NRL seeking control of Super League TV deal as ‘global’ rights on new channel mooted

The NRL are keen to wrestle control of Super League’s broadcast rights as part of their proposed investment in the competition: with Sky Sports’ future as host seemingly in doubt.

Australia’s premiere competition are being lined up to purchase a 33 per cent stake in Super League to potentially overhaul the sport’s fortunes in Europe.

The finer details are still to be worked out, but it is no coincidence that a deal is possible due to the fact that, for the first time in recent memory, both the NRL and Super League’s broadcast packages are up for renewal around the same time.

The NRL’s expires in 2027, with Super League’s a year earlier – and a new report from City AM has speculated that if the NRL do complete a deal, they would bundle together rights from both competitions and sell a global package.

But that could have huge ramifications for Sky, Super League’s long-term partner.

That is because the NRL are set to hold talks with streaming giants including Amazon Prime and DAZN about their own rights – and they are reportedly keen to package up Super League as part of the deal, too.

That would enable them to sell more rights and more matches to potential broadcasters – and could leave the door ajar for Super League to be shown on a different main platform other than Sky for the first time.

Super League has struggled with the knock-on effect of a dwindling TV deal for numerous years. Clubs receive significantly less per year than they did around a decade or so ago, meaning more owners have had to dig deeper to plug financial gaps.

And with the NRL widening their horizons in terms of potential partners to target, the prospect of a new global deal that would dramatically increase Super League’s revenue would appeal to many of those owners.

It remains to be seen whether or not a deal can be struck for the NRL to purchase a stake in Super League, though.