$12 million RLWC broadcast deal

[Jim from Oz]

https://www.zerotackle.com/exclusive-rights-12-million-set-to-be-spent-by-non-nrl-broadcaster-on-2026-world-cup-227188/

[Jim from Oz]

This is great news that it is worth $12 million, but being on channel 7 means channel 9 will ignore it for all of 2026, like they did in 2017… Which isn’t great for publicity for the tournament

[Jim from Oz]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/channel-seven-splashes-12-million-for-rugby-league-world-cup-20250924-p5mxhy.html

[Hopie]

 

[StandOffHalf]

Great that 7 are paying that much, but being on a different channel will keep the tournament out of view and unadvertised during the season.

[Jim from Oz]

20 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Great that 7 are paying that much, but being on a different channel will keep the tournament out of view and unadvertised during the season.

Yep, this is exactly what happened in 2017 when channel 7 had the RLWC and Channel 9 spent the entire season ignoring it was on

[Hopie]

19 minutes ago, Jim from Oz said:

Yep, this is exactly what happened in 2017 when channel 7 had the RLWC and Channel 9 spent the entire season ignoring it was on

That won't happen this time. There won't be an entire season between the announcement of, and the start of the season.

[Sports Prophet]

36 minutes ago, Jim from Oz said:

Yep, this is exactly what happened in 2017 when channel 7 had the RLWC and Channel 9 spent the entire season ignoring it was on

It would be great if seven can get that midweek footy magazine show up and running to help promote it. 

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, Jim from Oz said:

Yep, this is exactly what happened in 2017 when channel 7 had the RLWC and Channel 9 spent the entire season ignoring it was on

Most Channel 9 watching League fans will know it`s on, Ch7 promoting it will introduce it to a different audience. I expect 7 to do a good job promoting this so a lot of people who rarely or never watch League might be tempted to tune in.

And let`s face it there is so much to work with. Some of the promo`s featuring the Pacific Nations will make it look compelling and if the Pom`s can jag a series win over there in Blighty this year that`ll be marketing gold for 7 as well.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, StandOffHalf said:

Great that 7 are paying that much, but being on a different channel will keep the tournament out of view and unadvertised during the season.

Seven will be giving it a work over you can be assured of that, they`ll want their money back. With digital channel`s and social media there are a lot more ways for Seven to promote this rather than just ads on their main channel.

The Rugby League International environment this tournament will be played in will be nothing like what it was played in back in 2017 as well. With the Pac Championships and resumed Ashes tours this will rightly be seen as the pinnacle of the game where all the nations come together.

[dealwithit]

The thing is, most supporters now get their RL updates and news directly from the NRL, particularly their social media accounts. So there’s less worry about any lack of promo by ch9 or fox. 

[dealwithit]

Does anyone want to have a crack at how much it would cost to run a 10 team WC?

[AB90]

Could be wrong but $12m seems a fairly low figure in the scheme of rugby league in OZ/NZ.

From my understanding, broadcasters pay close to $2m per each NRL game - 213 games including play offs against an annual TV deal/revenue of $410m = $1.924m per game.

So the TV revenue generated from one single round of NRL will eclipse the entire TV revenue of a 6/7 week World Cup. 

But if it’s a significant increase from previous world cups then it is a positive.

[Jim from Oz]

"But if it’s a significant increase from previous world cups then it is a positive."

It is definitely a big increase … for the 2021(22) RLWC, it didn't even attract a free-to-air broadcaster in Oz.

It was shown only on Fox/Kayo, and I seem to recall reading once that Fox/Kayo only paid $500,000 for that (but that could be faulty memory).

[DoubleD]

2 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

"But if it’s a significant increase from previous world cups then it is a positive."

It is definitely a big increase … for the 2021(22) RLWC, it didn't even attract a free-to-air broadcaster in Oz.

It was shown only on Fox/Kayo, and I seem to recall reading once that Fox/Kayo only paid $500,000 for that (but that could be faulty memory).

That’s because it was played in the UK so at times that didn’t suit Australian viewers. 

It’s not significant increase on previous equivalent home tv deals, particularly when factoring inflationary increases and is a rather underwhelming amount in my opinion. However I would caveat that there are fewer games this time around

[Archie Gordon]

For context, Wikipedia says the 2008 RLWC (also a 10-team comp in Aus) pulled in $20m in broadcasting rights from 26 countries.