Nine retains Australian Open rights until 2029 in new deal
Nine Entertainment has entered into a multi-million dollar extension agreement with Tennis Australia for rights to all premium tennis played in Australia for the 2025 to 2029 seasons.
Accordant to Nine’s existing agreement with Tennis Australia, Nine has acquired exclusive live rights (including free-to-air, subscription television, SVOD, streaming, mobile and social media) – together with extensive catch-up rights – to the Australian Open as well as the lead-up tournaments around Australia – the United Cup, the Adelaide International, and the Hobart International – and the Australian team matches in the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
The average annual cash rights fee over the five-year period is circa $85 million, starting lower and indexing over the term of the deal. Nine will also support Tennis Australia with contra, services and promotion over the duration of the agreement.
In 2018, the network bought the rights to the tennis from rivals Seven in 2019 for an estimated $48.5 million, while the agreement between Tennis Australia and Seven previously was understood to be $40 million annually.
Mike Sneesby, CEO of Nine said: “We are pleased to announce the extension of the partnership between Nine and Tennis Australia. Tennis attracts both a broad and very passionate following and is a perfect fit with Nine’s schedule, audiences and advertisers. The Australian Open has delivered some of Australia’s most iconic sporting moments and largest television audiences and together, we are committed to bringing these great moments to all Australians live and free.”
“Nine has shown its serious intent to a year-round commitment to continue to grow tennis,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.
“We want to show our sport at its best to continually excite tennis fans, whilst also appealing to a new generation of fans and players in this country. This new deal will certainly help us do that.”
Nine reported strong profit growth for FY22 during the company’s AGM on Thursday, as digital earnings “grew strongly” up by 43% and accounting for more than half of Group’s EBITDA.
Speaking at the company’s AGM, Nine chairman Peter Costello said: “Content is the key to Nine’s business. Across the year, Nine’s total television business, (both FTA and BVOD), talk-radio stations and metro mastheads, attracted the leading audiences in their respective target markets.”
He said: “During the year, we renewed key agreements with the NRL, as well as content providers Sony, and Starz-Lionsgate. Nine’s success is built around strong partnerships with local production houses, international content suppliers, sporting bodies, as well as our audiences and advertisers, and of course, with our shareholders.”
Nine CEO, Mike Sneesby added: “Momentum remains positive at Stan, with subscriber growth across both Entertainment and Sports. EBITDA of $29 million reflected a period of strategic investment – both in Originals to diversify Stan’s content sources and build a long-term library asset and in live content, primarily Sport, as a key differentiator to other entertainment-based streaming platforms in Australia.
“Over the past couple of years, Stan has been focused on differentiating its content proposition and reducing its reliance on third-party content, with the successful expansion of Originals and the extension into live events, most notably Sport, two key pillars in this strategy.”
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