Sky and BBC in danger of losing rugby league rights to ESPN
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 8:54 pm
ESPN could enter the market to televise Super League with Richard Lewis, the Rugby Football League's chairman, predicting "the most intense and competitive bidding process" for the right to broadcast both the flagship competition and the Challenge Cup from 2012.
The existing deals for both competitions, with Sky and the BBC respectively, expire at the end of this season, in addition to Super League's title sponsorship with Engage Mutual Assurance, the Harrogate-based financial services company who have been involved since 2005.
The RFL secured a significant increase when the Super League television rights were last renegotiated in November 2007, with each club's annual share of the pot increasing from around £750,000 to more than £1m. That deal was concluded when Setanta Sports was a serious player in the market but Lewis revealed that ESPN has already expressed an interest this time around and that the BBC is also facing competition from other terrestrial broadcasters for the cup.
"This is the third bidding process I've been involved with and there's more interest from more broadcasters than ever before," Lewis said ahead of the official Super League launch at Old Trafford tomorrow, before the season begins with a full programme of fixtures at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium next weekend. "We put the tender document out for prospective bidders this week and it will be a couple of months I think before we have a clear sign of who's going to win the bidding. It's very competitive and it's all to play for, frankly.
"There's ESPN who are active in the marketplace and already showing rugby union, so I don't think I'm divulging any secrets by saying that it's no surprise that ESPN are looking at it very seriously. Once you throw in the mix that the Challenge Cup has become very interesting and attractive to other terrestrial broadcasters, I think that creates a new dynamic for the whole rights bidding process.
"I think the BBC's very vulnerable to losing the rights to the Challenge Cup. There's more interest than I've ever known and I think it's a real possibility the Challenge Cup could end up somewhere else."
The Wembley final remains on the list of events that must be shown on terrestrial television, after the proposal to remove it was deferred until after the digital switchover in 2012. That restriction does not apply to any of the rounds up to and including the semi-finals but Lewis confirmed that the RFL would prefer the whole competition to stay on a terrestrial channel.
Wigan's chairman, Ian Lenagan, has made a pre-emptive strike against likely approaches to the Super League champions' coach, Michael Maguire, from several clubs in his native Australia. Maguire, who guided Wigan to their first title since 1998 in his first season after joining them from Craig Bellamy's support staff at the Melbourne Storm, has already been linked with several vacancies that could arise following further speculation over the weekend that Wayne Bennett will leave the St George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the 2011 season.
Lenagan stressed that Maguire is not halfway through his three-year deal, saying: "Michael's here for the long term and his commitment to Wigan is exemplary. His impact on Super League last year was very special and we're delighted about the way things worked."
Royce Simmons, who is due to take charge of St Helens for the first time in their derby against Wigan on Saturday, which is one of the highlights of Super League's Magic Weekend in Cardiff, has flown home to Sydney because of a family illness. He hopes to rejoin Saints on Thursday.
The former Great Britain team-mates Garry Schofield and Denis Betts enjoyed winning starts as coaches in the Northern Rail Cup. Schofield's Barrow team were pushed all the way by York before securing a 24-20 victory at Craven Park but Betts had a more comfortable afternoon as Widnes won 62-18 at London Skolars.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/fe ... ast-rights
The existing deals for both competitions, with Sky and the BBC respectively, expire at the end of this season, in addition to Super League's title sponsorship with Engage Mutual Assurance, the Harrogate-based financial services company who have been involved since 2005.
The RFL secured a significant increase when the Super League television rights were last renegotiated in November 2007, with each club's annual share of the pot increasing from around £750,000 to more than £1m. That deal was concluded when Setanta Sports was a serious player in the market but Lewis revealed that ESPN has already expressed an interest this time around and that the BBC is also facing competition from other terrestrial broadcasters for the cup.
"This is the third bidding process I've been involved with and there's more interest from more broadcasters than ever before," Lewis said ahead of the official Super League launch at Old Trafford tomorrow, before the season begins with a full programme of fixtures at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium next weekend. "We put the tender document out for prospective bidders this week and it will be a couple of months I think before we have a clear sign of who's going to win the bidding. It's very competitive and it's all to play for, frankly.
"There's ESPN who are active in the marketplace and already showing rugby union, so I don't think I'm divulging any secrets by saying that it's no surprise that ESPN are looking at it very seriously. Once you throw in the mix that the Challenge Cup has become very interesting and attractive to other terrestrial broadcasters, I think that creates a new dynamic for the whole rights bidding process.
"I think the BBC's very vulnerable to losing the rights to the Challenge Cup. There's more interest than I've ever known and I think it's a real possibility the Challenge Cup could end up somewhere else."
The Wembley final remains on the list of events that must be shown on terrestrial television, after the proposal to remove it was deferred until after the digital switchover in 2012. That restriction does not apply to any of the rounds up to and including the semi-finals but Lewis confirmed that the RFL would prefer the whole competition to stay on a terrestrial channel.
Wigan's chairman, Ian Lenagan, has made a pre-emptive strike against likely approaches to the Super League champions' coach, Michael Maguire, from several clubs in his native Australia. Maguire, who guided Wigan to their first title since 1998 in his first season after joining them from Craig Bellamy's support staff at the Melbourne Storm, has already been linked with several vacancies that could arise following further speculation over the weekend that Wayne Bennett will leave the St George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the 2011 season.
Lenagan stressed that Maguire is not halfway through his three-year deal, saying: "Michael's here for the long term and his commitment to Wigan is exemplary. His impact on Super League last year was very special and we're delighted about the way things worked."
Royce Simmons, who is due to take charge of St Helens for the first time in their derby against Wigan on Saturday, which is one of the highlights of Super League's Magic Weekend in Cardiff, has flown home to Sydney because of a family illness. He hopes to rejoin Saints on Thursday.
The former Great Britain team-mates Garry Schofield and Denis Betts enjoyed winning starts as coaches in the Northern Rail Cup. Schofield's Barrow team were pushed all the way by York before securing a 24-20 victory at Craven Park but Betts had a more comfortable afternoon as Widnes won 62-18 at London Skolars.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/fe ... ast-rights
