Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Foxtel/Kayo have secured exclusive rights to the Rugby League World Cup this year, I am fairly sure the Aussie games will still be shown on Channel Nine FTA though due to the anti-siphoning laws.

I wonder if Nine/Stan Sports made a play for any games. Their State of Origin coverage this year was largely panned by fans, I know a lot of mates (QLDERS) have watched replays of the games on Kayo/Fox after the fact because their coverage and commentary is better. I feel the Nine Rugby League offerings have been copping more criticism than love recently.

Could be good for our game if they decide to back out of the NRL market a bit and put some more dollars into whatever the next iterations of Super Rugby look like. Problem is we don't exactly have a good roadmap for them to do so.

Saw that. League coverage on Nine has gone backwards without guys like Sterlo. Cam Smith and Thurston put you to sleep when talking. Fox League has a far better presence and talent IMO.

I thought the coverage of the English series was pretty good on Nine and Stan. Seemed like some production dollars were put into it. Some of the regular League talent like Emma Lawrence were used on it.

 

[PhilClinton]

Saw that. League coverage on Nine has gone backwards without guys like Sterlo. Cam Smith and Thurston put you to sleep when talking. Fox League has a far better presence and talent IMO.

Agreed - the Fox League NRL 360 show has become as synonymous with Australian sports television as shows like First Take on ESPN are in the States.

Will be interesting to see whether Nine succumb to their wounds or try and mount a last stand. A lot might depend on what RA come up with over the next few months.

 

[LeCheese]

Agreed - the Fox League NRL 360 show has become as synonymous with Australian sports television as shows like First Take on ESPN are in the States.

Will be interesting to see whether Nine succumb to their wounds or try and mount a last stand. A lot might depend on what Rugby Australia come up with over the next few months.

Same thing that happened before 9 lost the cricket coverage, albeit with fewer 'characters' keeping it chugging along. Low energy, stale, and fans are crying out for something new (in this case, Fox).

Agree about the England series, and their coverage of Super - it's been pretty good in my books, and a positive change from Fox and 7/10 of old.

 

[Adam84]

Foxtel/Kayo have secured exclusive rights to the Rugby League World Cup this year, I am fairly sure the Aussie games will still be shown on Channel Nine FTA though due to the anti-siphoning laws.

I wonder if Nine/Stan Sports made a play for any games. Their State of Origin coverage this year was largely panned by fans, I know a lot of mates (QLDERS) have watched replays of the games on Kayo/Fox after the fact because their coverage and commentary is better. I feel the Nine Rugby League offerings have been copping more criticism than love recently.

Could be good for our game if they decide to back out of the NRL market a bit and put some more dollars into whatever the next iterations of Super Rugby look like. Problem is we don't exactly have a good roadmap for them to do so.

these games aren’t covered under Anti-Siphoning Laws as it’s been played in England.

Only RLWC games featuring Australian team, that are played in Australia, NZ or PNG are included.

 

[PhilClinton]

these games aren’t covered under Anti-Siphoning Laws as it’s been played in England.

Only RLWC games featuring Australian team, that are played in Australia, NZ or PNG are included.

Thanks for the clarification, I should have known that. Otherwise we would have Test match cricket on FTA 10 months a year!

 

[Adam84]

Thanks for the clarification, I should have known that. Otherwise we would have Test match cricket on FTA 10 months a year!

Yeah, each sport is different. Rugby, cricket and football have the tightest rules for national teams and siphoning laws.

RL less so since international component isn’t such a big factor.

 

[Rebel man]

Foxtel/Kayo have secured exclusive rights to the Rugby League World Cup this year, I am fairly sure the Aussie games will still be shown on Channel Nine FTA though due to the anti-siphoning laws.

I wonder if Nine/Stan Sports made a play for any games. Their State of Origin coverage this year was largely panned by fans, I know a lot of mates (QLDERS) have watched replays of the games on Kayo/Fox after the fact because their coverage and commentary is better. I feel the Nine Rugby League offerings have been copping more criticism than love recently.

Could be good for our game if they decide to back out of the NRL market a bit and put some more dollars into whatever the next iterations of Super Rugby look like. Problem is we don't exactly have a good roadmap for them to do so.

Every game is live and exclusive to fox

 

[Adam84]

Part of me wonders that since Silver Lakes investment in NZRU a lot more of this chat has been popping up.

Former NZR Chief Executive has had some words to say;

Asked if he felt Robinson, who was appointed in 2019 to replace Steve Tew, was up to the task, Moffett was blunt in his assessment.

"No, I don't think so. That's where I would disagree with Steve (Hansen). Steve said that he thinks he'll make a good CEO one day," Moffett said.

"We don't need a CEO to learn how to be a CEO at New Zealand Rugby. We need somebody who knows what they're doing, and if they make mistakes, like we all do, they can just own it.

"Don't hide, don't blame the board if they make decisions, it's him, he's the chief executive, the buck stops with him. The board sets strategy and policy, that's it, as far as I'm concerned. The rest of the time the chief executive is running the place.

