Media Street: Channel 9 walks back some of Tom Morris’ non-compete clause
Tom Morris has secured a partial victory against Channel 9’s six-month non-compete clause after defecting to rival network Channel 7.
Tom Morris’ move to Channel 7 has taken another twist with the award-winning sports reporter to have a delayed start at his new home.
But in a win for Morris, it won’t be for as long as Channel 9 had originally wanted.
When Morris told Nine he was defecting to their major rival last month, they told him they would be triggering a six-month non-compete clause which meant he wouldn’t be allowed to work for Ch 7 until July 1.
After some legal wrangling, Nine have agreed to walk back part of the clause with Morris allowed to appear on Seven’s game-day broadcast and associated shows, including The Agenda Setters, after the first month of the season (around Rd 4-5).
But he won’t be allowed to appear on Seven news bulletins until July 1.
Nine had also originally moved to enforce the non-compete clause on Morris’ radio duties on SEN where he is a key member of the station’s cricket coverage.
Fortunately, after some last-minute negotiating Morris was cleared to be a part of SEN’s First Test broadcast in Perth and has backed that up at the Brisbane Test.
He will continue over the summer with SEN covering the Ashes, Big Bash and the upcoming T20 World Cup before also featuring prominently on the station’s football shows leading into the 2026 season while his TV hiatus is enforced.
Morris, 34, who is currently technically on leave at Nine with his contract ending on December 31, will also continue to give news updates on his own social platforms.
This is not the first time Nine have dug their heels in over non-compete clauses with Caroline Wilson faced with a similar situation last year when she quit Footy Classified to The Agenda Setters.
Wilson wasn’t allowed to be part of the advertising for the new Seven show and was virtually out-of-sight for months until right before its launch on the eve of the 2025 season.
The lure of working on cricket, which is Morris’ first love, and on AFL game day broadcast was the major selling point
Seven’s sport boss Chris Jones played a key role in the securing of Morris which also involved calling in SEN CEO Craig Hutchison – his former housemate – to get the complex deal over the line.
Since he was promoted to head of network sport at Seven in July last year, Jones has been behind the biggest shake-up of the media landscape in this town for some time.
He first targeted Kane Cornes and made him the face of Seven’s AFL coverage and then went after Footy Classified originals, Hutchison and Wilson, to feature on his new show The Agenda Setters.
And now the landing of Morris is another major body blow given he wasn’t just Nine’s chief newsbreaker, he was a regular panellist on Footy Classified and hosted the Footy Furnace show on Sunday nights.
Morris has been at Nine for two years after initially being given a career lifeline by Hutchison at SEN.
He made headlines for all the wrong reasons in March 2022 when he was sacked from Fox Sports after a recording of him making misogynistic comments about a female colleague was leaked online.
Perth-based reporter Owen Leonard, a former cadet at the Herald Sun, is moving back to Melbourne to replace Morris in the Nine newsroom after a bold bid to poach Seven’s chief footballer reporter Mitch Cleary failed.
KANE GOES IT ALONE
IT was only a matter of time but Kane Cornes now has his own SEN show.
Cornes will host an hour-long talkfest called Locked In from Tuesday to Thursday. He is also returning next year to his Fireball breakfast show with David King on Mondays and Fridays.
He is being replaced on Sportsday by former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley who will join forces with Gerard Healy with the two-hour show airing at 6pm Monday to Wednesday.
Hinkley will also appear on Gerard Whateley’s morning show and Crunch Time.
Originally published as Media Street: Channel 9 walks back some of Tom Morris’ non-compete clause
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