2020 will be remembered for COVID – 2021 will be remembered as the year the war on TV sports rights kicked up a gear. Stan has the Rugby with Nine doing Free-to-Air, now Australian Netball has signed a deal with Foxtel that covers the paid and free “broadcast” of their games.
When Rugby Announced the Nine/Stan deal it was seen as groundbreaking because with Stan able to be the “pay tv” side of a broadcast deal, everything could be under one roof, from promotion via TV, Radio and Newspapers to the actual live games.
All week on radio stations across Australia I’ve been saying this is the thin edge of the wedge, and watch out when the big sports are up for new TV deals because Foxtel has a challenger in the Nine group in this regard.
However, to turn that on its head – all Free-to-Air networks now have a challenger with Foxtel using it’s power to do a single deal with Netball that includes making select games and national team games available free – except they won’t be on “TV” – they’ll be on streaming service Kayo, in front of the paywall (known as Kayo Freebies).
Australia’s Anti-Siphoning Laws
Before we really contemplate how big a deal this is, a reminder that Australia has some intense rules (law in fact) that requires many sporting codes and events to be shown on free-to-air TV.
These laws were created when Foxtel burst onto the scene, with fears they would buy everything up and Aussie’s wouldn’t be able to watch the Melbourne Cup without paying to see it. The same with the NRL Grand Final, or the AFL Grand final.
But here’s the thing. As best I can see, the actual legislation doesn’t specifically refer to over-the-air broadcast Television. Instead, it speaks to being freely available.
Now, I’ll leave it to others to legal over the black and white of the law, but the grey areas are definitions around things like the word “Televise” – because hey, you can get Kayo Free on a big TV.
At the end of this article, I’ll share a list of “Sporting Events” that are Tier A – these must appear on a main channel (Channel 9, or 7 for example, not 9Rush or 7Mate).
The Tier B events, just need to be free – so this is where the netball sneaks in, with the Aussie Netball games required to be free under Tier B, but not on a main channel broadcast.
Netball Changes everything
So let’s consider for now that this is all allowed under legislation. (You must assume Foxtel’s lawyers know the Anti-siphoning legislation back to front).
What this means is, Foxtel could buy the rights to the AFL, put it all on Foxtel and Kayo, but under the regulations, make four games per round available free, as Kayo Freebies – in front of the paywall.
The Finals series would also need to be free, but the Grand Final would need to be on a traditional free-to-air broadcaster.
Now that means Foxtel could pay big, and perhaps just pay a broadcaster to take the Grand Final.
But on the other hand, it would also allow Nine to bid for all games, showing some on Multi-Channels or free on Stan, with the Grand Final on the main channel.
It really does open up an all new bidding war for sports rights.
AFL and NRL are locked in for a few years yet, but stand by for some mega announcements over the year or two ahead, as well as a potential legal stoush about just how well this meets the government’s objectives relating to the anti-siphoning law.
Sports on the Anti-Siphoning List in Australia:
| Tier A—Broadcast on main channel Sport | Events |
| Horse Racing | Melbourne Cup |
| AFL (Australian Football League) | AFL Grand Final |
| NRL (National Rugby League) | NRL Grand Final |
| Rugby Union | Rugby Union World Cup Final |
| Cricket | Each Test match involving Australia, played in AustraliaEach Test match involving Australia and England played in the United Kingdom |
| Cricket | Each one-day international match involving Australia, played in Australia |
| Cricket | Each Twenty20 match involving Australia, played in Australia |
| Cricket | ICC Cricket World Cup: semi-finals, final and each match involving Australia |
| Cricket | ICC Twenty20 World Cup: final and each match involving Australia |
| Football | FIFA World Cup: quarter-finals, semi-finals, final and each match involving Australia |
| Tennis | Australian Open men’s singles finalAustralian Open women’s singles final |
| Tennis | A ‘World group’ Davis Cup final tie involving Australia |
| Motor Sports | Each race of the F1 Grand Prix held in Australia |
| Motor Sports | Each race of the Moto GP held in Australia |
| Motor Sports | V8 Supercars—Bathurst 1000 |
| Tier B—Any channel (1) SPORT | Events |
| Olympic Games | The Summer Olympics event and the Winter Olympics event (Summer: including Opening and closing ceremonies except any event declared a Tier a event for the purposes of the Act ) (Winter including opening and closing ceremonies) |
| Commonwealth Games | The Commonwealth Games event |
| AFL | 4 matches per round of the AFL premiership season* |
| AFL | Each match of the AFL finals series (except the grand final) |
| NRL | 3 matches per round of the NRL premiership season* |
| NRL | Each match of the NRL finals series (except the grand final) |
| Rugby League | Each match of the State of Origin series |
| Rugby League | Each Test match involving the Australian team, played in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom (including the Rugby League World Cup) |
| Rugby Union | Rugby Union World Cup: quarter-finals, semi-finals and each match involving Australia |
| Rugby Union | Each Test match involving Australia, played in Australia, NZ, SA or as part of the ‘spring tour’ |
| Tennis | Each match of the Australian Open (except for the men’s singles final and women’s singles final) |
| Tennis | Wimbledon: Each men’s and women’s singles quarter-final, semi-final and final |
| Tennis | US Open: Each men’s and women’s singles quarter-final, semi-final and final |
| Tennis | Each ‘World group’ tie involving Australia played as part of the Davis Cup (excluding a final involving Australia) |
| Golf | Each round of the Australian Open |
| Golf | Each round of the Australian Masters |
| Golf | Each round of the United States Masters |
| Netball | Each Test match involving the senior Australian team, played in Australia or New ZealandNetball World Championships: Semi-finals and Finals matches involving the senior Australian team |
| Football | All matches of the FIFA World Cup (excluding those on Tier A)^ |
| Football | FIFA World Cup qualifiers: each match involving Australia (the Socceroos)^ |
| Football | English Football Association Cup Final |
| Motorsports | V8 Supercars Championship Series: each race not specified on Tier A |
