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Foxtel / Kayo sign new deal for Super Netball

Super Netball will move from Nine to Foxtel / Kayo from 2022.

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Netball Australia has signed a new 5 year broadcast rights deal with Foxtel, ending its association with Nine after the 2021 season.

Netball Australia, the Super Netball League Commission and the Foxtel Group today announced a new broadcast and digital rights deal commencing in 2022.

Under the agreement:

  • Every game of every round of the Suncorp Super Netball competition will be available live and ad-break free during play on Foxtel Group platforms including Foxtel and Australia’s number one sports streaming app, Kayo Sports.
  • Every week, two Suncorp Super Netball games will be available live and free as part of Kayo’s recently announced Kayo Freebies, along with every match of the Suncorp Super Netball Finals Series.
  • Origin Australian Diamonds matches will also be available free on Kayo Freebies.
  • Fox Sports, Australia’s leading producer of elite sports television, will undertake the production of all matches played in Australia and develop new netball magazine shows to deepen fan engagement, including a presence for shows on Kayo Freebies.

Netball Australia interim CEO, Ron Steiner said: “This is a landmark deal for the sport and provides the foundation for Suncorp Super Netball to grow and enhance its status as the best elite netball competition in the world.”

“It also provides financial security that will enable netball’s member organisations to nurture what is Australia’s number one female team participation sport. Netball’s mission is to empower women and girls and connect communities, and the wide-ranging impact of this deal will drive those outcomes.”

Super Netball League Commission Chair Marina Go said: “This agreement follows intense interest and negotiation with several parties who were keenly aware of netball’s unique position within Australian sport.

“We are delighted to be partnering with such a strong and well-regarded organisation and look forward to bringing our fierce and exciting sport to the Foxtel Group’s audience including Kayo’s rapidly growing customer base.

“There are many winners in this deal, and that includes the world’s best netball players who will enjoy contract security and some of the best conditions of any female athletes anywhere.”

Foxtel Chief Content and Commercial Officer Amanda Laing said: “We are incredibly pleased to be joining Netball Australia to play our part in consolidating Suncorp Super Netball as the world’s number one elite netball competition.

“By bringing the free and paid broadcast and digital rights together, we can establish a more consistent competition schedule which will strengthen audience engagement. We have a reputation for innovation and will use our production expertise and marketing capability across Foxtel and Kayo to support netball’s continued growth.

“Suncorp Super Netball players are extraordinary athletes and striking ambassadors for their sport. We will work with the players, clubs, sponsors and the whole netball community to raise their profile and deliver the recognition and rewards which they deserve.

“As the most established elite women’s sport in Australia, netball joins an exciting and diverse range of women’s and men’s sports who have chosen to partner with Foxtel and Kayo.”

The upcoming 2021 Super Netball Season will be broadcast on Nine, Telstra TV and the Netball Live Official app from Saturday, May 1.

A Nine spokesperson said, “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.”

4 Responses

  1. They don’t learn, do they? Every sport that has chased money on pay tv deals, turning their back on FTA, has seen their sport diminished and relegated to the backburner of Australian life. So sad to see the netball go, too.

  2. Based on comments by Sue Gaudion and others over the last 2 years, all the hype that Nine & NA tried to create before the start of each season, and the broadcast changes that Nine did, I guessed ages ago (and said so in various Netball Facebook posts) that Nine would dump SNL as soon as their contract was up. They did so, even before the 1st game of the 2021 season.

      1. I’m not an insider or anything and I accept that maybe, just maybe, I could be wrong but I don’t think so. However, it does make it harder for FTA networks to compete if the playing field isn’t level so to speak. I do seem to remember that the FedGov gave some money to Foxtel to expand female sport. or something like that.

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