Rugby Australia has hailed its new $240 million broadcast deal with Nine Entertainment Co. as a "really exciting and successful" outcome, albeit one that carries no guarantees Super Rugby Pacific will be shown on free-to-air television beyond this season.
The two parties on Wednesday unveiled a new five-year deal that includes performance-based incentive targets, which could raise the guaranteed uplift on the agreement signed in 2020 from a 30% to 40% increase, providing the Wallabies and Super Rugby franchises are successful.
"It's really exciting, north of a 40% increase on the current cycle. And within that, there's obviously the guaranteed piece, there's the contra to promote the game, and then there's the incentives within the partnership as well," Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said.
"So, the way we see it is that we need to ensure we're putting a product onto the field that's engaging with audiences and it's driving engagement with our broadcaster and broadcasting partners. So it's a really exciting and successful outcome, certainly for Rugby Australia, and we need to drive that value for Nine. It's quite a unique aspect as well, the bonus concept of it."
After being the launching partner for Nine's Stan Sport streaming service in 2021, rugby continues to be among the main subscriber drawers, the offering carrying everything from Wallabies and Wallaroos Test matches right down to grassroots action from the Shute Shield [Sydney] and Hospital Cup [Brisbane], to under 16/18 national tournaments and academy programs. Subscribers can also stream rugby competitions from across the world, both at Test and provincial level, as well as the full suite of internationals in the July and November Test windows.
However, the fact that Nine is no longer under a contractual obligation to screen one Super Rugby Pacific [SRP] on free-to-air television per week is a setback, particularly after only on Tuesday SRP competition chief executive Jack Mesley revealed there had been a 30% increase on Nine's viewership from last year at the halfway mark of the 2025 tournament.
"As a competition we're aligned on delivering fast, dynamic and exciting rugby which seeks to capture the imagination of the fans," Mesley said.
"This season is producing incredible on-field drama every week with close and high-scoring contests, remarkable comebacks, unexpected results, and underdogs regularly rewriting the record books.
"The numbers we're seeing on broadcast and in stadiums, along with our digital engagement through Fantasy and social media, tells us we're very much heading in the right direction."
That "right direction" has however not washed with Nine executives, or at least the media company is feeling pressure from other sporting partners, or that it wants to further drive up its Stan Sport subscriber base. Nine boss Matt Stanton did not front up for questions after the media event announcing the deal concluded.
Asked about the potential lack of Super Rugby Pacific on Nine post 2025, Waugh said: "There's no contractual obligation within the agreement. The way that we view rugby in this country is how do we ensure that we're producing a quality of product that we're putting onto the field that everyone wants to be watching, and I think that the relationship that we have with Nine is very constructive.
"We're very optimistic around the journey that Nine's on, around greater integration across their platforms, and so we need to ensure we're putting a product that we're very proud of, Nine's very proud of, and then we'll work through with their executives around is that free-to-air or is that on Stan. But we need to ensure that we're driving value to Nine and to Stan."
Waugh did stress that one game, a "match of the round", from the Shute Shield and Hospital Cup competitions would return to free-to-air television in NSW and Queensland respectively, on Saturday afternoons from next year.
Pushed on why RA, after hailing Super Rugby's guaranteed return to free-to-air television in the previous deal, had now walked back its position, Waugh added: "I think you get the balance between value and exposure, and clearly we're in an environment where it's hugely competitive to keep [playing] talent, and so ensuring that the value and the economics work to be able to keep our talent in this country so that we can put a product out onto the field that people want to watch and want to engage in.
"And so we're striking the balance between value and exposure, and I think that you'd be well across the trend in viewership and consumption, where most households now across the country have streaming platforms, and so we don't think it's a shift away from behaviour.
"We just think it's how we get the balance right between value, how we put the best product onto the field, and ensuring that we've got the economics to have a sound game."
Nine was generally perceived to have secured itself a bargain deal in 2020 when Rugby Australia was on its knees midway through the COVID-19 pandemic, the governing body making the decision to walk away from long-term partners Foxtel.
But despite a woeful Rugby World Cup in 2023, where the Wallabies exited the tournament after the pool stage for the first time in tournament history, the sacking of Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and then the Eddie Jones debacle, the game has started to recover; this year's positive Super Rugby Pacific metrics, both on and off field, providing more momentum for the code in Australia ahead of this year's British & Irish Lions series.
While Waugh did not specify exactly what the incentive-based targets were, defeating the tourists in the middle of the year is likely one key goal, so too ending a Bledisloe Cup drought that extends all the way back to 2003.
"It's a new concept but we do understand in our market, the Australian market which is probably more competitive than every other market in the world, is that performance and winning matters," Waugh said of the incentive portion of the deal. "And it matters to us as a game equally, the engagement, other spectators can watch so many different sports. We need to be performing, we need to be winning and that will ultimately drive value to Nine."
The 2026-2030 broadcast deal, subject to final ratification from SANZAAR, covers:
• All Wallabies and Wallaroos Test matches through 2030 outside of Rugby World Cup competition •
• All Super Rugby Pacific and Super Rugby Women's matches
• All SANZAAR Tests and the new Nations Cup tournament (once formalised)
• All Shute Shield and Hospital Cup matches at least through to 2027