Australian commercial broadcaster Network Ten’s coverage of the British and Irish Lions rugby union tour of the country generated A$8m (€5.7m/$7.4m) in advertising revenue versus the A$2.5m the rights package cost to acquire, according to The Australian.
The newspaper said the financial success of the package, allied to strong ratings for the games, is a “much-needed boon” for a sport that has struggled for free-to-air television coverage ever since it left Ten’s rival commercial broadcaster Seven Network in 2010.
For the past two seasons, rugby Test matches have been broadcast on fellow commercial broadcaster Nine, but the network did not run live broadcasts of Australia’s games during the 2011 World Cup because they clashed with other sports codes.
Ten’s broadcast of international rugby on FTA television is seen by the rugby union community as a potential springboard to a higher profile in the media sector.
“Rugby union is the football code really missing out on establishing a consistent large following and an FTA network partner to boost the profile and popularity of the game,” Steve Allen, an analyst for the Fusion Strategy agency, said.