Smith had snuck in under the radar of Fox Sports and Nine’s other two free-to-air competitors, Channels Seven and Ten. He had done the deal in secret, not even informing long time partners Foxtel of what was coming.
So smug was Smith about the deal that he told anyone who would listen that Foxtel would now have no choice but to jump on and pay top dollar for the dregs of the games.
Above all, he had triumphed by announcing the deal, all on his own and with great fanfare, on the same day that Rupert Murdoch hosted his international News Corporation board at a flash Sydney lunch.
Smith attended the lunch, attracting attention for leaving early with a smug smile on his face. The humiliation for Foxtel and News was complete.
Today, Smith and his chairman, John Grant stand badly gazumped, scoring what one media veteran described as the “worst own goal” in the sport’s history.
In what can only be described as the greatest rub your nose in it media conference in Australian sport, Murdoch changed his travel plans to be part of the Melbourne AFL show that should sound the death knell for Smith and Grant.
The biggest free-to-air deal in Australian professional sport and pay television’s largest commitment to any football code is a sign that Foxtel will not be bullied into paying top dollar for the four worst league games each weekend.
It is also apparent that New South Wales and Queensland are on notice — AFL is only going to get bigger, the back-up is coming from the media juggernauts at Seven and Foxtel, and the only loser will be rugby league.
While Smith handed the keys to the treasure chest to Channel Nine, effectively giving David Gyngell the (now apparently too cheap) right to use the television games however he liked, the error of his ways has slowly started to sink in.
While he is saving face by claiming he will outplay Foxtel in a game of brinkmanship, there is now no doubt that the money he expected to drop into the NRL’s account will be way short of the billion dollars he needs to bring this deal up to anywhere near the big AFL numbers.
By completely ignoring partners Foxtel and Telstra, Smith has thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
His refusal to allow Channels Seven and Nine to compete for a game, and offering just about everything worthwhile to Gyngell, means he has cheapened his product enormously. Both channels asked for the right to present to Smith. He ignored them.
f Channel Nine decides to rid itself of a game or two, and sell them to Seven or Ten, the only winner will be the network, not rugby league. Gyngell is now a wholesaler able to flog a product at top dollar without any input from the body that owns it.
Not only that. The 16 league clubs will have to wait a year longer than the AFL clubs to share in the windfall. Little wonder 12 of them are seriously considering not signing their participation agreements.
So why take such a huge risk? Smith did not need to do this, a full eighteen months before a decision was due. He could have waited, consulted and listened to what every broadcaster had to offer.
I’m told he was so desperate to do the deal with Nine that he even left his senior corporate advisers out of discussions at the end.
Rupert Murdoch fought tooth and nail to own rugby league and to control the television rights into perpetuity. He showed he would pay through the nose for them too.
Now he has switched his allegiances and made it clear league is a poor relation. You can say what you like about media moguls but professional football needs them to come up with the killer dollars to survive.
One former NRL board member was in a state of shock when last week’s deal was sealed and heralded as a victory for the code. It has taken just one week and several very cranky media owners to confirm that he was right. The league deal stinks and Smith, as its architect, must now face the consequences.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 7490104634
basement dwellers, insert the "but but but" "lies lies lies" & deflections bellow
liar extraordinaire 
