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Australian Rugby Union signs new $285m television deal
- Jamie Pandaram
- The Daily Telegraph
- December 16, 2015 7:19PM
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THE Australian Rugby Union has secured a $285 million broadcast deal that includes screening a Super Rugby match on free-to-air television for the first time.
The five-year deal means the cash-strapped ARU has yielded $57 million per year, much more than the previously estimated $40 million per annum.
The boost has come on the back of British broadcaster Sky Sports significantly bumping up their offer to show games in the UK, while the deal is negotiated in US dollars and therefore the exchange rate has worked in Australia’s favour.
The new deal will involve the same traditional players, Fox Sports and Channel Ten.
While Ten will continue to show all Wallabies Test matches, they will also broadcast a delayed Super Rugby match each Sunday morning, as well as a highlights show of all games on Monday night.
Fox Sports will broadcast every match of the new, expanded Super Rugby tournament live.
SANZAR will introduce three new teams into the tournament in 2016; the Sunwolves from Japan, the Jaguars from Argentina, and South Africa’s Southern Kings, although concerns remain about the slow progress of the Sunwolves - who do not have a coach or publicised roster - and the Kings who are caught up in financial and political turmoil.
But the bumper pay day for the ARU comes at just the right time, after the organisation bled money these past two years.
Wallabies stars had to agree to take cuts to their match fees in order to keep the business afloat, but will now benefit from the new deal.
The ARU is also expected to put a large amount of money towards the development of women’s rugby, which is seen as the biggest potential growth area for the sport.