ABL
The Australian Baseball League has announced a broadcast licensing agreement with Triple-B Media. Under the partnership terms, the ABL will provide full-length broadcasts to Triple-B, which will in turn disseminate ABL games on its platforms, including Sportstak – a new 24/7 multi-sport channel distributed on OTT platforms and over the air – and other channels.
The agreement began in Round 6 of the 2022-23 ABL season and lasts until the end of the 2023-24 season.
AFL
The AFL’s new deal is worth $643 million a season – an upgrade on the $473 million per season under the terms of the current two-year deal that ends after the 2024 season.
KEY POINTS OF THE AFL’S NEW DEAL
- The deal will run for seven years, from 2025 to 2031
- It is worth $4.5 billion – the biggest sports broadcast rights deal in Australian history
- The same number of games will be broadcast on free-to-air TV each season
- The AFL will retain control of the timing of the Grand Final
- Seven and 7+ Digital will broadcast Thursday night games in each of the first 15 rounds of the season
- All marquee matches will be live and free on Seven (Dreamtime, Anzac Day Eve, Anzac Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Queen’s Birthday) plus at least three additional marquee matches – such as the season opener and Queen’s Birthday Eve
- At least 30 NAB AFLW home and away games, AFLW finals and the AFLW Grand Final will be live and free on Seven and 7+ Digital
- All AFL and AFLW home and away games and finals (excluding the AFL Grand Final) will be broadcast on Foxtel and Kayo, with their own commentary teams
- Foxtel and Kayo will exclusively broadcast a ‘Super Saturday’ of games in each of the first eight rounds of the season (except Anzac Day Eve, Anzac Day and Dreamtime at the ‘G if they fall on Saturday)
Football – National Teams
Football Australia and Paramount Australia announced a landmark multi-year and multi-platform agreement to broadcast an extended package of CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos’ games on Network 10 and Paramount+ in Australia, through to 2028.
- Paramount Australia (parent company of Network 10 and Paramount+) will be the home of the CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos in Australia, including the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026™ being hosted in Australia and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™.
- More than 100 international football games featuring either the CommBank Matildas or Subway Socceroos will be telecast live with at least 50 games on free-to-air television.
- In addition, Paramount Australia have acquired exclusive rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027™, in a deal brokered in partnership with IMG.
- New package also includes all CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos’ friendly matches, all AFC Tournaments (including AFC Asian Qualifiers™), and the Australia Cup Finals through to 2028.
Under the agreement, Network 10 and Paramount+ will become the exclusive home to all Australian Women’s Senior National Team matches for the next four years, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027™, up until the LA 2028 Summer Olympics, and the Men’s Senior National Team matches including all AFC Asian Qualifiers™ (FIFA World Cup 2026™ Asian Qualifiers Final Round) except the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Football – Aleagues
In 2021 it was announced that The A-League will appear on a commercial free-to-air TV network’s main channel for the first time after clinching a landmark broadcast rights deal with Network Ten that secures the competition’s short-term future – and includes the sale of a small equity stake to Ten’s owners, ViacomCBS.
The A-League and W-League has signed a five-year contract with Ten and its streaming subsidiary Paramount+ worth $200 million in cash and commercial contra and contains triggers for a further three-year extension.
The deal guarantees one A-League match each week, on Saturday nights, will be broadcast live on Ten’s main channel for the duration of the agreement, preceded by a magazine-style discussion show – ensuring a level of free-to-air coverage hitherto only dreamed of in the league’s 16-year history.
Golf
Millions of Australian golf fans will have access to the nation’s biggest golf tournaments, the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, with Foxtel broadcasting on Fox Sports and Kayo and the Nine Network set to simulcast on Nine and 9NOW.
Fox Sports will cover 18 events via Foxtel and Kayo, while the BMW Australian PGA Championship and ISPS Handa Australian Open will also be simulcast on the Nine Network and 9Now. Sky Sport NZ, the presenting partner of the NZ Open, will also screen all Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments.
Hockey
The best of Australian hockey will remain live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport, with Hockey Australia and the Seven Network today announcing a long-term partnership extension.
The three-year commitment will see Seven remain the home of hockey until the end of 2027, as fans in all corners of the country witness Australia’s iconic national teams, the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras, enter a new era en route to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Headlined by the 2026 World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium and the Los Angeles Olympic Games Qualifiers in 2027, all Kookaburras and Hockeyroos test matches, plus the next three seasons of Australia’s record-setting Liberty Hockey One League will be enjoyed live and free on Seven’s digital streaming platform, 7plus Sport.
Invictus Games
The 9Network is the Official Australian Broadcaster for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025. The 9Network will partner with the Invictus Games Foundation as the official Australian broadcaster of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, presented by ATCO and Boeing
LIV Golf
The LIV Golf League will return live and free to Australia’s Seven Network in 2025 and beyond, it was announced today as the network retained the broadcast rights for every round.
