A war of words has broken out between two of Australia’s biggest media companies after Netball Australia announced details of its new long-term broadcast deal.
From 2022, Australia’s Super Netball competition will move to an exclusive new home on Foxtel and Kayo under an arrangement that will bring to an end its existing partnership with Nine and Telstra.
The new deal will see every round of the Super Netball competition available live and ad-break free during play on Foxtel Group platforms including Foxtel and Kayo Sports.
As part of the deal, Foxtel has confirmed two Super Netball games will be made available live and free as part of Kayo’s recently announced Kayo Freebies package.
Every match of the Super Netball Finals Series and Australian Diamonds matches will also be available to stream for free on Kayo platform.
Super Netball has been broadcast on Nine’s free-to-air channels since the code’s inception in 2017. Telstra has also provided streaming coverage of the sport on it’s mobile and Telstra TV platforms.
Netball Australia interim CEO, Ron Steiner thanked the two companies for their support stating;
‘’Nine and Telstra saw the potential of the league and provided support at a critical time. We look forward to working closely with them during season 2021 and thank them for their commitment to the game,’’
However, Nine was less than impressed by the new deal with a spokesperson telling TV Blackbox;
“We are disappointed that after working with netball to grow the game for the past five years we find they have taken the deal with Foxtel which is supported by government money which we don’t have access to,”
Fox Sports has received $40 million in Federal Government funding since 2017 to boost the coverage of female and under-represent sport in Australia. It’s expected more of this content including select W-League matches will now move into the free-tier on Kayo.
A spokesperson for Foxtel was quick to dispute the claims by Nine telling TV Blackbox;
“Netball is the premier elite women’s sport in Australia and has a well-established presence on television. The finances received by Foxtel in relation to the under-represented sports grant, which currently expires mid-2022, have not been used to acquire the rights to the announced by Netball Australia commencing in 2022.”
“The comments made by a Nine spokesperson regarding this matter are poorly informed and simply wrong.”
The announcement of the new netball deal comes on the same day Nine confirmed commentary team details for its upcoming Super Rugby coverage. Roz Kelly and Nick McArdle will host the coverage on Nine and the soon-to-launch Stan Sports.
Nine has recently secured broadcast rights for Australian Rugby which were previously held by Foxtel. Stan Sports will also feature the US and French Open tennis and is rumoured to be eager to secure NBL Basketball from 2022 as it looks to compete directly against Kayo.
Meanwhile, Kayo has announced a new partnership with Telstra this week which will enable the telco’s customers to subscribe to the sports streaming service for a price as low as $5 per month.
Netball Australia has indicated the new deal with Foxtel will provide the financial strength for Suncorp Super Netball elite player salaries to be paid by the league. With benefits to also flow to the grassroots game.
