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Despite the noise, NRL sponsors are back in droves ahead of 2023 season launch
The 2023 NRL season kicks off tonight, with the Redcliffe Dolphins set to play as the 17th team for the first time in the league. Mumbrella's Darcy Song speaks with Nine, Foxtel and a media agency about why the number of sponsors for the new season is 'shocking' (in a good way) and if the commercial product this season could be better than ever.
The NRL has run into some off-field issues lately, including St. George Illawarra Dragons player Talatau Junior Amone being banned from the league due to police charges in January. Nine’s masthead The Sydney Morning Herald also reported that in an anonymous poll with club CEOs, 82% were against the league introducing a Pride Round like the A-League.
Not exactly the press you want in the lead-up to a new season.
But despite the off-field press, sponsorships are back for the season in full swing.
The season kicks off tonight at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium, with the Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm, and once again viewers will turn to Nine and Fox Sports in numbers.
These are long-standing broadcast partnerships, renewed respectively in 2021 and 2020, the Nine and Fox Sports deals will see the NRL stay with both networks until 2027.
This season, Nine will continue to air three matches per round, alongside exclusive rights to the State of Origin series and the Grand Final. Fox Sports, meanwhile, will broadcast five games per round, with all matches available on Foxtel and Kayo (with some as replays only).
Matt Granger
Speaking to Mumbrella about commercial opportunities around the NRL, Nine’s director of sales – sports, Matt Granger, says this year’s focus is on coming to advertisers as a total solution.
“Our proposition around our broader ecosystem across total television, total audio, total publishing, and how we bring that all together had been a big focus on our evolution in 2023,” he says.
“Particularly with our connection around Nine, 9Now, regional television for the broadcast elements of what we do – including being able to extend a 9Now live and play extension for partner brands – has been one of the key additions to our proposition in 2023.”
“Yes, we broadcast the game. But what brands have now been able to unpack more again this year is connecting their message with those content moments across what we call a mega-marketing platform.”
Nine says the season is “the biggest year ever for NRL”. New sponsors announced include Westpac, Youi and DoorDash, while returning full-season partners include Harvey Norman, Telstra, Sportsbet and McDonald’s and sponsors include Chemist Warehouse, Kia, Gulf Western Oil, Isuzu Utes, Stan, Tradie and RAM Trucks.
Additionally, the sheer volume of the matches will reach a new height this year with the introduction of a 17th team, the Redcliffe Dolphins, which prompted a re-discussion of the broadcast agreement at the time.
On expectations around ratings, Granger is positive about the new team’s impact on audience numbers this season.
“We’ve got over 140 games free and live and Nine, including the NRLW which is an expanded season. There’s been a bit of talk about the new teams coming in and getting back into that rhythm,” he says.
“I think we’re expecting really strong audience numbers across our total TV proposition – whether people are watching it through Nine or 9Now, and indeed across our regional markets as well.
“I certainly think you’re going to get some interest out of the Queensland regional markets, broadly speaking, with Broncos or the Gold Coast might decide to pick up the Dolphins and make them their own.”
Martin Medcraf
Foxtel Media sports sales and partnerships director, Martin Medcraf, echoes the positive sentiment and says the appetite from advertisers has “never been better across the board”.
“We’ve got 14 sponsors on this year, which is the most we’ve ever had,” he tells Mumbrella. Names announced by the company on Monday included Chemist Warehouse, Ford, Harvey Norman, KIA, KFC, McCain, McDonald’s, Red Rooster, Sportsbet, VB, and Telstra.
“I’ve actually been quite shocked with the amount of sponsors that we’ve got this year, but all for a good reason: It’s [NRL’s] rating well, the product’s good.”
“Also – Channel Nine has this as well, it’s not unique to us – but we have long-term contracts with sports. Clients can build their brand with us over a long period of time, and they know NRL will be here for the years to come, you can continue to complete a brand on that platform.”
Medcraf says Foxtel also has its eyes on the lucrative market of Queensland. “It’s a very big rugby league state. It always has been. Hopefully it won’t just be dominated by the Broncos who’s always been the big brother, but the Dolphins coming into it means that we will now get more exclusive broadcasts of Queensland games on our platform.”
“We also are taking the naming rights to Dolphins Stadium (via sport streaming service Kayo). So it’s a market where we want to push subscriptions and we want to push advertising.”
Redcliffe Dolphins will play its first NRL match on 5 March. Photo: Facebook
National trading lead at media agency Atomic 212, Jay Malig, says sports is one of the contents that’s relatively immune to the audience loss on linear TV. Even with a drop in viewership, it’s important to consider the audiences’ segmentation and their move to digital devices.
Taking Nine for example, he says: “There is obviously the general theme of audience losses and inflation across linear TV, and sports, including the NRL, is not immune to that. With that said I have quickly looked at the numbers … it’s not as pronounced as Nine’s regular programming across a couple of major demos, so it does seem to be a bit more stable, at least from my perspective.”
With Nine’s ecosystem of offerings, Malig says: “I think they’re doing a good job of pushing content and having a bit more holistic view of the viewer experience, because they’ve maybe just taken some lessons from how Seven had done well with the Olympics in terms of pushing content and getting a lot of BVOD viewership.”
However, Malig says he’s interested to find out how, and if, the issue of audience fatigue will be manifested. “Particularly in regards to whether or not the competition will still feel exciting, because Penrith has won two straight Grand Finals in quite a dominant fashion.”
The 2022 Grand Final delivered 1.671 million metro viewers for Nine, while the 2021 Grand Final attracted 2.202 million.
Nevertheless, neither Granger nor Medcraf is worried when asked about the concern. Granger says: “With the nature of live sports, you always get certain rhythms and momentum to change … I think what we’ve proven in the last five years is when it gets muddled, you never know who’s going to get through because of how cut-throat the playoff rounds are at the end of the season.”
Medcraf points to the loyalty of the rugby fan base: “Generally speaking rugby followers watch much more than one game a week; they are watching an average of three to four games a weekend.”
“Because we’ve managed to keep the subscriptions of linear static, and Kayo is growing, so our audiences are growing … I think 2023 will be a continued rave for us.”
Telstra is the premier partner of the NRL, other major partners include Ampol, Chemist Warehouse, Hisense and Kia.
Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
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