Seven has reportedly reached out to the National Rugby League about potentially picking up rights to the Australian club competition, but fellow commercial broadcaster Ten is said to have declined to become involved in any free-to-air games that may become available.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Seven has made contact with the NRL, with current free-to-air partner Nine seeking to offload one of its three matches.
The Herald, citing sources with knowledge of discussions, said that pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports will not end its simulcast arrangement with Nine, or axe the Friday 6pm game, as Nine is hoping.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph said Ten has no interest in bidding for NRL rights, should Nine decide to offload any of its content. Rights to the NRL were acquired in November 2015 by Fox Sports and telco Telstra under a five-year contract running from 2018 to 2022. In August 2015, Nine retained domestic free-to-air rights for the NRL in a deal worth A$185m (€107.2m/$116.5m) per season over the five-year cycle.
Earlier this week, Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chair Peter V’landys said he was encouraged by a “constructive and cooperative” meeting with Hugh Marks, chief executive of Nine, over the proposed rescheduling of the NRL season and a possible reworking of the two parties’ broadcast deal.
The meeting coincided with the news that the league had struck a deal for a A$250m credit line from a group of London banks and financial institutions. The ARLC last week laid out a plan for the NRL’s Premiership to return on May 28, with its announcement coming after Nine had issued a scathing rebuke of the League’s governance.
Nine criticised the governance of the competition, stating that it had been hoping to work with the NRL on a solution to the issues facing the sport in 2020. Nine said the Covid-19 health crisis has “highlighted the mismanagement of the code over many years”.
The NRL has been suspended since March 23 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The AAP news agency today (Thursday) reported that a meeting of the Project Apollo group formed to generate a new season structure has been postponed.
The meeting had been scheduled for tomorrow, but has been put back as the League continues talks with Nine and Fox Sports.