NBA/WNBA
ESPN has secured its longstanding position as the primary NBA rights holder in the region and ‘Home For Hoops’ following the landmark 11-year extension with the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association.
Beginning from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season, the long-term deal sees the NBA and WNBA continue as mainstay programming on ESPN in Australia and New Zealand.
NBL
The Hungry Jack’s National Basketball League (NBL) will be accessible to more sports fans after the League extended its partnership with ESPN, secured a new free-to-air broadcast deal with Network 10, with games to be played on its main channel, in High Definition (HD) and renewed its deal with News Corp Australia (NCA) to deliver deeper basketball coverage throughout the 2024/25 season.
ESPN’s NBL programming will also be available via Foxtel, Kayo Sports and Fetch TV.
The marquee 2:30pm Sunday afternoon game will also be shown on Network 10’s main channel, and marks the first time the NBL has been on a main channel in a decade.
NFL
Netball
Netball Australia and Foxtel entered into a five-year broadcast deal in 2021, valued between $60-80 million. The sport receives a $7 million cash injection from it each year.
NRL
The new partnership, from 2023-2027, includes;
- A joint commitment to grow and promote the game from grassroots participation to the elite level across all of Nine’s media platforms.
- A focus on broadcast innovation and presentation of the game for fans.
- Nine retaining the exclusive live broadcast rights of the NRL Telstra Premierships Grand Finals Day and the Ampol State of Origin Series. All three Origin games will be played on Wednesday nights.
- Nine continuing to broadcast a live Telstra Premiership game on Thursday and Friday nights as well as Sunday afternoons and a Saturday night game for the final five rounds prior to the commencement of the Finals Series.
- Nine radio continuing to broadcast rugby league via Radio 2GB and 4BC.
The game’s three television broadcast partners, Nine, Fox Sports and Sky TV New Zealand have now all agreed to new partnerships and increased commitments until the end of the 2027 season, with a record total media rights revenue for the game in excess of $400m per annum.
Olympic Games
Commencing in July 2024 with the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Nine will provide Australia with a front row seat to the next five Olympic Games, including the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Los Angeles 2028 and the yet-to-be-announced 2030 Winter Games, all leading up to Australia’s return to hosting an Olympic Games, in Brisbane in 2032.
Nine will bring the images and sounds of the Games to audiences like never before, harnessing the power of its diverse streaming, television, audio and digital platforms, across 9Now, Stan, the 9Network, and talk radio stations 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR. Full coverage will also be delivered across Nine’s suite of print and online publishing platforms: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, WA Today, The Australian Financial Review, and nine.com.au.
Premier League
Optus has sealed a deal to continue as the exclusive broadcaster of English Premier League (EPL) football for the until 2027, winning a blind auction process it described as “very competitive” and also locking in rights for the FA Women’s Super League until 2024.
Its most recent deal, which includes the Women’s Super League, runs until 2028 and is worth an estimated $100 million per year.
Rugby Union
In 2021, Rugby Australia have reached an in-principle agreement with Nine Entertainment Co. The three-year partnership commencing in 2021 includes a two-year option to extend, ushering in a new era and a new home for Rugby in Australia, that will result in an overall benefit to the sport worth $100 million over the initial three-year period.
All Super Rugby AU matches will be live and ad-free on video-on-demand streaming service, Stan, alongside Super W and all matches of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Saturday night’s Super Rugby AU match will be live, free-to-air on the Nine Network every week. All Super Rugby AU finals matches will also be live, free-to-air on the Nine Network.
Stan will also exclusively stream every Wallaroos Test, The Rugby Championship, The Bledisloe Cup, as well as all inbound Tests for Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina with select games also broadcast free-to-air on Nine.
Nine is reported to be on the verge of signing a new agreement after its board approved a five-year broadcast deal worth more than $210 million to air Wallabies, Wallaroos, and Super Rugby matches across Channel Nine and subscription streaming service Stan.
Tennis
The new five-year deal (from 2025 to 2029) includes a $425 million cash component plus considerable additional value in contra, retained rights and promotion, making it the biggest in the history of Tennis Australia.
WNBL
The Cygnett WNBL will be watchable by more sports fans than ever before after the League extended its partnership with ESPN, and expanded its broadcast arrangement with Channel 9 to include a new free-to-air deal, with marquee games to be available on 9Go, in High Definition (HD).
ESPN is widely regarded as the home of the basketball, and the WNBL is pleased to continue to deliver ‘WNBL Wednesday’s on ESPN’ and all Finals games. ESPN will also continue to provide strong coverage for fans through social and digital.
ESPN’s WNBL programming will also be available via Foxtel, Kayo Sports, and Sky Sports NZ.
The marquee 12:30pm Sunday afternoon game will be shown on 9Go and marks the first time the WNBL has been on a free-to-air main channel in five years. All remaining games will be available on Nine’s free digital channel, 9Now.
