7th Tackle: TV will still call the big shots in next deal
The NRL tell us they have control over the draw from next year onwards, but it’s not unfettered control.
We can reveal the upcoming five-year broadcast deal quarantines 65 premium games – a third of the season total – for the free-to-air network to select the time slots.
Importantly, the NRL will pick the 65 games.
But once those are selected, the network can request them where it sees fit within the draw. It appears the Pay TV rights holder, Fox Sports, has no say in the selection of games.
Some of the choices over the closing six rounds have been bizarre, to say the least.
MORE 7TH TACKLE:
Canterbury being anointed a Thursday night mainstay is a weekly turn-off, but perhaps more attractive than last Sunday’s dead rubber between the Tigers and Titans.