Streamers could gain more control over media rights, as recent comments from around both the NRL and Premier League suggest a move away from traditional broadcasters.
The NRL is considering in-house production ahead of its next media rights deal, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. According to ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys, this is to attract bids from streaming services, such as Netflix.
Over the past few years, the relationship between sports and streaming platforms has grown increasingly stronger. Platforms such as Amazon’s Prime Video have acquired small media rights deals for the likes of the Premier League and consistently met the expectations of viewers.
Netflix upped its ambitions to enter the sports streaming world last year, as it hosted the NFL Christmas Day games, Mike Tyson’s return to boxing against Jake Paul and became the home of WWE, among other accolades.
While the NRL’s current media deal between Foxtel and Nine Entertainment doesn’t expire until 2027, the league believes in-house production would set it up for more competitive bidding.
Commenting on in-house production, V’landys said: “That is definitely an option. We have to consider it because some of the other streamers require us to provide them a clean feed. The ones we spoke to last time around, we would have had to do production.”
As noted by the ARLC chairman, the majority of streaming platforms require leagues to produce the content themselves. While this may seem like a waste of funds compared to traditional deals, V’landys believes that it could in fact lead to better quality and more innovations.
“It will be the same quality as what we get now, that’s the thing. With technology, you can add things. If you have your own equipment, you can reinvest and keep up with the technology. There’s robotic cameras, there’s AI,” he added.
Mounting pressure…
While streaming platforms are yet to properly cement themselves in the sports broadcast world, just the sheer mention of them can force media rights deals to rocket. This was the case for Sky Sports last year.
Barry Hearn, Chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), suggested Netflix was in the running for its rights before renewing a record contract with Sky Sports.
Most recently, Chelsea FC Co-Owner Todd Boehly spoke in favour of moving from traditional broadcasters to streamers while speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit last month.
Boehly stated: “The Premier League is so widely demanded. How many truly global platforms are there? Probably just Netflix. If you’re thinking about launching a global product you do it with content like this [the Premier League], where everyone under the sun is interested.
“It’s a long conversation. The Premier League are on it, and they are thinking about media rights going forward, and they are thinking about how to get everyone to row simultaneously, and pull for each other. You look at what makes the NFL so special, it’s that the ownership are in lockstep and the commissioner is very good at recognising how valuable their content is. It speaks with one voice.
“I’m not saying [one streamer] is the right answer this minute, but I think that’s where we are headed. The owners have to be willing to take some level of risk.”
