NRL to unveil record rights deal with Nine, Foxtel ahead of Origin
Updated July 7, 2026 — 12:31pm,first published 11:38amYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.Nine and Foxtel have announced a $5.3 billion dollar agreement to keep airing the NRL in what is the most expensive rights deal for an Australian sporting code in history.The deal, which is set to run until 2034, and was announced on Tuesday makes the sport’s airing rights more valuable than the AFL, a longstanding goal of the Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys.Nine, owner of this masthead, will pay $145 million cash annually for the free-to-air TV rights, the company said in a statement to the market on Tuesday. Foxtel is expected to pay around $520 million annually for the pay TV component.It eclipses AFL’s record $4.5 billion deal over seven years, which the rival sport signed in 2022 and which runs from 2025 to 2031, despite mainstream media companies coming under increasing cost pressures in the years since.AdvertisementNine will get free-to-air rights to three games a week, as well as exclusive rights to State of Origin and the NRL Grand Final.The deal comes ahead of Origin III, and before the departure of NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo.The deal will also retain the long-time status quo in NRL coverage, with the NRL reaping the benefits of competitive tension in the market during the bidding process to push up the price. Both Nine, owner of this masthead, and Foxtel, separately pitched bids to take on the rights in full and effectively cut out the other. Other media companies were also interested.Nine pitched a deal that would have taken the sport off Foxtel, and put more games on its subscription streaming platform Stan.AdvertisementFoxtel, which was last year bought by DAZN, the global streaming company owned by billionaire businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik, also wanted the whole rights, however such a deal would have struggled to comply with Australia’s anti-siphoning laws, which ensure certain major sporting events must remain on free-to-air television. Foxtel would have been forced to on-sell games to either Nine or Seven.Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video also pitched for up to two matches a week, while Southern Cross Media, the owner of Seven Network, also made a play.At a press conference on Tuesday, V’landys said that all offers were on the table up till the 11th hour.“Up until late last night, and I mean late last night, we were still negotiating terms of this agreement, and up until the execution of that contract, everyone was still in play,” he said.The deal extends Nine’s partnership with rugby league into its fourth decade.Advertisement“Rugby League is part of Nine’s DNA, and it is one of Australia’s most important sporting and cultural assets,” Nine Chair Peter Tonagh said.Abdo, who is departing the NRL to become chief executive of Tennis Australia said that the new deal was a “massive win” for the league.“There’s never been a more exciting time to be in rugby league for fans. This is a massive win. We’ve got two wonderful partners who know how to tell our stories and present our game the best possible way,” he said.The record deal achieves V’landys’ long-standing goal of beating the AFL, and defies a downturn in the television advertising market and the potential impacts of the Albanese government’s impending gambling advertising restrictions on broadcasters.The increase in the NRL’s value reflects that fact that live sport remains one of the few areas where traditional broadcasters can distinguish themselves from online rivals like YouTube and TikTok.The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.You have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.More:Broadcast rightsNRL 2026Peter V'LandysNine EntertainmentMedia & marketingFoxtelKishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
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