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Rugby union on outer with networks
- James Chessell
- From: The Australian
- March 13, 2010 12:00AM
AUSTRALIAN rugby has almost sewn up a substantial broadcast deal with pay television, but it is battling to convince sceptical free-to-air television networks to back the Wallabies at a time when the game is under pressure to broaden its appeal to the viewing public.
In about a week, SANZAR, the South African, Australian and New Zealand body that operates the Super 14 and Tri-Nations competitions, is finally expected to announce a 2011-15 broadcast deal with News Corporation (which part-owns pay-TV operator Foxtel as well as being publisher of The Weekend Australian) and South Africa's Supersport.
The headline number should represent a significant improvement on the previous $US323 million, five-year deal, although the extra money has much to do with the strong Australian dollar and an expanded Super 15 competition next year that will have 30 per cent more games. Sources suggest an increase of up to 40 per cent is possible, although the deal is yet to be finalised.
However, the challenge for SANZAR in general and Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill in particular is convincing a free-to-air network to pay up for the rights to broadcast the Wallabies.
It is understood Seven, Nine and Ten have expressed little interest in shelling out the $15-20m rugby believes Tri-Nations matches and home Tests involving the Wallabies are worth. The networks are also being offered a highlights package of Super 15 games to sweeten the deal - and give the sport some free-to-air exposure - but officials have not been knocked over in the rush. There is even the possibility the SANZAR deal with News could be announced without an Australian free-to-air deal being resolved. "You'd never say never," a network chief executive said. "But it's only a possibility as far as I'm concerned if there is a substantial discount on offer."
While it is easy to dismiss the networks' indifference as the usual bluff that accompanies any negotiations, there are several factors that suggest they are serious.
Take, for example, Seven boss David Leckie, who presently holds the rights for Tri-Nations and all Wallabies home games. Leckie has followed rugby all his life and his sons play but he is also a keen St George rugby league supporter. Sources say he is far more interested in the Dragons than the Waratahs these days.
Leckie's interest in league, of course, has a commercial aspect. The free-to-air networks and Foxtel will negotiate new broadcast deals with the AFL and NRL over the next 18 months at a combined cost of close to $2 billion. Along with cricket, AFL and NRL represents the main game for television networks as far as sport is concerned.
While decent content is important for all types of television, there is a real danger the free-to-air networks will be conserving their sports budgets for AFL and NRL at the expense of second-tier sports such as rugby.
Seven and Ten presently have the AFL rights but Leckie has declared he would like to take a piece of the league off Nine. League is particularly popular in Queensland where, until this year at least, the Reds' dismal form had dampened enthusiasm for rugby.
Even rugby diehards admit the game needs to enjoy more success on a domestic and international level to grow its base.
A constant complaint among fans and broadcasters has been the kicking game adopted by many teams. That officials have altered the interpretation of the rules this year to encourage more attractive running rugby may have come too late to affect the current round of negotiations.
Network executives are all too aware that Bledisloe Cup games that were attracting more than 1.5m metropolitan viewers in 2001 were lucky to get half that audience in recent years.
While Test matches played in local time zones still attract decent audiences in Sydney and Brisbane, they struggle to match the major codes. The inaugural NRL Indigenous All Stars match last month attracted 792,000 metro viewers, which beat Bledisloe matches in the past two years. Ratings are not so important to Foxtel, which is a subscription model, but they are mission critical for free-to-air networks.
Another factor that diminishes the value of Tests for the commercial networks - at least for the time being - is that Foxtel also has the right to broadcast the games at the same time. This arrangement could change, but a commercial-free alternative for the 34 per cent of Australia that has access to pay-TV will not help push up the price.
Anti-siphoning rules that shield sport from pay-TV cover all Wallabies games and the Rugby World Cup, which means free-to-air networks effectively get a free-kick. Super Rugby is not covered.
Nine and Fox Sports have the rights to broadcast the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. The 2011 competition will be played in New Zealand, which has given Nine boss David Gyngell - another league tragic - confidence it will generate decent audiences. But Nine's interest in rugby's biggest event does not automatically extend to Tri-Nations Tests. "It's unlikely we will end up with them," a Nine source said.
Then there's Ten, which presently has the rights to broadcast Wallabies games played in the northern hemisphere.
It is believed Ten made an offer for rights for the SANZAR Tests package and one live Super 15 game a week but was knocked back because News offered more money.
Ten, whose digital channel One is dedicated to sport, argued the benefit of blanket free-to-air exposure outweighed the lost revenue. The argument has worked with some sports but failed to sway rugby administrators. It is also believed News made it clear to O'Neill it was not keen on having its investment diminished by Super 15 appearing on a rival platform.
Sporting codes must balance the benefit of additional pay-TV dollars with the cost of a smaller audience. O'Neill would have preferred the AFL and NRL model.
The compromise is the highlights package but this is no substitute for live, exclusive sport. What this means for the game over the next five years remains to be seen.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225840217453