Fox Sports NRL deal imminent as Nine confirms talks over sharing of rights

November 26, 2015 10:45

Barely three months after Rupert Murdoch claimed that AFL was the nation’s “premium code” and News Corp would throw all its weight behind the sport, the company appears set to lock in a deal with the NRL and Nine for its pay TV network Fox Sports.

Rupert Murdoch announcing the AFL deal described AFL as the nation’s “premium code”.

Sources have confirmed media reports in the Fairfax and News Corp newspapers that the contract between Nine, News Corp and the NRL could be signed as early as today, giving Fox Sports a vital piece of good news after losing the English Premier League rights to surprise bidder Optus earlier this month.

Nine Entertainment has also told the market in a statement this morning that discussions are advanced, but that no timing for announcement has been set.

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Simon Canning

Simon Canning was Mumbrella's marketing and advertising editor from 2015-2017. In a career spanning journalism and communications over more than 30 years Simon has become one of Australia’s most respected analysts and commentators on the advertising, marketing and media industries. A regular commentator on radio and TV, Simon has also worked in media in the US and UK .

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4 COMMENTS

John 26 Nov 15

The AFL deal was 2.5bn over 6 years, not 2.85bn.

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Nic Christensen 26 Nov 15

Hi John,

Thanks now corrected.

Cheers

Nic – Mumbrella

Simon Rumble 26 Nov 15

Conveniently timed attack on football from the Terror last weekend too. AFL are terrified of the A League.

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Jimbob 26 Nov 15

When is Mumbrella going to cover the debacle that is beIN sports?
Their coverage of sport is a disaster.
They are buying rights to sports and not showing them on their one channel and they are in standard definition while charging $20 a month.
Go to their Facebook page and read through the endless negative comments about their coverage and get some word on their plans for the future, like will they be going HD, do they have plans to get utilise connected devices, when will they get multi channels.
A lot of people who subscribe to the service need answers, but they won’t answer out questions, so it would be great if Mumbrella got some answers.

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