The man who masterminded the NRL's last broadcast deal has labelled the latest, soon-to-be-minted one a "great outcome" for rugby league and comparable to the one negotiated by the AFL.
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The governing body was putting the final touches on Thursday night on a new deal worth an estimated $1.9 billion, a figure expected to crack the $2 billion mark once naming and international rights are sold.
The landmark agreement was made possible after Fox Sports came back to the negotiating table, triggered by the demise of former NRL chief executive Dave Smith and rival Optus' successful bid for English Premier League rights. All eight games will be shown in high definition on Fox Sports each round as part of a simulcast arrangement that resulted in Nine giving up the Saturday evening slot it had initially purchased.
Global Media and Sports boss Colin Smith, who worked for the NRL on the last TV deal and has also advised the AFL and ARU in previous negotiations, said the renegotiated contract was "comparable" to that brokered by Australian Rules. "Fox Sports needs the NRL and the NRL needs Fox Sports. The next round of rights, whenever that is, less so," Smith said.
"It's a great outcome for the NRL. My worry was, if the deal had stayed as is, the deal would have been $500 to $600 million behind the AFL, which is not good. If it had gone to some sort of streaming service the less popular clubs – the Storm, Raiders, Knights and Warriors – would have been on a less popular platform. So it's great for the NRL. The brilliant deal that comes out is Channel Nine, they bought themselves an option and got a Christmas present when Optus did the deal with the English Premier League. They now have the coverage they want and not paid much for it.
"What they have on-sold that to Fox Sports is a great deal for Channel Nine. As I understand it Telstra have the coverage they now need and it still keeps Fox Sports as the preeminent subscription broadcaster of the AFL and NRL.
"The term of the deal is great. Everyone's a winner other … [except fans without Foxtel]."
Smith believes the NRL's deal could have trumpeted that of rival code Australian Rules if expansion was undertaken. "They could have got more if they put another team into south-east Queensland or Brisbane," he said. "I know all broadcasters want it.
"You could argue the EPL was the catalyst that made this happen. If it stayed with Channel Nine as is, the rest of the product wasn't great."
The emergence of what Smith called 'disrupters' – including the likes of Google, Facebook and Netflix – were brought to the negotiating table for the first time. However, it's more likely they will become serious contenders for premium sporting content when the next set of rights are renegotiated.
NRL heavy hitters including chairman John Grant and commissioners Jeremy Suttcliffe and Graeme Samuel emerged from a second day of marathon meetings at Rugby League Central at 5pm on Thursday. While there was no official announcement, the deal is all but complete and the NRL is expected to formally sign off on Friday.
Smith described his namesake, the former NRL boss, as a "scapegoat" after Foxtel was initially left out of the loop in the Nine deal. "The commission signed off on it," he said.
