Free-to-air ANZ Premiership games comes at huge cost for Netball NZ
Photo:
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Domestic netball may be returning to free-to-air television, but it's come at a huge cost to Netball New Zealand.
Radio New Zealand understands Netball New Zealand is paying TVNZ hundreds of thousands of dollars for championship games to be shown on the state broadcaster next year
Netball New Zealand CEO Jennie Wyllie would not confirm or deny the arrangement, which is believed to be costing between $600,000 and $700,000.
"I do know what that figure is relating to, but we certainly aren't going to discuss any commercial arrangements we have in place."
Netball New Zealand admitted to investing in production costs, despite the deal for next year's Silver Ferns games still under negotiation, and nothing in place for 2027.
"Whilst it might set a precedent it gives us a lot of control over the product and how we give exposure to our partners within the broadcast product," Wyllie said.
It was hoped sponsorship revenue would be boosted by the increased visibility of being on free-to-air television.
The players' collective employment agreement was still being finalised, and New Zealand Netball Players Association executive manager Steph Bond could not confirm whether wages would drop, but said the agreement would "look different."
"That's probably all really that we can say right now."
Wyllie was resigned to the fact netball could no longer rely on big money offers from TV networks to fill the coffers.
"The whole broadcast and media landscape has changed. It's not what it was the last time around when everyone locked in their deals."
That had led to them looking elsewhere, including to the government.
"Increasingly, this is a space where New Zealand On Air needs to consider that production of New Zealand made content and the storytelling that you see in a sports game is no different to a
Shortland Street,
is no different to some of the diverse projects that are funded under New Zealand On Air, so I think that landscape will and should change."
While it could not be done this year due to the Commonwealth Games, Bond said Players Association wanted to see the ANZ Premiership shifted so it did not clash with the Australian domestic competition.
"We have put on the table for the last year or so that moving the competition would obviously allow players to play across the ditch, but also in this competition, which is only going to be great for the sport and great for players, because in the shortened time they have to make a living from the sport they have more ability to do that by playing in more competitions."
But the market remained difficult for women's sport
"We're not a rugby and a cricket with a men's game cross subsidising us, we don't have an India and we don't have FIFA, we don't have a World Rugby so this is just us trying to work through it for ourselves," Wyllie said.
TVNZ declined to comment, citing commercial sensitivity.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australia lifts foreign student cap to 295,000 and prioritises Southeast Asia
Australia will raise its cap on foreign students by 9 percent to 295,000 next year. Photo: 123RF Australia will raise its cap on foreign students by 9 percent to 295,000 next year and prioritise applicants from Southeast Asia, the government said on Monday. Limits on places were announced last year as a way to rein in record migration that had contributed to a surge in housing prices, with 270,000 places made available for 2025. An additional 25,000 places were being granted in 2026 as the policy was successfully bringing down "out of control" international student numbers, the government said. "This is about making sure international education grows in a way that supports students, universities and the national interest," Education Minister Jason Clare said in a statement. Australia granted nearly 600,000 student visas in the 2023 financial year, as international students returned to the country in record numbers following Covid-19. Australia's largest cohorts of students come from China and India. As well as introducing the cap on numbers, the government also more than doubled the visa fee for foreign students in 2024 and pledged to close loopholes in rules that allowed them to continuously extend their stay. The government's measures to curb migration were "bearing fruit" and allowed for a modest increase in the cap in 2026, International Education Assistant Minister Julian Hill said. "The numbers were growing out of control," Hill told national broadcaster ABC. "The government has taken tough decisions over the last 12 months, not always loved by the sector, to get the numbers down and get them to a more sustainable footing." Roughly two-thirds of places will be allocated to universities and one-third to the vocational skills training sector. Larger, public universities would need to demonstrate domestic and international students had "access to safe and secure housing" and recruit more students from Southeast Asia to increase their individual allocations, the government said. It was important "for Australia's future soft power that we continue to bring the best and brightest from our (Southeast Asian) neighbours to have a bit of Australia with them for the rest of their life", Hill said. Relations with Southeast Asia have been a focus of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor government as it looks to reduce Australia's economic dependence on China. Universities Australia welcomed the "sensible" increase in places. "Universities have called for growth in this critically important sector, and the government has honoured this," chief executive Luke Sheehy said. Australia has one of the highest shares of international students globally. The sector contributed more than AU$51 billion (NZ$55.87b) to the economy in 2024, the country's top services export. - Reuters
NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Cryptopia customer tried to bribe court registrar for information about company's case
A man claiming to be an affected party in the collapse of a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency company has tried to bribe a court registrar to release information related to the case for $2 million in Bitcoin. New Zealand-based company Cryptopia was allegedly hacked in January 2019, leading to the loss
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Auckland City Rail Link maps go up at Britomart
Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel A glimpse of a new era in Auckland Transport was unveiled on Monday. At Britomart Station, an updated map gives commuters a preview of the new stations and rail lines it will use when the long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) opens. The over-budget and over-time CRL is nearing completion, but officials are not ready yet to say exactly when it will open. Auckland's Onehunga, Eastern, Western and Southern lines are being replaced by the Onehunga-West line, the East-West line and the South-City line, new routes detailed in the new map. It is hoped the re-configured network will make it easier for Aucklanders to get around town, as more trains run from more stations - like ones near Karangahape Road and in Mt Eden - more frequently, and link with express buses. Work began on the $5.5 billion CRL in 2017. It was due to be completed last year, and its initial cost was expected to be between $2b and $3b . Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton said capacity on the network had been boosted. "Currently at peak into the city, we have about 12,000 people per hour," Kimpton said. "The capacity we're creating though the new CRL, day one, will be up to 19,000. Quite the number of people will depend on demand, but we have that capacity ready and available to go." Dean Kimpton unveils the new CRL transport map at Britomart, August 2025. Photo: Finn Blackwell / RNZ Parts of Auckland's rail network had been temporarily closed this year for upgrades ahead of the CRL opening, causing significant disruption. Kimpton said the work was necessary. "We have got very specific planned disruption between our CRL-go-live, and that's designed to bring the network up to a standard to support the frequency that CRL anticipates, and that's the rail network rebuild programme." KiwiRail programme director Bobby Fischer said the short-term pain for commuters was part of a bigger picture. "We're going through a significant period of investment in the network that is all in the lead up to CRL opening, once the CRL is open that level of disruption will reduce significantly." She said KiwiRail has run more than 1600 test trains on the network since February. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel "There's a lot of system testing that's going on, from the signalling system right through to the station system - so the emergency systems testing, ventilation system etcetera, to make sure that when we open everything operates seamlessly as it's meant to," Fischer said. Auckland Councillor Andy Baker said the CRL build had been big for the city. "Politicians we're always pretty keen to find something to grizzle about," he said. "But I think there is, underneath it all, a level of excitement and acceptance that this is what it is." As for an exact date for next year's opening, Kimpton said that was still up in the air. "There's still a lot to be done, and we don't want to promise a date until we're ready to promise a date, but you can be sure when we know, you'll know." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
