Midday Report Essentials for Tuesday 29th July 2025
In today's episode, thousands of homes have been without power across Northland as what has been described as an 'atmospheric funnel', hits Aotearoa; Rain is falling steadily at the top of the South Island, where there are orange heavy rain warnings in force; Small businesses say the government's payment surcharge changes are unfairly targeting them and it should instead be putting pressure on banks; Severe weather is hitting many parts of the country, causing power outages, flooding, and downing trees; The country's top netballers are shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty with Netball New Zealand still yet to ink a broadcast deal for the next ANZ premiership season.
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Netball NZ boss admits new broadcast plan 'bit of a risk'
Netball New Zealand boss Jennie Wyllie. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2018 Netball New Zealand boss Jennie Wyllie admits that they are taking a calculated risk with their new broadcast agreement. Following months of negotiations, the national body has finally secured a broadcast deal for next year's ANZ Premiership. Sky Sport had been the major broadcast partner since 2008, but the national body is going back to TVNZ - marking the return of the sport on free-to-air television. RNZ understands that Sky TVs offer was substantially less than any of its previous deals with Netball New Zealand. How much TVNZ are actually paying for the rights, if any, is not being disclosed and it seems inevitable that players will have to take pay cuts next year. TVNZ has been in cost-saving mode but Netball NZ will be hoping that a bigger TV audience will draw more commercial revenue to make up for a massive shortfall in broadcast revenue. Chief executive Jennie Wyllie told Morning Report that they were excited to bring netball back to all of New Zealand, even if it meant they had to fork out some money for it. "Netball New Zealand is investing in it as we transition away from our traditional broadcast market," Wyllie said. "Our commercial partners are looking for reach and I think the really interesting value proposition that we have is a thriving participation base and increasingly partners are looking for that end to end connection, that supports their brand. Wyllie said the women's sporting landscape was tough and it was worth taking a gamble. "We do need to step into the new and different and it is a bit of a risk but netball has to innovate. We don't have big offshore partners that support or an international body that can allow us to do that with a safety net so this is about us giving that a crack." Questions remain over whether the new deal will attract enough sponsorship to save players from pay cuts. They are in the middle of collective contract negotiations. "We don't want our women sportspeople to go backwards, but we are working really really hard in this new environment to make sure that netball remains a viable choice for them. There will be some different economics but that is the reality for entire industries at the moment." Wyllie pointed out that a lot of the players already studied or had part-time jobs. "This is only a 10-week competition so a lot of our 60 athletes, they need to study already, they've got part-time jobs ...so that won't be different. That is the reality of what it is to be in a female sporting environment. "But we are working hard to make sure that the impacts are not greatly felt across the system and that they can share in any reward that we are able to realise." Netball New Zealand confirmed to RNZ that the feeder league, which sits below the ANZ Premiership will continue but there are no details on what form it will take. The six-strong team National Netball League (NNL) was launched in 2016 and is seen as an important development pathway for emerging talent. This year eight NNL games were broadcast live on Sky Sports. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
Pay cuts on the cards for NZ netballers
New Zealand's best netballers may be turning to side hustles next season to make ends meet. Pay cuts for are on the cards in the ANZ premiership as the broadcast negotiations drag on. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Scoop
20 hours ago
- Scoop
Top Netballers May Need Secondary Income As Broadcast Deal Drags On
Pay cuts could be coming for New Zealand's top netball players in 2026 as the broadcast deal for the domestic competition drags on. ANZ Premiership players may need a secondary income next season "to make ends meet", according to New Zealand Netball Players Association executive manager Steph Bond. This year's ANZ Premiership concluded on Sunday, but Netball New Zealand is yet to lock in a television deal for next year. The broadcast deal will impact how much players are paid. "The sad part that could end up next year is that actually players will have to look outside of netball to supplement what they are earning to make ends meet," Bond told Midday Report. "In some cases that's a good thing in terms of actually having something off the court, but it's definitely not pushing the sport forward in terms of the progress other sports are making." Bond said players had felt "unsettled" while the negotiations continued. "It's creating challenges for those individuals, which is understandable when you're not sure where your short-term future is heading. "We would normally be in the contracting stage right now in terms of the ANZ Premiership for next year, so we're currently in bargaining with Netball New Zealand to try and see what that landscape will look like next year." The players avoided wide-spread pay cuts this year when a collective employment agreement was negotiated last year for 2025, Bond said to be back facing the potential of pay cuts again was "disappointing". "The community game is still growing despite other, I guess, competing sports in that market and so there is definitely the fans and the people that are supporting the game just at this point in time we don't seem to be able to be getting that turned into dollars and making that a difference at that level." The Netball Players Association supported players looking to Australia to further their career with the "uncertainty" around the future of the New Zealand competition. "I think like anyone, if you look across the ditch, you can see a job over there that potentially is paid better and has different challenges then people will be looking at that and having a look and seeing if that's actually a better option for them." Netball New Zealand updated its Silver Ferns eligibility criteria this month, paving the way for greater flexibility for athletes who wish to play overseas.
