Nine lobs $500m bid for AFL rights

Nine Entertainment has reportedly made an 11th hour bid for the broadcast rights to the AFL by ­tabling a bid on Monday worth $500m a year.

The AFL has been eyeing a record $3bn-plus deal for its next contract. Picture: Getty Images

Nine Entertainment has reportedly made an 11th hour bid for the broadcast rights to the AFL by ­tabling a bid on Monday worth $500m a year.

The offer is short of the figure the AFL hopes to secure for the rights, which is the most lucrative sporting media deal in Australia.

According Nine’s newspapers, the bid was made at a ­“silent auction”. A Nine spokesperson declined to discuss the reported bid.

Incumbent AFL broadcasters Seven and Foxtel (65 per cent owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian) can better Nine’s late bid should they so choose.

The AFL will receive $946m over the next two seasons from Foxtel and Seven to share the broadcast rights.

The AFL is expected to this week select its broadcast partner, or partners, for the television rights to the sport for five or six years from the beginning of the 2025 season.

As reported by The Australian on Monday, the AFL has been eyeing a record $3bn-plus deal for its next contract, but it is unlikely such a figure could be reached without a significant contra (free advertising) element.

It’s also understood that Seven is wary of overpaying for its portion of the AFL rights, especially after the network’s chief executive James Warburton conceded It had paid too much for the most recent free-to-air rights to Test cricket and the Big Bash League.

Seven, Foxtel, and the AFL declined to comment. Paramount, the owner of Network Ten which is also bidding for the rights, also declined to answer questions.