NRL coverage to go global with new live streaming service for 2018 season

[Wikimann]

Thats not to say they won't fill it up with regional advertising specifically aimed at the various customers who sign up in each particular country however!
I guess all will be revealed & entirely dependent on the service cost of the venture.

[First Try Tickle]

The problem is I'm only paying £5.99 for my Premier sports as I just call them and say I want to leave.

I really hope something is sorted out, as I love the NRL matches, perfect for when the missus has gone to bed. They also show just how the game should be played and how bad our commentators are.

[Wikimann]

I wouldn’t go cancelling your Permier sports subscription just yet anyway,hold fire until some confirmation of any future UK satellite broadcast rights are made official.

It has been the general opinion of those in the know,that Premier sports probably wouldn’t be renewing a deal with the NRL for exclusive rights from 2018 onwards. The fact they also started shifting ‘live’ games to delayed showings,along with selected games being sent to the new Freesports channel towards the end of the 2017 season,maybe gave a pointer of things to come.

Speculation is still ongoing as to whether another UK broadcaster will bid for the rights if Premier can’t afford it or simply don’t want it.
My guess is,the NRL will be asking too much for them this time,that only really leaves Sky (who have shown no interest whatsoever since they originally bombed off the NRL coverage they once had) or BT sports.

BT sports are already heavily into the Aussie market with AFL & A-League soccer rights for the UK,so it’s a very slight possibility they may try to snap up the NRL too! They’ve seen the benefit of early morning ‘live’ sports ratings from down under. However,they probably won’t want to pay mega bucks (something the NRL may well want) given how much they’ve already invested in Premier league footy & Rugby Union.

Eurosport are the only other option but it’s highly unlikely they will do any bidding,which is a shame as they would have by far the widest audience reach across the northern hemisphere.

For the punter getting his money's worth,Premier were relatively cheap,good for showing all the games each round (albeit their coverage was sometimes quite amateur & haphazard) plus they had NRL full time,the Footy show,Sterlo on the couch & the Matty Johns show (although they binned both of the latter shows this season) which was ominous.

BT would give a very professional approach & promotion of the NRL if they got the rights but it would be costly given their sports package is already £27.99 a month.

SKY would be just as costly but far worse for everyone IMO. I doubt very much they would give blanket coverage of games & given how dire their continued sh@te presentation of SL is why would the mandarins at the NRL headshed want to belittle their product like that!

IMO This is why the NRL has looked to do their own streaming service specifically aimed at non Aussie viewers elsewhere on planet League.

The only scenario left is,one of the aforementioned broadcasters gets ‘some’ screening rights on the cheap to show a couple of live games each week while the internet NRL flagship service has everything on offer for the discerning viewer.

[Wikimann]

TBH i'm happy to pay for the product i want to watch if its well presented & promoted,showing the game in a modern light.
The biggest issue i have is,all my viewing is now spread across a range of subscriptions & channels with varying degress of presentation!

If SL wasn't solely available on Sky sports,i would cancel their sports package tomorrow!

BT has all the football i will ever need,including the champions league & Eurosport has my cycling.

Premier has had all the NRL up until now.

Presentation & promotion of RL on TV also gives me serious issues,Sky are absolutely dismal. I never thought i'd say it but give me Ray French over Carney & Hemmings any day! (only a semi serious comment ha ha)

I like Jon Wells as he speaks concisely,clearly,he's thoughtful,with well delivered sensible comments & analysis but thats where it ends for me on sky.

Hemmings has always been utterly annoying & useless (Stevo was actually better,more entertaining albeit couldn't deliver his thoughts at times adequately)

Carney is just a smug g*t who has a chip on both shoulders & for those out there who slagged French & Wareing years ago for portraying RL as a "parochial thick as mince flat cap northern sport",just have a listen to those muppets MacDermott & O'connor babbling away to see feck all has changed!

Worse still,Sky actually seem to enjoy this woeful regional stereotyping of the game by its presenters,in a gleeful "Sid Waddell darts commentary' sort of way.
I doubt very much BT sports would provide such dire analysis.

Even the BBC have massively improved their quality of RL presentation over Sky IMO.
Yes they only show the few Challenge cup games & England internationals nowadays but as we know,the beeb has lost almost every major sport to pay TV anyway,so at least we do still have some FREE national coverage.

Dave Wood is a better commentator than anything at Sky & Noble,Peacock,Wilkin,RHP all offer well presented insight on a par with Wells.

We've come a very long way in terms of the volume of RL coverage now available to us all.
Don't forget Grandstand would only clip over last second to show the second half of Wigan v Widnes at a murky Naughton Park in 1984 but sadly some of our own actually continue to contribute so poorly to an audience of viewers,that it sometimes appears "nowt much has really changed oop norf lad"

[moto748]

So am i missing something, or is this not the NRL going back to how it was before Premier Sports got involved? I used to get a subscription from NRL.com (OK, it probably wasn't literally the NRL running it, but it was in their name), and could watch the games on my laptop whenever. Then PS came along and I had a similar deal with them.

I hope it doesn't end up on Freesports or whatever it's called, cos I've got Virgin TV and it's not available on that.

[Wikimann]

I guess the exact details will be revealed in the next month or two,probably after the WC.
The NRL did have the previous online option but i think this could be taking it to a much higher level with pretty much everything they would have screened via satellite/cable or terrestrial options down under now being made available to a world audience.

Freesports is also available on Freeview/Freesat isn't it? Most new smart TV's should have one of those options even if your cable provider doesn't include it.

[eccywarrior]

Isnt this for fox nrl games only? Channel 9 has got majority of games and its free to air other there. Will premier sports not just show channel 9 games only?

[eccywarrior]

Plus sky could possibly show nrl games as aint they owned by fox sports?

[Wikimann]

Isnt this for fox nrl games only? Channel 9 has got majority of games and its free to air other there. Will premier sports not just show channel 9 games only?

The full story in the link says ‘every game live’ plus origin series,Intrust super cup,women’s comp & Fox’s league entertainment shows.

As to Sky taking some games,it’s a possible as I’ve already mentioned previously but I wouldn’t hold your breath on getting much out of them.

Sky may effectively be owned by Fox corporation in the US but are currently fighting with the UK govt concerning the takeover bid at the minute.

This is probably the real reason why the Fox news channel was suddenly pulled from the Sky satellite platform earlier this year & disappeared from UK viewers,despite all the loony left wing claims to suggest it was removed because of its right wing pro Trump propaganda.

[Mike]

I get all the NRL games in the US. THrough Fox Soccer of all places. $100 per year.