Provincial game under the gun as NZ Rugby’s new broadcast deal goes down to wire

Sunday, 30 March 2025

Whether NPC rugby continues to be covered in the manner it is remains a hot topic in broadcasting negotitions.

Wall-to-wall television coverage of New Zealand’s flagship provincial rugby competitions could become a thing of the past under the new broadcast deal that is in the process of being hammered out.

New Zealand Rugby is in the midst of negotiating its new broadcast rights agreement for the 2026-30 cycle, with long-term partner Sky Television a warm favourite to win the bidding war to continue to televise the professional game in this country. However, the Star-Times understands coverage of flagship provincial competitions, the NPC (men) and FPC (women), has emerged as a major sticking point.

Mark Robinson says suing Sir Jim Ratcliffe's company was the best step NZ Rugby could have taken in their sponsorship row.

Sky is understood to want to significantly cut back on broadcasting the provincial competitions, which draw relatively small audiences and drive few subscribers, yet cost an enormous amount to cover. NZ Rugby, in contrast, regards widespread coverage of that level of the game as an essential part of its broadcast deal.

Sources have indicated that the provincial stand-off has emerged as one of the main stumbling blocks in negotiations which are at the back-and-forth stage, with NZR pushing back on any attempts to minimise coverage.

Sky TV also faces rival bidders, headed by global sports streaming giant DAZN, which complicates matters further. The Kiwi pay-TV company’s exclusive negotiating period ran out at the end of 2024, and NZ Rugby is now talking to the expanded market, including streaming and free-to-air options.

It’s understood NZR could look at the prospect of bundling multiple parties to meet the coverage and revenue targets they are setting.

Who will cover the All Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup tests from 2026 and beyond? The new rights deal will answer that soon.

Reports have indicated that Sky’s current offer to NZ Rugby sits around the $85m-a-year mark, which is well under the previous deal, but still significantly more than Rugby Australia have managed in their competitive rights market.

Sky has been NZ Rugby’s official broadcast partner since the game went professional in 1996, with their last deal, from 2021-25, reported to be worth $111 million a year to the Kiwi organisation. That dwarfed Australia’s equivalent agreement with Nine which brought in a reported A$30m a year over its five-year term, with advertising benefits included.

Australia has since reportedly negotiated a new five-year A$210m deal with Nine which significantly ups its broadcasting revenue. Notably it still remains well shy of the ballpark NZ Rugby operates in.

However the presence of UK-based global outfit DAZN (pronounced da-zone) complicates the New Zealand process which is understood to be at a delicate stage. Neither Sky TV nor New Zealand Rugby were prepared to provide comment for this story.

New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson is negotioting the new braodcast deal with multiple suitors.

DAZN is widely understood to be the other major media outlet talking to NZ Rugby about a potential broadcasting deal as it continues to expand its sporting portfolio. But the streaming giant, bankrolled by Ukrainian billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik with buy-in from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, also appears to be in the business of swooping up pay-TV companies.

DAZN recently completed an A$3.4bn purchase of Foxtel in Australia – their equivalent of Sky TV – and there has been widespread speculation that the Kiwi outfit could be in their sights next. It’s understood staff at Sky are regarding a purchase by DAZN as being a strong possibility as the streamer looks to expand its global reach.

Sky’s pared-back offer to NZ Rugby is also interesting. With Spark disappearing from the rights market, the Kiwi pay-TV company, which is operating under a declining subscriber base, rightfully regards the market as a different one from the previous term.

They are asking themselves, is there anyone else out there prepared to pay over the odds for the rights to broadcast professional rugby in New Zealand?

Then there’s the DAZN factor. Do they dig into their deep pockets to meet what is probably an over-valued rugby rights price? Or do they swoop on an under-priced Sky TV, add to their growing portfolio and reach, and land the rugby audience anyway?

The 2026-30 New Zealand Rugby rights deal would include the All Blacks’ six-week tour of South Africa in ‘26, the ‘29 Lions tour of New Zealand and the ‘30 reciprocal Springboks tour of Aotearoa. World Cup rights sit separately, and Sky has an agreement in place with World Rugby to broadcast global tournaments through 2029.

Sky, having seen off the Spark challenge, had hoped to have a new rugby rights deal wrapped up by now. Chairman Philip Bowman recently noted in his interim report: “The financial terms of any renewal must make economic sense for our customers and shareholders.”

Sky is clearly a company in cutback mode, having significantly reduced staff and coverage levels, slashed travel costs, axed a number of shows, and reduced budgets in others. Notably, on last year’s All Blacks tour the commentary was undertaken from back in New Zealand.

Provincial rugby delivers the least bang for buck, with the cost of broadcasting the 77 NPC and 42 FPC matches understood to be in excess of $7m. The NPC alone, with its far-flung games, costs close to $5m to broadcast, industry experts estimate.

And, remember, production costs come on top of rights fees in what is essentially the price of displaying the sport on your platform.

Given the declining interest in what is now essentially a third-tier rugby product in New Zealand, with next to no All Blacks involvement, it makes for an easy cost-cut. NZ Rugby begs to differ.