‘We will take the rights elsewhere’: Rugby League chairman threatens NRL’s broadcast partners
Peter V'landys is openly threatening the NRL's broadcast partners, despite failing to lock in a deal he claimed would be completed by mid-year
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys has threatened to sell the NRL broadcasting rights to another network if current rights holders Nine and Foxtel team up in order to strike a joint bid.
“If they collude, it will be at their peril,” he told The Australian Financial Review’s Zoe Samios.
“We will take the rights elsewhere. If they think they can behave as monopolists, they will be in for a shock.”
Currently, Nine and Foxtel have a $1.7 billion five-year rights deal that expires in 2027.
Despite V’landys previously boasting about locking down a “record” rights deal by mid-2025, it appears that negotiations haven’t begun. The AFR reports that the NRL is planning to “formally commence broadcast negotiations” after the Ashes Test series winds up in November.
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V’landys claims the deal will surpass the $4.5 billion, seven-year broadcast deal struck between the AFL and broadcasters Seven and Foxtel.
“The deal will be record-breaking because we built the game up and doubled our audience,” V’landys said.
This claim is not backed up by the data.
The NRL’s own media team told Mumbrella this year’s finals series has seen an average audience uptick of 31% from 2024. When the last rights deal was struck in December 2021, the league was coming off the back of its most-watched grand final in the past five years, with an average of 3.6 million viewers on Nine. Last year’s grand final drew an average of 3.42 million viewers on the same network.
This is the latest round of inconsistency from the rugby league boss regarding the forthcoming “record” NRL broadcasting deal.
At the NRL’s annual general meeting in late February, V’landys floated the idea of splitting broadcasting rights between multiple partners, saying “we have to look at all formats and that’s one of them.”
He continued: “Ideally we’d like it all in the one, but if you look at the [US] NFL and how they do it, and they’re very successful, we’ll analyse it and watch it,” he said. “Whatever maximises our return.”
In March, V’landys told the Daily Telegraph he was looking to lock in the deal before mid-2025, a deadline that passed some months back. Again, he said he was eyeing the model of the NFL to “see how games could be distributed” between multiple broadcasters, including overseas streamers.
“Disney has come out and said they are interested,” he claimed. “The NFL has broken up their products between free-to-air, cable, and streaming. They have given a little bit to everybody.
“So, for five bucks a month, you might be able to watch NRL on Amazon or Netflix. I’m not saying that’s necessarily what we are going to do, but it’s an option.”
ESPN’s head of channels and marketing, Patrick Bour, countered the claim that Disney had expressed interest during a media call that same week, saying the network hadn’t yet spoken to the ARLC about a potential NRL broadcasting deal, but added: “If and when they want to have a conversation with us, we will of course talk to them. Why wouldn’t we? We’re in the sports business.”
The NRL is looking for a rights partner for 2027 and beyond
During the same Daily Telegraph interview, published in March, V’landys boasted that “it will be a record deal. I won’t discuss specific figures, but it will be our biggest ever broadcast deal.”
He continued: “We have worked very hard to get the game to be the most watched sport in Australia. It’s a strategy. Now, naturally, we want to be rewarded for that.
“Our players have delivered. Our coaches have delivered. The clubs have delivered, and as a unit, rugby league has never been stronger. The strategy of the greatest game of all has paid dividends, and the biggest dividend now will be a massive broadcast deal.
“For us, we have the premium product; that’s all that matters. We have got the game that is the most watched in Australia. We’re number one in Australia”
Veracity of the “most watched” claim aside — TV ratings and on-ground attendance for the AFL contradict it — V’landys also told the paper that “as soon as we know the exact number of teams, we will start broadcast negotiations. I would say it will be in the next few weeks.”
By early May, the Perth Bears were confirmed as the league’s 18th team. Judging by his comments to the AFR, negotiations are not yet underway.
“Our strategy of waiting is the right one,” V’landys told Samios. “The NRL is in a premium position right now.”
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