Nine Entertainment poised to pay ‘top dollar’ for new five-year NRL deal

The NRL is poised to announce as early as this week that it has renewed Nine Entertainment’s contract as the free-to-air broadcaster of the National Rugby League.

Penrith celebrate with the NRL Premiership Trophy after victory in the 2021 NRL grand final against South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

The NRL is poised to announce as early as this week that it has renewed Nine Entertainment’s contract as the free-to-air broadcaster of the National Rugby League.

Despite speculation Seven was considering a bid to snatch the lucrative rights to the three-match State of Origin series – and possibly do a deal to claim a handful of NRL games each week – it’s understood the sport’s chairman Peter V’landys and Nine boss Mike Sneesby are set to ink a new five-year deal later this week.

There have also been suggestions Network Ten was planning to throw its hat into the ring for a slice of the NRL pie, but The Australian has been told that idea quickly fizzled out, with neither party giving it serious consideration.

A spokeswoman for Nine declined to comment.

While the NRL and Nine may have an in-principle agreement, it’s understood the final dollar value of the broadcast rights has yet to be finalised, although agreement is said to be “close”.

Under the previous five-year deal, Nine paid $575m in cash and contra for the rights, although the network was granted a discount in 2020 due to interruptions caused by the coronavirus crisis.

It’s expected Nine will have to pay more than that to seal the deal – possibly about $600m – on the next free-to-air contract, which would run from the beginning of the 2023 season to the end of the 2027 competition.

Senior media analysts suggested to The Australian Nine would likely pay “top dollar” for the broadcast rights, given the interest expressed by rival free-to-air networks this time around will have inflated the price.

Some senior media executives have told The Australian it was “extraordinary” Nine took so long to sew up a fresh contract with the NRL, given top-tier, live sports are so critical to the success of free-to-air networks – and Nine’s only other major sports event in its schedule is the Australian Open tennis.

The relationship between the NRL and Nine soured somewhat at the beginning of this year when executives at the sporting body believed the network wasn’t doing enough to promote the code.

At the time, the NRL hierarchy was annoyed by the amount of promotion Stan Sport’s rugby union coverage enjoyed during Nine’s telecast of the Australian Open.

Stan is owned by Nine Entertainment.

Currently, the NRL receives two-thirds of its total broadcast revenue from Foxtel (majority-owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian), which last year extended its pay-TV deal until the end of the 2027 season.

Foxtel shows all eight games every round – including five exclusive telecasts each weekend – while Nine is currently paying for the rights to three weekly Thursday, Friday and ­Sunday games, plus Saturday games in the last month of the regular season, all finals games (including the grand final) and the State of Origin series.

Earlier this month, News Corp newspapers revealed the NRL had agreed to terms with Foxtel on a new broadcast deal for a 17-team competition, in a move poised to deliver the sport a windfall of up to $100m, bankrolling rugby league’s most significant expansionary move in 14 years.

On Saturday, Mr Sneesby and Mr V’landys were seen having an animated discussion in Racing NSW’s Directors Room at Randwick’s The Everest meeting, with the NRL deal the talk of the exclusive corporate venue.

The Australian has been told Mr V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo – who was also in the Directors Room on Saturday – were satisfied with Nine’s presentation just before the recent finals series, and Mr Abdo is said to have been in constant touch with Mr Sneesby in recent weeks.

Nine has right of first refusal on the NRL free-to-air rights.