Rugby is coming again!

[AngloFootballLeague]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-unio ... 53y2n.html

Big deal to happen? Gotta hurt afl who have been death riding sport in hope of getting foothold in Sydney.

[leagueiscrap]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-unio ... 53y2n.html

Big deal to happen? Gotta hurt afl who have been death riding sport in hope of getting foothold in Sydney.

Rugby has never died it’s still ist surviving and doubt anything will change!

Afl hasn’t exclusively been riding the death nail of old Union as league has been as well!

I mean they are near identical games game and most rugby fans are over whelmed and can’t keep up understanding afl

[Terry]

As I have stated elsewhere: Newscorp is mounting a disinformation war about walking away from Rugby. They will however be in the thick of the bidding process & I wouldn't be surprised if they hold onto the rights at a reasonable market value.

[leeroy*NRL*]

Yeh ARU should be excepting FOX's offer and trying to build up from he ground again..

FIRE That pathetic CASTLE WOMEN>> and concentrate on trying to build grassroots, shute shield and
work out a way to get out of SUPER RUGBY.

[leeroy*NRL*]

what this 1 Billion thinking ????

they will be lucky to get 200million over 5 years.

[Terry]

what this 1 Billion thinking ????

they will be lucky to get 200million over 5 years.

the $1B is the combined amount of the 4 Sanzaar nations. Australia is the only country yet to finalise a deal. And yep......$200M would be a fair valuation and probably very close to what they will get.

[leeroy*NRL*]

what this 1 Billion thinking ????

they will be lucky to get 200million over 5 years.

the $1B is the combined amount of the 4 Sanzaar nations. Australia is the only country yet to finalise a deal. And yep......$200M would be a fair valuation and probably very close to what they will get.

ahh ok, thanks for that,

is the pot of money distributed evenly
all does the ARU only get the money they can get for Australian rights ?

likewise with NZ and SA

[Terry]

what this 1 Billion thinking ????

they will be lucky to get 200million over 5 years.

the $1B is the combined amount of the 4 Sanzaar nations. Australia is the only country yet to finalise a deal. And yep......$200M would be a fair valuation and probably very close to what they will get.

ahh ok, thanks for that,

is the pot of money distributed evenly
all does the ARU only get the money they can get for Australian rights ?

likewise with NZ and SA
[/quote

Each Union negotiates its own broadcast deal and it then supposedly goes into the one pot before it is distributed. However in the last deal Rugby Australia got almost the exact same amount of money per year as the Australian broadcast deal was worth. So the gentleman's agreement obviously is they take out what they put in.

Other factors are that RA now has one less team to finance. But to offset that: in the last deal Sky in the UK paid about $15M per year to RA to broadcast games in Europe. They no longer want them and that money won't be there this deal.

All in all Rugby are in a tough place. I reckon they will still get about $200M whoever they go with.

[leagueiscrap]

what this 1 Billion thinking ????

they will be lucky to get 200million over 5 years.

And sucked in!
The billion may be over the life of the contract given it for 1 or 10!

[AngloFootballLeague]

Afl has spent millions for small niche in Sydney - if Rugby has resources to fight back game could be over.

[leagueiscrap]

Afl has spent millions for small niche in Sydney - if Rugby has resources to fight back game could be over.

And it’s growing in Sydney! The swans are by far the largest team and the support for the GWS is growing!

If rugby had some dollars they could put it back in to grass roots and score some of those fans and players that the less skilled version of rugby, aka league pinched off union

[leeroy*NRL*]

yes interesting>> without Oversea's investment the tv deal will be even smaller than it currently is..

in a matter of 5 years, things could be halved for ARU in australia.
and a team is lost.

Apparently FOX offered Rugby $20million per year
no wonder they have went for other offers..

will they take less dollars for FTA presence

[Terry]

I'm starting to feel a tad more confident Rugby will get a reasonable deal. After all the BS in the News publications it appears RA knew what they were doing and what the response from News would be. They have never taken the game to the market before. They've simply taken the money on offer from Fox. As long as Optus is fair dinkum and Fox returns to the table this is a good move.

They also have Shane Mattiske working on their deal. He was with the NRL and negotiated previous deals for them. He's also worked for Repucom who have dealt with sports sponsorships for the NFL, NBA, Fifa and EPL among others. Maybe they're doing things a bit smarter than people gave them credit for.

[leeroy*NRL*]

if Fox want the rights >> yes will be a great move by RA
but if they really do not.. could be smaller than the $200mill over 5 years.

(even a move to TEN & Optus) might be up there sleeve.

