The $5.3 billion NRL game changer
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ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Hi, I'm Patricia Carvellis, the host of Politics Now. And sometimes it can be hard to cut through all the noise from the Canberra bubble. But on the Politics Now podcast, bursting it wide open is our core business. I'm joined by the brightest minds at the ABC to break down the polyspeak and have a chat about what's actually going on behind the scenes. It's called Politics Now and you can find it on ABC Listener.
It's the most lucrative sports broadcast deal in history, worth $5.3 billion over seven years. For the first time, the NRL has landed more than the AFL, which secured just $4.5 billion. Today, sports media expert Merrin Sherwood from La Trobe Uni on how the rugby league managed it and who ultimately pays the cost. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.
Well, we might start if everyone's ready. Good morning, everyone. Normally, these press announcements are bad news, but today they're very good news.
Meryn, the NRL is now worth more than the AFL. And, well, Peter Volandis, the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission, is over the moon about it, isn't he? He is.
We're about to announce the highest ever media broadcast deal in Australian sports history...
And it has been a longstanding goal of his to get the NRL in a better broadcast rights position than the AFL. And I think a lot of people thought that it just wasn't going to be possible. That's why this deal and the figure is actually really impressive for the way that it's really come together and the value that the NRL have got out of the deal.
In the past five years, we have changed the game, effectively doubling the audience. We are now the most viewed, program in Australia and in the Pacific. Don't listen to what other people tell you, especially some down south. We are the number one viewed sport in Australia.
Yeah, well, Peter Volandes, of course, he doesn't even like to mention the AFL by name, does he? No, he's certainly very competitive in this space.
I don't know anything called AFL. It's FLA, isn't it?
Yeah, he really is the NRL or nothing. And, you know, he went into these negotiations, Meryn, in a very powerful position, didn't he? Because this is a game that broadcasters want.
Certainly it is. And I think looking back now, what we can see is that the NRL have actually been really strategic about the way that they have added value and there is more value coming for broadcasters in the NRL. So the rule changes that they have put through in recent years have led to faster games. They've led to more tries. And so we are seeing that come through in higher ratings. They are, of course, also adding content.
So from next year, we'll have a new NRL team. The Perth Bears have taken the first steps to building an NRL team by appointing their inaugural coach. Experienced operator Mal Meninga wants to help the new franchise find its identity.
Thank you so much. I mean, it's not just a nice add-on when the women's origin games are actually recording viewership of two million and more for each game. Like, that's real value to broadcasters. And so I think we need to actually acknowledge the importance of the women's game in this broadcast deal as well.
And Peter Volandes, he's really credited, isn't he, for making these changes to the NRL to make it even more popular. I mean, he even took the game to Las Vegas.
What is the $5.3 billion NRL broadcast deal and why is it historic?
Certainly global expansion has been something he's talked about a lot. But from what we've seen so far, Las Vegas has been pretty successful in terms of taking League to a new audience, but also adding something exciting and different for fans. I mean, I think some of the comments that he's made about, you know, having maybe a team in Europe or America might be a little bit far-fetched.
Who's to say that in 2050 that there's not a team in the NRL from Europe? That's the aim. Why isn't there one from America with changes in transport, changes in technology? The world's our oyster.
Having a team fly in or fly out from Europe or America might be a little bit too far.
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