"Because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Any rugby CEO who does not understand that rugby is too much of a business to be a sport and too much of a sport to be a business – ie. you've got to get that balance right – is always going to struggle."

Leaked email sheds light on All Blacks civil war

Heavyweight calls for chief executive to resign

wwos.nine.com.au

 

[Rob42]

Former NZR Chief Executive has had some words to say;

Yeah, seems that NZR plan, to say nothing and hope it all goes away, ain't going so well. As Moffett points out, the absence of comment from NZR just means the airwaves are filled with anyone else who wants to throw an opinion out.

 

[Members Section]

Saw a little banner in the corner of the screen while Moloney was interviewing our gold medalist 7's girls that stan are showing the RWC 7's this year!

 

[PhilClinton]

I read today that the AFL are underwhelmed by the $500M p.a. bid which Channel 10 and Paramount+ put forward for their next television deal.

Apparently they are looking for closer to $600M p.a. to move away from the current providers, Foxtel and Channel 7.

It would be interesting if the AFL jump ship, would mean Fox are pretty much tethered exclusively to the NRL as their core product. And I have heard ESPN are going to enter their own ESPN+ product here which would likely take NFL and NBA back.

It would probably be a good outcome for Rugby. I like what Stan are doing, but if Fox have money available in the next few years, they could make a big play for the Australian based RWC, or at least make it a decent bidding war (which it likely would be regardless).

 

[LeCheese]

I read today that the AFL are underwhelmed by the $500M p.a. bid which Channel 10 and Paramount+ put forward for their next television deal.

Apparently they are looking for closer to $600M p.a. to move away from the current providers, Foxtel and Channel 7.

It would be interesting if the AFL jump ship, would mean Fox are pretty much tethered exclusively to the NRL as their core product. And I have heard ESPN are going to enter their own ESPN+ product here which would likely take NFL and NBA back.

It would probably be a good outcome for Rugby. I like what Stan are doing, but if Fox have money available in the next few years, they could make a big play for the Australian based RWC, or at least make it a decent bidding war (which it likely would be regardless).

Amazing how Fox can go from having a sporting monopoly, with more to broadcast than they know what to do with, to potentially only a handful of major offerings in less than a decade. Was nice to only need one subscription though…

 

[Rob42]

Pleasing to see Stan make the effort to have their own commentators for the Aus v Arg Test, even if they were calling it off the TV. And Matt To'omua seems like a natural for the job.

 

[Slim 293]

I read today that the AFL are underwhelmed by the $500M p.a. bid which Channel 10 and Paramount+ put forward for their next television deal.

... according to an exclusive article by NewsCorp.

 

[Dan54]

Pleasing to see Stan make the effort to have their own commentators for the Aus v Arg Test, even if they were calling it off the TV. And Matt To'omua seems like a natural for the job.

Good to have own commentators, just a pity they don't send them over to games, I think generally it makes for better commentary.

 

[Slim 293]

Good to have own commentators, just a pity they don't send them over to games, I think generally it makes for better commentary.

It's becoming less common for the need to send commentators to the actual location...

Every AFL game is hosted in Melbourne.

 

[Rebel man]

I read today that the AFL are underwhelmed by the $500M p.a. bid which Channel 10 and Paramount+ put forward for their next television deal.

Apparently they are looking for closer to $600M p.a. to move away from the current providers, Foxtel and Channel 7.

It would be interesting if the AFL jump ship, would mean Fox are pretty much tethered exclusively to the NRL as their core product. And I have heard ESPN are going to enter their own ESPN+ product here which would likely take NFL and NBA back.

It would probably be a good outcome for Rugby. I like what Stan are doing, but if Fox have money available in the next few years, they could make a big play for the Australian based RWC, or at least make it a decent bidding war (which it likely would be regardless).

It’s still 27m a year more than fox and 7 want to play and 7’s coverage is garbage. Fox is okay but I have to say for reliability I prefer Stan. The third test I decided to stream live in 4K and I had no issues with drop outs. The same hardware with Kayo and it is prone to drop outs

 

[Rob42]

It's becoming less common for the need to send commentators to the actual location...

Every AFL game is hosted in Melbourne.

As in, no commentators at the grounds outside Melbourne? Or just that the "host studio" for pre-game/post-game stuff is in Melbourne?

 

[qwerty51]

Just on that, can anyone with a 4K TV and 4K Stan account notice a difference when the stream is supposedly in 4K (to 1080p HD)? I cannot for sport but for TV Shows/Movies, it's definitely noticeable.

 

[Slim 293]

As in, no commentators at the grounds outside Melbourne? Or just that the "host studio" for pre-game/post-game stuff is in Melbourne?

Generally, just one or two talking heads at the ground to grab interviews/sideline commentary and everything goes through the studio hubs in Melbourne...

There's some real savings in not having to fly people all over the country, and COVID certainly helped push for new methods.