(RA want everything finalized by end of March.. tick tock

[Beaussie]

if Fox want the rights >> yes will be a great move by RA
but if they really do not.. could be smaller than the $200mill over 5 years.

(even a move to TEN & Optus) might be up there sleeve.

(RA want everything finalized by end of March.. tick tock

Interesting times ahead for Rugby Australia and its many stakeholders.

Old Roy seems to be very interested in what’s happening with a few articles in past week and again today I see. He provides some more detail on what he believes is being negotiated. Hard to see much value add in it for Foxtel and Optus or even a free to air partner such as Channel 10 if what is outlined is true.

Broadcast rights stoush could leave game and Fox bruised and bloodied

By Roy Masters
February 12, 2020

In television they shoot the wounded. It applies as much to a presenter who doesn't engage with the viewers as it does with a sport that doesn't rate.

When the Rugby Australia broadcast negotiations finally are settled there could be some casualties within the hierarchy of the sport and incumbent broadcaster Fox Sports.


Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle.CREDIT:AAP

RA chief executive Raelene Castle has a posse of death riders willing her to fail and she won't survive unless she receives the significant uplift in TV monies she has promised Australia's four Super Rugby franchises, as well as the other SANZAAR nations who have already committed to the next five-year deal.

RA is unyielding on having one Super Rugby match a week in prime time on free-to-air television to "grow the game".

The match would be on Saturday nights, probably on Network Ten, and involve one of the Australian franchises - the Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies and Rebels. Each Super Rugby franchise has seven home games a year. That's 28 matches per season, but with crossovers there could be only one game played in Australia some weekends. The Rebels versus the Stormers on FTA on a Saturday night is scarcely the saviour the sport seeks.

Yet even if the Waratahs and Reds were shown every Saturday night on FTA would it rate? RA's best product, the Wallabies, are already on Ten and it hasn't been the godsend. The best evidence that FTA is not the salvation of a minor sport is the A-League. Last week's match between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory match was relegated to the ABC's children's channel.

The time to put the Waratahs on FTA was back in 2014 when they won the Super Rugby title but RA had already stuffed Rupert's money down its pants like a frenzied participant in a Dash for Cash contest.

Now, with ratings down by 35 per cent this season and the Brumbies the only team to win a game, Fox obviously wants the best Australian Super Rugby game in order to retain its frustrated subscribers.

RA's offer to potential broadcasters in believed to involve:

One Australian game per week of Super Rugby live on FTA TV in prime time;

* All other Super Rugby games live behind a paywall either on an over-the-top service (Optus) or pay TV (Foxtel);
* All games in the Rugby Championship on Pay TV/OTT with all Wallabies games simulcast on pay TV/OTT and FTA TV;
* All Hospital Cup and Shute Shield games on pay TV/OTT. Shute Shield match of the round on FTA TV.

For that package RA are seeking a significant increase in the broadcast rights fee over the current deal of $285 million over five years.

Furthermore, it is likely the RA broadcast rights deal will exclude the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025, inso far as it requires a sign-off beforehand from the British and Irish Lions. So, with RA seeking more money for rights to the SANZAAR competitions, which will stage fewer games from 2021, and offering a non-exclusive deal, wouldn't Optus question the price for the same reasons as Fox?

The Hospital Cup/Shute Shield will not create value for the broadcaster. Shute Shield has a very low non-commercial TV rating of approximately 24,000 per game on Seven, which is paid to broadcast matches. Like almost all expectations in these negotiations, there appears to be no logic why Foxtel would want to acquire these competitions without profound change.

Foxtel is facing dire challenges with falling subscribers on Kayo, Foxtel and Foxtel Now. It has recently announced a 40 per cent discounted Kayo offer for Telstra subscribers.

While Fox Sports chief executive Patrick Delany may personally want to retain rugby, the pressure to reduce costs, including sports media rights, may come from New York.

Rupert Murdoch is entitled to claim only Harry Potter has had a more magical ride than rugby, following his investment of $US555m in SANZAR in 1996.

Furthermore, Delany could argue RA should have accepted his offer last October to roll over the existing deal. It would have meant the same money for one less team (with Western Force culled) and less content (SANZAAR will lose its Japanese team). Significantly, SANZAAR rights are paid in US dollars, which, with exchange rate movement means RA would have received about a 25 per cent increase.

But Fox has demonstrated some petulance at RA's lack of gratitude, just as Castle is recalcitrant over selling a game to FTA in prime time.

If RA signs with Optus for less money, the price tags both Delany and Castle set could end as toe tags on their careers.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-unio ... 5406h.html