Channel Nine could look to cut ties with the NRL in favour of a return to the AFL if revised broadcasting negotiations continue to stall, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Foxtel joins the Nine Network in hoping to close a newly assessed and reduced contract for the fractured 2020 season.
Nine chief executive Hugh Marks has warmed to the idea of severing ties with the NRL in favour of the AFL in 2022, when both codes end their current broadcasting contracts.
The AFL had reportedly begun negotiations with current network partners Channel 7 and Fox Sports for a contract extension until 2024, meaning Nine's hopes of returning to Aussie Rules may face a delay.
Marks spoke at a Macquarie Australia Conference 2020 on Tuesday, revealing Nine could renounce their partnership with the NRL as they continue to struggle through the negotiating process.
‘‘It’s not a given that NRL has to be part of our future,’’ Marks said. ‘‘It has to just pay its way like all of our content does, and if it doesn’t, well ... again, we are less reliant on that as a revenue source.’’
The Sydney Morning Herald have reported that sources close to negotiations have revealed that Nine are looking to further reduce their price following on from their original $28 million cut from the $118 million contract for 2020.
Nine have opened to aiding long-term services and security for rugby league, extending its current rights deal until the end of 2025.
‘‘COVID has changed how you need to consider sports rights and evaluation of sports rights for the future because if we don’t take that change now like we are in all other aspects of our business and we wait until the contract expires in two years ... everyone’s in for a rude shock in two years,’’ Marks said.
‘‘Now’s the time when we need to make the changes necessary to make these sports rights more sustainable. The future of our businesses is in aggregated video consumption. We’re a business that actually is now less reliant on live sport and the reason for a lot of sport and its being was its volume contribution to free-to-air advertising.
‘‘But as you move and you create profitability and revenue and other mediums which are not reliant on sport, all of a sudden as a business we’re able to be a lot more analytical and perhaps a lot more disciplined around those decisions. And that’s where I think we’ve really been quite hard on that NRL discussion.’’