TV Rights

[Planet14]

The trouble for Kayo is they have pushed the price so hard, losing a pillar as significant as AFL would smash subscriptions. I like having access to golf, baseball and NFL, but not enough to p155 $45 a month away. If it had stayed $25 I wouldn't think twice about keeping it without AFL.

 

[SM]

As with everything in life, the rate of increases in the prices is far out-stripping the increase in people's income, so there will come a point where this will all burst, I just dunno what happens at that point.

 

[Cruyff14]

As with everything in life, the rate of increases in the prices is far out-stripping the increase in people's income, so there will come a point where this will all burst, I just dunno what happens at that point.

Yep, cost of living is smashing everyone.

Thankfully we can share some subs around, but we still pay for a fair share ourselves too. It's not cheap.

 

[SM]

Yep, cost of living is smashing everyone.

Thankfully we can share some subs around, but we still pay for a fair share ourselves too. It's not cheap.

Can't share many subs anymore, Kayo cracked down on that ages ago.

 

[Jatz]

As with everything in life, the rate of increases in the prices is far out-stripping the increase in people's income, so there will come a point where this will all burst, I just dunno what happens at that point.

Can't believe it hasn't already happened at $45 for Kayo. For $15 more a month, I have Foxtel on a satellite that includes every channel and a subscription to HBO Max.

There's no way I'd pay $45 just for Kayo now.

 

[Whats a Battle]

That’s true but they also pay too much for the rights already, so when each new deal comes around and the AFL/NRL say they need more money it will inevitably get to the point DAZN will say no. Channel 9/Channel 7 are also already losing money on their end of the deals as well. Cricket and Tennis deals are in the same boat. All of our top rating shows each year are sports but they’ve become so overpriced TV networks lose money overall on them.

The next NRL rights deal looks like it will either be split between DAZN/Channel 7/Channel 10/Amazon to try and split the costs or entirely on Channel 9 with the majority of games paywalled on Stan.

Australian sports TV rights are essentially a bubble that will burst at some point at their current rate.

So basically there's gonna be a Broadcom style standoff like in the 1980s?

The best outcome for the NRL rights then is actually probably Ch9 + Stan - as if you're like the majority here who mainly watch the Big 3 (AFL, NRL and EPL) it still means you need only two streaming platforms (Kayo/Foxtel + Stan)...instead of needing Kayo + Stan + Prime.

Edit: I definitely have no interest in cricket any more for obvious "Rangers"-related reasons.

 

[99 Problems]

Sports in general is a bubble waiting to burst but no idea what happens when it does. Does each sport set up its own streaming? Or do they all consolidate back onto a fox sports equivalent and just accept what they can get?

Yeah it’s going to be interesting what happens when it all bursts and when does it actually happen. I thought it was going to be now in Australia and the NRL would be the first to suffer with their new deal, but it sounds like they are actually a chance of getting pretty good $$$. It’s just a matter of time though. I’m pretty sure cricket see it coming which is why they were so desperate to quickly privatise the BBL while the money is on the table.

Personally I don’t think many competitions anywhere can realistically set up their own streaming and maintain anywhere near their current money coming in. How many paying customers for either the AFL or NRL are there in Australia and how much would you need to charge monthly, especially now they’d be paying all production costs as well. Lots of people follow multiple sports as well so they’d probably have to pick and choose what they can afford to subscribe to.

 

[99 Problems]

The trouble for Kayo is they have pushed the price so hard, losing a pillar as significant as AFL would smash subscriptions. I like having access to golf, baseball and NFL, but not enough to p155 $45 a month away. If it had stayed $25 I wouldn't think twice about keeping it without AFL.

Yeah I get why they sort of took the Netflix etc. approach of starting subscriptions at a low price before starting to increase prices somewhere closer to what they need to be to actually make money. The problem is we’re such a small market relatively that they’ll never hit the scale they need compared to the amount they buy the rights for.

Like you said though with those increases it now feels like awful value for us as customers. We’re already getting less content than we used to and almost paying twice as much.

There’s also the argument should a sporting body sign the deal that brings in the most money. With the NRL rights coming up for example, let’s say they can get DAZN to increase what they pay by 15%, should they actually do it knowing those costs get directly passed on to fans by having to pay more. I don’t know the right answer but these bodies are meant to be not for profit and they sure do seem to love maximising revenue no matter the consequences.

