NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Telecommunications

Report reveals the size of Spark's sports rights splurge

Chris Keall
By Chris Keall
Technology Editor/Senior Business Writer·NZ Herald·
21 Aug, 2019 06:28 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Spark's "content rights inventory" costs rose from $13 million in its 2018 financial year to $35m in 2019. Photo / File

Spark's "content rights inventory" costs rose from $13 million in its 2018 financial year to $35m in 2019. Photo / File

As expected, Spark didn't offer any details on Spark Sport subscriber numbers or financials at its full-year report today.

The telco has long-maintained it won't reveal costs until its first half-year report after the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

But its annual report, also released today, included an intriguing hint at what Spark has spent to gain rights to the likes of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Formula 1 and English Premier League football.

Buried on page 62 of the report is a line noting that Spark's "content rights inventory" costs rose from $13 million in its 2018 financial year to $35m in 2019.

That is a $22m increase since Spark moved from offering its Lightbox entertainment streaming service to Lightbox plus Spark Sport.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Speaking to the Herald today, new Spark chief executive Jolie Hodson confirmed the $35m was for Spark Sport and Lightbox content.

But she also noted that Spark Sport had multi-year deals, with payments required at different times. She would not say, at this point, whether payments were front-loaded or spread out.

And then beyond content rights, there is the cost of content delivery networks, new staff, marketing, support and plans for studio content and local outside broadcast next year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The vacuum has been filled with speculation.

One well-placed industry source said Spark had paid $13m for 2019 Rugby World Cup rights, or roughly double what Sky paid for the previous tournament, with $1m defrayed by free-to-air partner TVNZ.

Discover more

Telecommunications

Spark wants to tackle Sky head-on after World Cup

08 Jul 04:14 AM
Telecommunications

Spark Sport suffers Premier League glitch - for second weekend in a row

18 Aug 07:38 PM
Business

Keall: Why Sky TV's bold Rugby Pass play is the proverbial game-changer

20 Aug 06:12 AM
Telecommunications

Spark shares jump as profit rises

20 Aug 08:39 PM

In August 2014, Coliseum Sports Media boss Tim Martin (in the news this week as Sky bought his new Rugby Pass venture for $62m) revealed that his company had bid $6m for three years' of local rights to Formula 1 - only to be outbid by Sky.

A source directly involved in negotiations says beIN Sports paid $10m when it grabbed NZ English Premier League rights from Coliseum for the three seasons to 2018/19.

He says word around the industry is that Spark paid more to grab Premier League rights for the three seasons from 2019/20. His own estimate is $12m to $15m.

And while those might sound like big sums, Spark will have to reach a lot deeper into its pockets to achieve Spark Sport head Jeff Latch's aim to add season-long, top-tier sports content.

New Spark CEO Jolie Hodson. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
New Spark CEO Jolie Hodson. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

Forsyth Barr analysts Matt Henry and Matt Dunn recently released research estimating that rival Sky currently spends more than $106m per year - with rugby accounting for around $65m of that total, NRL around $30m and cricket around $10m.

Sky's new boss, Martin Stewart, has indicated his company will now display much more resolve in bidding wars, saying "if someone outbids us, they're going to go broke."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Previous Sky boss John Fellet made it a central tenant never to bid an un-economic price.

But Stewart seems to be indicating he's willing to absorb some short-term pain to see off Spark. A battle of wills lies ahead.

Today (see video above), Hodson picked up Latch's theme of Spark Sport being a long-term play. But whereas Latch talked up acquiring rights to season-long rugby (and cricket) competitions to keep Spark Sport loyal after the Rugby World Cup, the new CEO put more emphasis on the appeal of the service's existing lineup of content.

As she assesses her company's options with streaming, Hodson at least has the benefit of standing on a strong financial base.

Sky reports tomorrow, and analysts will keep a keen eye on whether its dividend, which has already been subject to shrinkage, falls further as its subscriber numbers remain under pressure and over-the-top competition multiplies.

Earlier today, Hodson was able to report a 12 per cent bump in Spark full-year profit today to $409m.

Her company added customers, kept its full-year dividend at 25 cents per share - forecast it would stay at that level in 2020. And Spark's guidance is that operating earnings will increase.

But while keeping sports rights is a do-or-die fight for Sky, it is only one of several issues on Hodson's agenda, which also includes an increasingly tricky trans-Pacific cable war and a 5G upgrade complicated by Huawei's political troubles.

Sky investors will be hoping she ultimately focuses her energies elsewhere.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Telecommunications

Premium
Business|markets

Spark auctioning half its data centre business to fund $1b expansion push: report

01 May 12:09 AM
Premium
Business|economy

‘A sense of invisibility’: Business leader survey finds lack of Government leadership

28 Apr 08:00 PM
Lifestyle

Half of Kiwi adults overwhelmed by phone notifications, study reveals

21 Apr 05:00 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Telecommunications

Premium
Spark auctioning half its data centre business to fund $1b expansion push: report

Spark auctioning half its data centre business to fund $1b expansion push: report

01 May 12:09 AM

Surf's up for the telco as its capital-raising effort comes to the sharp end.

Premium
‘A sense of invisibility’: Business leader survey finds lack of Government leadership

‘A sense of invisibility’: Business leader survey finds lack of Government leadership

28 Apr 08:00 PM
Half of Kiwi adults overwhelmed by phone notifications, study reveals

Half of Kiwi adults overwhelmed by phone notifications, study reveals

21 Apr 05:00 PM
Premium
Spark follows Air NZ in deal with Indian outsourcer

Spark follows Air NZ in deal with Indian outsourcer

17 Apr 02:00 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP