Nine Entertainment mulls Tennis Australia’s $500m price to extend rights deal
Nine Entertainment and Tennis Australia are considering a blockbuster $500m deal for broadcast rights, in a move that would have major consequences for summer sports.
Nine Entertainment and Tennis Australia are considering a blockbuster $500m deal for broadcast rights, in a move that would have major consequences for summer sports.
The deal would extend Nine’s current contract for tennis rights, centred around the popular and high-rating Australian Open tournament over two weeks each January.
Nine’s deal expires after next year’s Australian Open in only 16 months time, and the network and Tennis Australia are currently locked in an exclusive “first rights” negotiation period for the incumbent broadcaster.
Tennis officials have indicated to Nine that a bid worth $100m annually, representing a hefty 66 per cent increase on the value of the current deal, would probably be enough to clinch a new deal without Tennis Australia having to take the rights to market.
Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby is considering the deal, though the large increase may mean he passes on the offer and allows Tennis Australia to explore competition for the rights.
Seven West Media, which held the rights for four decades before Nine won them with a five-year, $300m deal in 2018 to trump Seven’s previous contract worth about $35m annually, has indicated it is keen to once again bid for the tennis.
Seven went on to buy cricket rights, which Nine had held since the days of World Series Cricket in the late 1970s, in a $1.18bn deal with Foxtel later in 2018.
At the time, Seven was said to have agreed to pay about $75m annually for cricket, gaining the rights to domestic Test matches and most Big Bash League games.
But it has been an unhappy marriage between Cricket Australia and Seven, with the network now suing the sporting body for breach of contact and seeking to terminate their six-year $450m deal early.
Seven lodged documents in the Federal Court earlier this year alleging Cricket Australia had failed to meet its contractual obligations in the scheduling of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, which had resulted in diminished promotional opportunities and weaker commercial returns for the media company.
Seven’s deal for cricket expires in March 2024. Cricket Australia is set to go to the market shortly for its rights, in an effort to measure the interest from Seven’s domestic broadcast rivals in Nine and Network Ten.
Ten recently missed out on the AFL, having a bid worth $600m annually trumped by Seven and Foxtel, which combined in a winning $4.5bn bid in September that means they keep AFL rights through to 2031.
Having telecast the BBL before Seven and Foxtel won cricket rights in 2018, Ten could return and lodge a bid for the cricket again. Nine could also be interested in returning to the sport, depending on what eventuates with the tennis rights.
Neither Nine or Tennis Australia would comment when contacted by The Australian.
Tennis Australia has previously been criticised for not taking the rights to tender when Seven had previously held the contract, even though other bidders such as Ten and Nine were interested in lodging bids.
But it is unclear this time whether Seven or Ten would bid as much as $100m annually, with sources across most networks saying the retirement of Australian star Ash Barty, who won the 2022 Australian Open, could dampen enthusiasm for the local rights.
Cricket and tennis also derive big broadcast rights fees from international TV networks. In July, Cricket Australia announced a seven-year, $US250m rights deal with Disney, which will show Australian cricket on its Star pay-TV network in India from 2023.
Tennis Australia has extended big rights deals with the likes of ESPN in North America and Eurosport in many European countries in the past year.
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