’s next broadcast payment is due on Wednesday with the free-to-air network already indicating it will not be paying its quarterly payment next month.

Fox Sports remains in open dialogue with the NRL regarding its contractual obligations given the uncertain nature of the sport during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Nine newspapers reported Channel 9 want to renegotiate its current rights deal to extend beyond 2022. News Corp, publishers of The Daily Telegraph, has been in constant contact with the NRL and ARLC commissioner Peter V’landys on how best to navigate through these tough times for the game and for Foxtel.

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Nine CEO Hugh Marks. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Nine boss Hugh Marks has previously said “sports rights need to perform for our business” as the network uses the fallout from the coronavirus to renegotiate its broadcast deal with the NRL.

The NRL has given no indication of when matches will return to the field, with September touted as the most likely scenario.

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Nine was quick off the mark to used its newspapers to call for the shutdown of the game immediately while the NRL explored every possibly to keep playing before having no choice but to officially suspend the competition this week.

Despite the lock out of fans last weekend, ratings were down for the free to air network while Fox League enjoyed an eight per cent increase.

Fox also recorded a record share of audience with 297,000 viewers against Nine’s 382,000 for the Broncos v Rabbitohs match.

It was Fox League’s fifth highest rating Friday night regular season game of all-time while for Nine the blockbuster clash was 12 per cent down on the round one match-up between the Cowboys and Broncos.

Fox League has continued to provide content for fans despite having no matches to broadcast. It has started a daily morning and afternoon show with interviews and a discussion about the days biggest news events.

Originally published as Fox Sports in dialogue with NRL over broadcast deal