Cricket paves the way for netball on free to air TV
Cricket’s successful switch to free-to-air television has not been lost on Netball New Zealand.
NNZ’s broadcast deal with Sky ends after this season and the governing body is assessing all options for 2025 and beyond.
That includes the prospect of following in the footsteps of New Zealand Cricket with home international matches and the T20 domestic Super Smash televised on TVNZ this summer. Until the end of the 2025-26 season, TVNZ will continue to air Black Caps and White Ferns home matches, and the Super Smash, on its free-to-air channels, TV One and Duke.
NNZ’s next broadcast deal looms as a critical one for the sport.
RNZ reported last week that NNZ had signed a significantly reduced broadcast deal with Sky Sport for another year to buy the national body more time as it explores the possibility of joining Australia’s Super Netball.
NNZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie denied any such agreement had been signed. An announcement was expected in the coming months, she said.
“We’re looking at all the options currently and we’ll be able to talk about that in the next little while.
“It’s all commercially sensitive so to be able to delve into that further would be not possible.”
NNZ’s broadcast deal covers the salary caps of the six premiership teams. A vastly reduced broadcast deal would have a major impact on player contracts. NNZ’s previous broadcast deal was thought to be around $10 million.
NNZ’s 2023 annual report stated that it received $15,638,000 from broadcast and sponsorship in 2023, up from $14,840,000 the previous financial year.
Should NNZ extend its partnership with Sky for another year, it raises the question of whether the organisation might consider a long-term switch to free-to-air TVNZ after that.
Netball is already going back to the future this ANZ Premiership season. The Saturday afternoon match in each round will be aired on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+, as well as on Sky. Sky will continue to broadcast the Sunday and Monday matches each round, as well as the finals (all 47 matches).
Sky has had the rights to elite netball in New Zealand since 2011 after TVNZ ended its 17-year association with the sport.
Wyllie was heartened by cricket’s successful first season on TVNZ.
TVNZ’s live cricket coverage reached 2.54 million people across TVNZ 1 and Duke and an additional 454,400 accounts on TVNZ+.
The chance to grow netball’s audience and allow New Zealanders who might not have been able to watch via pay TV was appealing.
“We complement cricket in many ways, being seasonal. They’ve been able to lay the foundation and reignite the appetite for Kiwis to be watching sport on a free-toair channel and so we’re excited to be able to continue that momentum and bring that through the winter season.”
Wyllie recalled watching the former New Zealand domestic competition on free-toair TV before the creation of the trans-Tasman league in 2008.
Screening matches on free-to-air TV on a Saturday (4pm start time) was a perfect slot for netballers after they had finished their own games in the morning or early afternoon. The Saturday afternoon free-toair match complemented netball’s existing deal with Sky, she said.
Former Silver Ferns coach and defender Yvonne Willering, who coached during much of the free-to-air-netball days, argued that a long-term move away from Sky might not be a bad thing. “Something different has to happen. We just can’t carry on the way it is.”
The Saturday matches could give NNZ a glimpse into what a move to free-to-air TV would look like, if it decided to go down that path long term.
Wyllie said it would be a fantastic chance for underserved communities to have visibility on the game. “To be able to see their idols out there playing regularly is going to be something you hark back to when we were all growing up and that’s where we viewed sport on TV.
“To be able to get back out there and have that visibility for the game is fantastic.”
ANZ Premiership crowds have been a mixed bag around the country in recent seasons. Some teams, including the Southern Steel and Central Pulse, attracted strong attendances. Auckland sides the Mystics and Stars, could be patchy depending on what other events were on in the city.
“I think we’re in a really competitive market for the consumer eyeball. [We’ve got] some great support down the country. I think we have the benefit of not being weather dependent.
“It’s something that is a continual work on [crowds], but we have a really incredible, loyal fan base. We’re comfortable with where they are at.”