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ARU Welcomes New Broadcast Agreements
April 22, 2010 - 10:00am
Story by: ARU
A new and improved SANZAR broadcasting agreement for 2011-2015 will underpin expansion plans crucial to Australian Rugby’s future health and prosperity, ARU Managing Director and CEO John O’Neill said today.
Fox Sports has again secured the Australian rights for Super Rugby and Test matches played in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa over the five-year period.
However, the Nine Network has emerged as the new free-to-air rights holder, finalising a deal with Fox Sports to simulcast the Qantas Wallabies June Tests and Tri Nations matches. Nine will also broadcast a one-hour weekly Super Rugby highlights program.
A package of broadcast agreements involving the Australian, New Zealand and South African national bodies across their own territories and the UK will deliver in total a 35% increase -- $US323 million to $US437 million – on the rights revenues achieved under the existing five-year SANZAR deal that expires at the end of this year.
Additional rights from other international territories, including France, Japan, the Americas, and the broader Asian and European markets, are close to finalisation.
Also, for the first time, agreements have been signed directly with broadcasters in Australia and New Zealand. The first two contracts, covering 1996-2005 and 2006-2010, involved News Ltd as the principal rights holder.
Mr O’Neill said the new broadcast agreements will assist SANZAR in driving next year’s historic expansion of Super Rugby when the competition moves to 15 teams and a new three-Conference format.
“The most important element in all this is that the broadcasters have embraced expansion plans that will be hugely important to the future health and prosperity of Australian Rugby,” he said.
“I would like to thank Fox Sports for their support in this agreement as we prepare to enter a new era for Australian Rugby, and warmly welcome the Nine Network as a free-to-air rights holder from 2011.
“ARU had a strategic imperative to be part of a Super Rugby transformation and SANZAR has taken that step with the move to 15 teams next year and an exciting new Conference format.
“It has allowed us to bring Melbourne on to the Super Rugby stage from 2011.
“The Rebels will be the only Melbourne team of any football code to be involved in an elite international competition on a regular basis and their entry to Super Rugby will give the game a genuine national presence.
“The footprint for Super Rugby will extend across Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. Every match will be shown live on Fox Sports and beneath Super Rugby we have Premier Rugby in Sydney and Brisbane being telecast by the national broadcaster.
“However, without the support from Fox Sports and the broadcasters in South Africa and New Zealand for the SANZAR expansion plans, there would have been no Melbourne in Super Rugby from next year.
“We would have also been prevented from showcasing what from 2011 will be a massively increased presence in the Australian sporting marketplace.
“Super Rugby matches played in Australia will be up from 26 to 40. Local derbies in Australia will rise from 6 to 20. The competition as a whole will run for a substantially longer period of time.
“These are all major advancements for the code in this country and there is no doubt the increased value attached to the new rights agreements represents a significant vote of confidence from the broadcasters for Rugby.”
David Malone, CEO of Fox Sports, said the new competition structure for Super Rugby offered improved value for broadcasters under the agreement.
“We are delighted that we are able to continue our partnership with SANZAR and remain the pre-eminent Rugby broadcaster in the country,” he said.
“In particular, the expanded Super Rugby competition will provide tremendous value for fans, with a substantial increase in the number of matches played in Australian time zones.”
Mr O’Neill was also delighted a weekly highlights package for Super Rugby would be shown on free-to-air television.
“All Test matches are shown on free-to-air television, and they will be on Nine from next year as well as Fox Sports,” he said.
“However, it is comforting to know that on top of the comprehensive coverage provided by Fox Sports, with every match shown live, we will also have free-to-air reach for Super Rugby through a weekly highlights package on Nine.”
David Gyngell, CEO of Nine Network Australia, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rugby to our ever expanding Wide World of Sports portfolio.”
http://www.rugby.com.au/news/aru_gen.../section/21893
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