Ahead of the Game: Six Nations TV rights tender hit by delay
The Six Nations TV tender has been put on hold due to delays in finalising the format of the new global Nations Championship, which will launch next year.
The 12-team tournament will definitely take place, with each nation playing three games in each hemisphere followed by play-offs in London, but the Six Nations and Sanzaar unions have yet to finalise commercial agreements or the playing schedule.
The European unions are all in agreement that the Six Nations and Nations Championship TV rights should be sold together as part of the same process, but this is not possible until a fixture list for the latter has been finalised.
The aim is to offer a series of packages for both tournaments targeted at a range of free-to-air and subscription channels in the hope of attracting broadcast partners offering a combination of reach and revenue.
BBC and ITV are the current Six Nations rights holders, with TNT Sports having the rights for the Autumn Internationals, which will be replaced by the Nations Championship along with the home unions’ summer tours, TV rights for which are currently sold on a piecemeal basis.
The unions have held initial conversations with broadcasters to test the market, and are hopeful all three existing rights holders will bid, but the tender document is unlikely to be issued until after this year’s Six Nations.
Durham and Gloucestershire Hundred hopes dashed
The prospect of the Hundred expanding to 10 teams with new franchises in the north east and south west has receded given the extraordinary sums paid by new investors in the auction.
Total valuations for the eight teams have passed £850m after Todd Boehly’s Cain International won the right to buy 49 per cent of Trent Rockets with a £40m bid yesterday.
As a result English cricket can look forward to a total payout of around £450m when the auction is completed with today’s sale of Southern Brave, whose value will be intriguing given host county Hampshire are already owned by the expected bidder, GMR Group, owner of the Delhi Capitals.
The flipside of the unexpectedly large sums paid by the new owners is that they will be looking to recoup at least some of their initial investment, and with the Hundred’s main revenue stream currently being domestic TV rights, they will not want to dilute the central distribution by admitting two new teams.
Durham and Gloucestershire could therefore face disappointment, as they had hoped to be admitted to the Hundred as expansion franchises in 2028 at the start of the next TV rights cycle.
Dazn eyes Liga MX TV deal
Dazn’s next target after paying £800m to secure global TV rights for this summer’s first expanded Club World Cup will be to make a move into the south and central American markets.
Mexico in particular is a target for Dazn, which is planning to bid for the Liga MX TV rights if, as expected, they are sold centrally for the package beginning at the start of the 2027/28 season.
Unlike the Premier League, Liga MX sells TV rights individually on a club-by-club basis, but the league plan to move to a collective model if a proposed £1.1bn investment in its media and commercial rights from Apollo Global Management is completed next month.
Apollo has recommended collective selling, with Dazn planning to take advantage.
Headingley off the market after Superchargers sale
Yorkshire has retained ownership of Headingley despite Sunrisers Hyderabad completing the 100 per cent purchase of the Northern Superchargers Hundred franchise last week.
The club agreed a deal in principle to sell the iconic ground to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group two years ago, while it was also offered to Rajasthan Royals in takeover talks but, with Sunrisers paying £51m to Yorkshire for their 51 per cent stake in the Superchargers, Headingley has remained under the county’s control.
Yorkshire still plan to sell naming rights to Headingley, as revealed by City PM last week. Sunrisers owners the Sun Group, a TV and media company, are well placed to take advantage, but would have to pay the market rate.
London Broncos future hanging in balance
London Broncos’ ownership remains in serious doubt ahead of the start of their Championship campaign, which begins with a trip to face Bradford Bulls at Odsal on Sunday.
NRL side Brisbane Broncos have held talks about buying into London in a deal brokered by Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington and the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission, Peter V’Landys. But Brisbane Broncos board members are understood to have expressed doubts after news of the negotiations was reported last month.
Several other Australian sides are currently being sounded out to replace the Brisbane Broncos, while the NRL may also come on board as a minority investor.