The Seven Network has emerged as a genuine suitor for Netball Australia in its drive to return Super Netball to free to air television in the next broadcast cycle.
And NA will enter talks with better bargaining power than ever before after a commercial arrangement with World Netball which allows it to bundle rights for the upcoming World Cup into the next broadcast deal.
Fox Sports currently holds the rights for the sport, with their five-year $35-million deal – on top of production costs – expiring at the end of next year.
The current Fox deal allows NA to make annual grants of $750,000 to each club towards their salary cap commitments .
NA needs to strike a strong deal for 2027 onwards, given the likely addition of two new Super Netball teams, a move that would increase their total club grants to at least $7.5m per season.
Code Sports understands Seven is in talks with NA, and while a source with knowledge of the negotiations said they had not yet progressed to financial positions, discussions had been well received from both sides.
Any drop in revenue, or a production-only deal could be catastrophic for NA, although there is a wrestle between revenue and reach, with the additional eyeballs on the game on free to air giving the sport a strong argument for a lift in the value of its commercial sponsorships.
Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis said she was excited at opportunities presented by the next rights deal.
“Fox have been fantastic partners over the last five years and the conversations with free to air are happening with their blessing, which is great,” Ellis said.
“So there’s a real collegiate sense of everyone wants what’s best for the sport.
“But I am excited about what the next broadcast deal might hold and the ability to showcase the sport and the athletes.”
A changed landscape for broadcast deals across the entire sporting spectrum – including for men’s sport – was initially thought to have made NA’s job harder but the body has come up with a strong bargaining chip in the form of commercial rights to the 2027 World Cup in Sydney.
Mark Falvo, chief operating officer of the Netball World Cup local organising committee (LOC), said the commercial program for Sydney 2027 was different from previous iterations of the competition.
“The LOC is effectively running the commercial program – obviously in consultation with World Netball – so it’s the LOC that needs to sell broadcast rights and sponsorship and hospitality and merchandise,” Falvo said.
“But the opportunity, particularly in a market like Australia, we have the ability to bundle that with the game’s other properties, Super Netball and the Diamonds.
“So when it comes to broadcast, we’re able to bundle that together which is quite a powerful thing because given the amount of talent now from around the world that’s competing in Super Netball, it’s a natural fit with broadcasters and sponsors because you’re building awareness of the players.”
Nineteen internationals from five countries, all of which will compete in the 2027 World Cup, are among the 80 full-time contract holders in Super Netball next season, in addition to local players competing for the right to help the Diamonds defend their world title.
“Their profile will go to another level in 2027 during the Netball World Cup and that hero building will then carry on in the next edition of Super Netball as well,” Falvo said.
“So there’s a lot of value that gets unlocked by bringing it all together, not just for broadcast, but also for sponsors.”
Being able to leverage a local World Cup as part of any ongoing deal will be the job of media rights executive and NA adviser Steph Beltrame, who is handling negotiations for the 2027 cycle.
And Ellis has great faith in the former executive general manager broadcast and commercial for Cricket Australia, who oversaw negotiations worth more than $1 billion for that sport.
“I would think there’s nobody better to have it in the hands of than her, she’s so experienced,” Ellis said.
“We’ve done all the modelling and we’re confident that we’ll land where we want to land but there’s a lot to be done over the next few months to make sure that we get there.
“There’s a lot going on at the moment that’s got to fall into place all at once.
“We keep talking about the fact it’s like there’s 10 trains we’re trying to bring into the station all at one time.”
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