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It’s upfronts season in media land. For the uninitiated – this is the time of year where traditionally, TV networks will announce their suite of programming and talent for the following calendar year – and desperately try to convince us (and themselves) that bringing tired reality TV formats back from the dead is exciting, and innovative.
For fellow rugby fans, there’s likely nothing particularly interesting for you to get too excited about in the coming year – short of the arrival of the British and Irish Lions.
Beyond that though – it’s anyone’s guess. 2025 marks the end of our broadcast deal with Nine and Stan, and this article takes a closer look at what options are on the table for Rugby Australia – ranging from the likely outcome to some more left-field candidates.
Starting with the incumbents – a likely return to Nine and Stan would be a decision in line with traditional rugby values in that you should never rock the boat and wherever possible protect the status quo. Following our infamous break up with News Corp during COVID – the extensive rugby-centric content offering put together by Nine/Stan has been comparatively quite good for once disillusioned rugby fans.
And with the broadcast rights to 2027 Rugby World Cup reportedly a done deal on Nine – it would make sense to Rugby Australia to build on their existing relationship and continue to foster their connection to its fans.
(Photo by Julian Finney – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Working against Rugby is the cosy relationship that Nine has with the NRL, blocking access to prime time. Many would argue rugby’s lack of free-to-air coverage has massively contributed to its declining popularity, and while Nine has the rights to both major oval-ball games north of the Barassi Line – rugby union will continue to be their secondary sport.
As incumbents, they’ll be offered a first right of refusal, and while a return seems likely – it’s not all sunshine and rainbows over on Denison Street. Reports from earlier in the year of the media company shedding half of its value and falling out of the S&P/ASX 100 Index – raising questions over how much more they can realistically afford to pay. Still – the offer would need to be considerably wide of the mark for Rugby Australia to risk a long and public interrogation of their market value.
Fellow terrestrial contenders Channel 10 – backed by Paramount – are the only major network without a headline winter sport and did an amicable job of broadcasting Test rugby in the past, and Ten could potentially see Super Rugby as an avenue to steal back viewers from rival networks over the colder months.
On the streaming side, Paramount+ is one of the country’s fastest-growing SVOD services with deals with both the A-League and Formula 1 sending clear signals to the market of its interest in sports broadcasting. Unlike Stan, they also offer a cheaper ad-supported tier – music to the ears of all those disenfranchised rugby fans aggrieved at being forced to pay $27 a month for a subscription they use only half of.
Seven’s stranglehold on the AFL doesn’t automatically rule them out either. Despite the AFL’s rise in the northern states – quite often you’ll see AFL parked on secondary channels in favour of other “General Entertainment” content on a Friday and Saturday. This opens the possibility that Super Rugby could fill this gap and be front and centre on the screens of its traditional Brisbane and Sydney audiences.
Seven’s having also recently secured streaming rights to both the cricket and AFL, announced the launch of 7Sport – and while any new deal is highly likely to involve a significant portion of the content being reserved for streaming platforms in a similar structure to the current Nine/ Stan deal, Seven’s entry into the streaming market opens the door new possibilities, however unlikely they may be.
Of course, there are a myriad of streaming options on the table like Optus Sport, Amazon Prime or an unlikely return to Fox/Kayo. Even Netflix in the US has recently tapped into the streaming market with their deal to broadcast the NFL’s Christmas fixtures.
The biggest determining factor of where rugby ends up post 2025 however will ultimately be the price tag. With Rugby Australia desperate to get an increase on its modest $29M per year deal – finding ways to increase the value without marginalising its biggest fans may prove difficult.
Free to Air networks are no longer the media behemoths they once were. While audiences for live sport are remaining strong, across the board networks are shedding viewers in favour of subscription streaming services with compelling content offerings – meaning and if we’re looking to increase the price tag, it’s going to likely come at the cost of eyeballs.
Complicating matters in the rise of SVOD is that no longer are advertisers the major single source of revenue for broadcast channels, and so rather than the old method of adding games to draw to increase the amount of ad inventory – the quality of the content and viewing experience will triumph over additional games if they don’t translate to ongoing subscribers.
It’s interesting times ahead for Rugby Australia – but the impending Rugby World Cup in 2027 should provide some hope for administrators. However the outcome of this broadcast deal could mean the difference between skating to 2027 blissfully or crawling there on our knees.
