Rugby Australia secures new broadcast deal with Nine

Rugby Australia has agreed a five-year extension to its broadcast rights agreement with Nine Entertainment in a deal - covering the years from 2026 to 2030 - worth up to $240 million.

The deal will see Rugby Australia bank an extra $65 million, and potentially more through bonus payments if the Wallabies and Super Rugby sides hit success targets during their campaigns.

Nine has broadcast Wallabies Tests and Super Rugby across its free-to-air platform and subscription streaming service Stan since 2020 when they picked up the rights for a discount during Covid-19 in a three-year deal worth about $100 million. The media group signed a two-year extension in 2023.

However, Super Rugby games will no longer be shown automatically on free-to-air television under the terms of the new agreement unlike the current agreement, which sees one Super Rugby match shown on free-to-air each round.

The new agreement was announced just a day after Super Rugby Pacific issued a release with statistics showing the success and popularity of the competition this year, including a 30% increase in year-on-year viewership on Nine.

In a statement, Rugby Australia Chief Executive, Phil Waugh advised "it's really exciting, north of a 40% increase on the current cycle. And within that, there's obviously the guaranteed piece, there's the contra to promote the game, and then there's the incentives within the partnership as well.

"So, the way we see it is that we need to ensure we're putting a product onto the field that's engaging with audiences and it's driving engagement with our broadcaster and broadcasting partners. So it's a really exciting and successful outcome, certainly for Rugby Australia, and we need to drive that value for Nine. It's quite a unique aspect as well, the bonus concept of it."

Image: Phil Waugh, Maddison Levi, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Matt Stanton and Morgan Turinui at the announcement of a new Rugby Australia broadcast deal for the Wallabies and Wallaroos. Credit: Rugby AU.