Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Right the way back to cable TV having it all in one.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Starting this year they have the exclusive "Super Saturday" matches, as well the two on Sunday... so potentially up to six or seven exclusive games in some rounds.

But they'll also now have their own separate broadcast/commentary team for every match they share with Seven.

It has me questioning it's worth though and that's a big step from the set and forget.

I use to watch everything Rugby wise and NRL but life is in the way more now and I probably only see 2 maybe 3 games a week these days and more likely to pay to watch the Tahs and another Aus side in the Rugby and happy to see what FTA might have for League....

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Sports streaming wars erupt as Disney+ gets serious

The media giant is adding major sporting chops to its streaming platform Disney+ in a move that could reshape the future of rights negotiations in Australia.

www.smh.com.au

Media giant Disney is entering the sports streaming market in Australia, moving its existing coverage of the top American sports leagues, including the NBA and NFL, to its streaming service Disney+.

In a bid to capitalise on the growing popularity of the world’s most popular sports leagues, Disney will add ESPN to Disney+ at no extra cost, dealing a blow to Foxtel’s one-stop sports shop Kayo.

Yet with Foxtel raising the cost of a Premium Kayo subscription to $40 per month in January, a Disney+ subscription comes at a significantly lower price point of $13.99 or $17.99. However, a price hike at Disney+ is likely at some point this year, this masthead was told.

Foxtel shares the rights to broadcast the NRL with Nine, the owner of this masthead, which holds the free-to-air component. The league is preparing to begin negotiations for its next contract from 2027. Both will face a fight to renew their current deals, with a bidding war expected to include global streamers.

While News Corp did not report Foxtel subscriber figures in the final quarter of 2024 due to the sale process being under way, it lost 16 per cent of its subscribers in the final quarter of 2023, after the AFL and NRL seasons ended.

Whilst not Rugby related you can draw lines between it being a good thing Rugby Stays on Stan and not Fox/Kayo. This is a big hit to them and I will be someone looking at cancelling it if I can't watch US sports. Would we have wanted to be on a platform with likely more opt outs than ins? It's an NRL and AFL platform now.

Will it be ESPN or ESPN+ is the question.

 

[Wilson]

Will it be ESPN or ESPN+ is the question.

ESPN, but the P stands for plus