Rugby Australia (RA) has taken a significant risk by ending its long-standing partnership with Fox Sports and Network Ten in favour of a new three-year deal with Nine Entertainment Co, worth $100m in cash and contra. The deal could define the future of Australian rugby, but concerns remain over the proportion of cash versus contra advertising.
If the contra component is 10-20% of the total, the cash value could be as low as $26m per year, potentially less than Fox Sports' final offer of $28m. Even at $33m cash annually, it falls well short of the previous $57m deal, making it harder to retain top players against European and Japanese clubs.
RA is banking on free-to-air coverage of Super Rugby on Nine to grow the sport, with one live Saturday night game per week. However, there are risks: the game could be moved to a less favourable time-slot if ratings are low, echoing the NBL's experience in the 1990s when Channel Ten dropped live coverage after poor ratings, damaging the competition.
Another challenge is deciding which of Australia's five Super Rugby teams—Brumbies, Rebels, Waratahs, Reds, or Force—will feature in the weekly broadcast. Balancing heartland markets like NSW and Queensland with demands from other teams could be tricky. Meanwhile, moving Super Rugby to streaming service Stan, which has no sports background and is still developing broadcast technology, adds further uncertainty.
RA hopes existing Fox Sports subscribers will pay extra for Stan, but fans may be content with free-to-air Wallabies and Super Rugby games on Nine. The deal also includes access to Super Rugby Aotearoa and a potential trans-Tasman competition, but the overall success hinges on whether the gamble pays off.
