As widely reported, Nine Entertainment has secured the exclusive Australian rights to the English Premier League (EPL) and FA Cup in a multi-million-dollar deal with Optus.
But, given Nine is also locked in a battle for the prized NRL rights when the current broadcast cycle ends in 2027, what impact could the bumper EPL deal have on their chances?
“This acquisition reinforces Nine’s position as the home of sport in Australia,” Nine chief executive Matt Stanton declared when confirming the EPL deal that will see all games streamed on its pay-per-view platform, Stan Sport, for the next three seasons.
Whilst public comment has been scarce, it’s understood Nine will require considerably deeper pockets to pull off a similarly shrewd play for the new NRL rights from 2028-2032, given ARLC boss Peter V’landys has been spruiking ‘a record deal’ in recent months.
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“I won’t discuss specific figures but it will be our biggest ever broadcast deal,” V’landys told News Corp earlier this year.
“We have worked very hard to get the game to be the most watched sport in Australia—now, naturally, we want to be rewarded for that.”
Beyond retaining its current broadcast position, Nine is understood to be pushing to grow its NRL coverage by securing the rights to all nine weekly matches across its free-to-air and pay-per-view platforms when the Perth Bears enter the competition in 2027.
It’s an unsurprising move given rugby league delivered four of Australia’s top six highest-rating commercial programs in 2024.
Of course, fellow NRL broadcaster Foxtel, and its new cashed up owners, British-based DAZN, are unlikely to let their share of the NRL pie go without a major fight—and, in turn, are seeking to add live coverage the State of Origin series and NRL Grand Final in any new rights deal.
Needless to say, the coming weeks and months could be very interesting.