The battle for Australia’s most lucrative sports broadcast rights has officially entered the heavyweight rounds.
Foxtel is plotting a massive move to secure the entire suite of National Rugby League media rights from 2028. The goal is simple: protect its historic partnership and completely cut Nine Entertainment out of the picture.
A high-stakes standoff
The pay television and streaming giant pitched its ambitious proposal to Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman Peter V’landys and outgoing NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo last Tuesday morning.
Just hours later, Nine executives presented their own vision.
As first reported by The Australian Financial Review, Foxtel will throw everything at retaining the sport.
The current broadcast deal, split between Foxtel and the Nine Network, expires at the end of the 2027 season. But with the competitive landscape rapidly evolving, Nine’s chief executive, Matt Stanton, reportedly wants full exclusivity to bolster the network’s paid streaming platform, Stan Sport.
In retaliation, Foxtel pitched for complete control of the rights.
Now backed by the international streaming giant DAZN, which recently acquired the Australian business, Foxtel is determined to maintain its sports dominance.
The DAZN leadership considers the Australian arm key to its global strategy and believes securing the NRL remains critical to keeping Kayo Sports thriving in a crowded market.
Anti-siphoning rules and unlikely alliances
To bypass the hurdle of Australia’s strict anti-siphoning laws, Foxtel cannot go it alone.
The legislation mandates that major events, such as the NRL, remain available to the general public on free-to-air platforms. Foxtel reportedly engaged in discussions with the Seven Network and Network Ten about sub-licensing a portion of the games to satisfy these requirements.
If successful, the strategic play would sever Nine’s three-decade relationship with rugby league.
For a network that relies on the massive audiences of State of Origin and the NRL grand final to promote its broader television slate, losing the rights would land a severe blow. Nine already faces pressure from declining advertising markets, and its market capitalisation currently hovers just over $1 billion.
Expanding the code
For the NRL, a brutal bidding war is precisely what V’landys has been engineering. The ARLC chairman wants the code’s next deal to land around the $4 billion mark over five years.
This target would effectively double the value of the current agreement.
To justify the astronomical price tag, the NRL is aggressively expanding its footprint. The Perth Bears will enter the competition in 2027, increasing the volume of games and creating greater overall value for the winning broadcasters.
The wildcards on the field
While Foxtel and Nine dominate the current conversation, they do not stand alone on the field.
Tech juggernaut Amazon reportedly looms in the background with a potential bid for Prime Video. Meanwhile, Paramount, owner of Network Ten, remains eager to build its local sports portfolio.
Foxtel remains Australia’s single biggest investor in sport. With Kayo Sports acting as the primary engine for subscriber growth, executives view retaining the NRL as an absolute necessity for the company’s future.
Whether Foxtel successfully executes its solo play or is ultimately forced to collaborate with Nine once again, the coming months will fundamentally reshape the Australian media landscape.
Main image: Patrick Delany