Report: Nine considers next Australian Open rights
Speculation Nine is mulling a new $500m bid for summer sports blockbuster.
- Published by David Knox
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Now that AFL rights are out of the way, attention is turning to the Australian Open, with a report Nine Entertainment and Tennis Australia are considering a huge $500m deal for broadcast rights.
Nine wrestled the Australian Open from Seven in 2018 at a cost of $300m. Its current contract expires in late 2023, meaning just one more Australian Open Open event, but it enjoys an exclusive “first rights” negotiation period.
The Australian reports Tennis Australia are seeking $100m annually, up some 66%. Seven is said to be keen to resume its place as tennis broadcaster, although it has paid handsomely for the AFL rights, while 10 was also bidding aggressively on the latter.
Seven is also known to be unhappy marriage with its Cricket Australia rights, with a legal battle going to the Federal Court.
Seven’s deal for cricket expires in March 2024.
Neither Nine or Tennis Australia would comment.
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7 Responses
I hope it stays with 9. I’m really loving their Stan Sport option and if they lost the Australian Open they might be more likely to ditch the other slams as well.
While tennis runs for only two weeks (during non-ratings), it gives the network (which holds the rights) the platform to endlessly plug their upcoming slate of TV programming for the first quarter 2023….MAFS anyone? I agree – more eyeballs will follow if a local Aussie (Kyrgios/special K’s) does well. Nine would’ve kicked themselves when Ash Barty retired.
Cricket has a longer period over 2-3 months but scattered broadcast: BBL, Test series and ODIs/T20s and interest seems to be in the longer format and of course, when the Aussies are winning.
With Nine able to put a dozen or so live games simultaneously on its website, AO coverage should remain free.
With Ash Barty gone, one would have thought the ratings for AO would suffer, but Kyrgios seems to be rising at precisely the right time. These rights will have massive implications on cricket. If 9 retains the rights, which by all means is likely, they’d be unlikely to go big on another summer sport, cricket. 7 and CA’s frosty relationship is public news, so when cricket rights are up next year – 10 will suddenly be the forerunner. Wonder what that’d do to Fox’s chances of retaining cricket, as 10 have deep pockets and a struggling paid streaming service, Paramount+. They’d have no interest in partnering with paytv, however that doesn’t necessarily mean they will put everything on FTA. Cricket might be a way to drive Paramount+ subscriptions and we can see repeat of ODIs/T20s exclusive to paid services.
I am predicting that 9 will retain the tennis rights. I think Stan sport is a success with more people watching coverage on the subscription platform. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to ratings and how Aussies perform well.
Another thought: if seven does form some form of partnership with Peacock, suddenly everything is up for grabs in terms of tennis and Olympics (perhaps less so with Comm games). Seven will suddenly have deeper pockets.
So so so much to ponder here: does “first rights” mean last option / able to up their offer once other bids are in or simply able to lock it all up before anyone else has a chance to talk? Seven will clearly want the rights but will presumably have to liberate funds from the cricket (it would not surprise me if seven gives up bbl and looks to keep test cricket only especially if more prime time / night test cricket is on offer); ten/cbs may well dig deep for the tennis as tennis has global appeal (vs AFL) but TA have secured at least some global rights with ESPN from memory; ten and nine both have paywall options in-house whereas seven are rumored to be talking with NBC / peacock. Tennis was certainly the best value of the major 4 Oz sports……hard to see Nine losing the rights. Meanwhile Olympics and Comm games are also up for the bidding..