Australian Open tennis delay a serious blow to Nine’s plans for the year
The jewel in Nine’s sporting crown is in danger of losing its sparkle, with the likely postponement of next year’s Australian Open.
The jewel in Nine’s sporting crown is in danger of losing its sparkle, with the likely postponement of next year’s Australian Open.
Unless Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is willing to backtrack on his strict quarantine rules, the first grand slam tennis tournament of 2021 will almost certainly be pushed back from January to late February, or even March.
Such a scenario would be a devastating blow to Nine, which wrested the rights to the Open away from Seven in 2018, in a six-year deal worth almost $350m.
In 2017, Nine had ceded the broadcasting rights to cricket to Foxtel and Seven, in a deal worth close to $1bn over six years.
Moving the tennis tournament from its traditional mid-January start date would significantly diminish the value of the Australian Open in the eyes of advertisers, according to media analyst Martin Hickson, portfolio manager at 1851 Capital.
“If I was in Nine’s position I would definitely be going to Tennis Australia and trying to work out how I could change the economics of the contract and try to renegotiate it,” he said.
The problems arising from a delayed Open are threefold for Nine — skittish advertisers who fear paying too much when ratings are expected to dip dramatically; the likely withdrawal of dozens of the world’s top players, due to their reluctance to quarantine for a fortnight upon arrival; and the lost opportunity to promote its top shows for 2021.
“The really good thing about the contract as it stands is the fact it occurs in January when there’s not a lot of other content on,” Mr Hickson said.
“It also allows Nine to advertise the new calendar year’s upcoming shows, which means it’s a really good launch point for the rest of their programming for the year. So if it was pushed back into February that obviously negates some of that.”
Mr Hickson also said the Australian Open’s traditional January timeslot was a big advantage for the host broadcaster because there is “a lot less competition for eyeballs and advertising dollars”.
The uncertainty surrounding the tournament caps off a bad month for Nine’s stable of premier sports events.
The national audience for the NRL grand final failed to pass three million viewers, and was well beaten by the AFL decider. Ratings for rugby league’s State of Origin were also down, although that was widely attributed to the shifting of the series from its usual midwinter timeslot to a post-season November schedule.
On Sunday, TA chief executive Craig Tiley said the organisation was working with the Victorian government to try and resolve the impasse, but it is highly unlikely that Mr Andrews would make significant concessions for the tournament if there was even a distant possibility of transmission of the coronavirus from some players.
In October, Mr Andrews suffered a sharp backlash when he gave permission to racehorse owners to attend the Cox Plate. He rescinded that decision within 24 hours, following widespread public outcry.
A Nine spokeswoman said it would be speculative to comment at this stage on the likelihood of the two-week tournament starting on January 18 as scheduled.
It’s understood that TA and the Victorian government will make a final decision on the start date of the 2021 Australian Open within the next two weeks.
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