The pay TV group is understood to have tabled a seven-year offer to secure every domestic National Rugby League broadcast right once the current deal ends in 2027. At present rights are split between Nine Network and Foxtel, but the new structure would see Foxtel control the package and resell free-to-air windows.
Southern Cross Media, owner of Seven Network, and Paramount, owner of Network Ten, are in line as sublicensing partners. Seven would take over Sunday and Monday fixtures plus the high-profile State of Origin series, while Ten would handle the Thursday and Friday night games.
Under the proposal, Foxtel and its sports streaming platform Kayo Sports would keep exclusive control of the digital experience and Saturday matches. Every streamed NRL game would sit inside the Foxtel ecosystem, even when free-to-air networks show the same fixture live on television.
The plan would allow Foxtel to maximise subscription value from Kayo while monetising broadcast rights by slicing them across competing commercial networks. It also concentrates crucial scheduling power, letting Foxtel decide which games land on which nights and channels.
Media industry watchers say the structure is designed to lock in the NRL as a long-term anchor for Kayo and Foxtel’s subscription base, even as traditional TV audiences continue to fragment. Splitting marquee games between Seven and Ten weakens any single free-to-air rival’s hold on the sport while giving the NRL broader reach across multiple networks.
The deal model reflects how premium sports rights are increasingly bundled and centralised by a pay TV or streaming operator then on-sold to broadcasters to balance reach and revenue.