 

[Whats a Battle]

Yeah I get why they sort of took the Netflix etc. approach of starting subscriptions at a low price before starting to increase prices somewhere closer to what they need to be to actually make money. The problem is we’re such a small market relatively that they’ll never hit the scale they need compared to the amount they buy the rights for.

Like you said though with those increases it now feels like awful value for us as customers. We’re already getting less content than we used to and almost paying twice as much.

There’s also the argument should a sporting body sign the deal that brings in the most money. With the NRL rights coming up for example, let’s say they can get DAZN to increase what they pay by 15%, should they actually do it knowing those costs get directly passed on to fans by having to pay more. I don’t know the right answer but these bodies are meant to be not for profit and they sure do seem to love maximising revenue no matter the consequences.

That's a fair point. The AFL and NRL are very much not for profit organisations - so shouldn't they prioritise getting as many people to see as many matches as possible?

The A-League however, are for profit - hence let's just short-sightedly lock everything behind a paywall and watch our league die. Penny wise pound foolish indeed.

 

[Frank Bunn]

As with everything in life, the rate of increases in the prices is far out-stripping the increase in people's income, so there will come a point where this will all burst, I just dunno what happens at that point.

A lot of it comes down to spending less than you earn. Sport subscriptions, food delivery, international travel - are all luxuries.

Didn't you just shell out $53k for a new car?

 

[RPCB]

A lot of it comes down to spending less than you earn. Sport subscriptions, food delivery, international travel - are all luxuries.

On a personal note, I am way down on it all.

In January this year I started a goal for myself to limit food deliveries to once a week, down from up to three times a week every other year, and I am at the stage now where I just don’t buy it at all. I last bought Hungry Jacks in January, McDonalds in February and takeout of any sort exactly 4 weeks ago. I find myself much healthier and now I am at virtually a $0 food delivery bill, whereas I was spending close to $100 a week for the longest time.

All season I had Stan for $10 (Optus customer), which is the PL/FA Cup only sub. I will upgrade in the upcoming season since United are on the CL, but I am glad that is $22 or $27 (4K). I am currently on a discounted Kayo Sports sub for $15/6 months and that runs until November, but I am planning on cancelling after the home and away season because every finals game is on Channel 7 (saving myself $45 in the process). I don’t have any other streaming services because I Torrent whatever episodes of shows I want to watch.

 

[Whats a Battle]

On a personal note, I am way down on it all.

In January this year I started a goal for myself to limit food deliveries to once a week, down from up to three times a week every other year, and I am at the stage now where I just don’t buy it at all. I last bought Hungry Jacks in January, McDonalds in February and takeout of any sort exactly 4 weeks ago. I find myself much healthier and now I am at virtually a $0 food delivery bill, whereas I was spending close to $100 a week for the longest time.

Anaphylaxis keeps my hands tied in that respect...I couldn't imagine gambling on a food delivery. Wow.

Seriously though, well done.

 

[SM]

A lot of it comes down to spending less than you earn. Sport subscriptions, food delivery, international travel - are all luxuries.

Didn't you just shell out $53k for a new car?

Wow, spend less than I earn, I should write that down.

I bought a car on a novated lease, yes, are you familiar with the concept?

I made no comment about my circumstances, I made a general comment about society and cost of living, both of which are accurate. I'm quite fortunate in my personal circumstances but they're also irrelevant.

 

[Cruyff14]

A lot of it comes down to spending less than you earn. Sport subscriptions, food delivery, international travel - are all luxuries.

Didn't you just shell out $53k for a new car?

Wife part time, two kids, another on the way.

When you factor in mortgage, groceries, petrol etc and then specialist appointments for the kids, how exactly do you propose this?

We don't get food delivery, rarely get take away, and we haven't been on a holiday - our honeymoon - since 2019.

 

[Whats a Battle]

Wow, spend less than I earn, I should write that down.

I bought a car on a novated lease, yes, are you familiar with the concept?

I made no comment about my circumstances, I made a general comment about society and cost of living, both of which are accurate. I'm quite fortunate in my personal circumstances but they're also irrelevant.

I think that's a fair point. Like yourself I know I'm very lucky in my personal circumstances and a big part of that is that I live in an affordable area - therefore I have more discretionary spending accordingly. But for those that don't, or are forced to live in the inner city through personal circumstance, I don't know how they do it sometimes.