Netball New Zealand has a new deal to screen domestic matches on free-to-air TVNZ. But behind the rah-rah press releases lies a costly reality.
Netball New Zealand is being forced to pay for its own production and delivery costs of next year’s ANZ Championship, after talks broke down with Sky Television, the home of the sport for the past 17 years.
In an extraordinary move, a high-profile, high-participation sport is in the position of having to dip into its own cash reserves to stay on television – in netball’s case, in a new deal with TVNZ.
That, in turn, may well impact netballers’ own pay.
It appears TVNZ has benefited from a sport desperate to stay on television and in front of audiences for the sake of retaining and appeasing sponsors.
Publicly owned TVNZ refuses to comment on the commercial terms of the deal, including if it is even paying a rights fee. That appears unlikely.
Instead, and in lieu of TVNZ having to stump up the production costs, sources say the state broadcaster might have agreed to share any revenue that comes in from advertising around the games.
Another possibility is that TVNZ might have agreed to a fee based on the size of the audience – the bigger the audience, the more netball may stand to gain.
In an email to netball stakeholders, Netball NZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie said the company had been “working hard behind the scenes over the past months to nail down a broadcast partner” for the 2026 ANZ Premiership.
“Ultimately, Sky TV decided not to make an offer for the broadcast rights, which means our partnership will end this year,” Wyllie said in the email, obtained by Media Insider.
“Netball NZ has made the decision to invest its own resources in the production and delivery of the 2026 ANZ Premiership, a commitment we believe is vital to ensuring the continued visibility and accessibility of our game.
“Our reserves are obviously not infinite, so we are continuing to work with our partners on a new funding model that can deliver a sustainable competition.”
According to its 2024 annual report, Netball NZ has $12.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and $11.43m in members’ equity, including $6.27m in general funds. (That same annual report states that, in 2024, Netball NZ received $355,000 in revenue in advance for broadcast and sponsorship compared with $2.4m in 2023).
This year, the ANZ Championship – with six teams – was held across 10 rounds, followed by a finals series over two weekends. That equated to 32 games in total.
Production industry sources say the cost of producing a netball game could be anywhere between $15,000 and $50,000, depending on the level of resources, including the number and quality of cameras, an outside broadcast unit and staff.
Wyllie said in her email that TVNZ would screen three games live on Saturdays and Sundays next year.
That means 32 games – based on our production sources’ comments – could cost anywhere between $480,000 and $1.6m.
Asked how much Netball NZ was expecting to pay, Wyllie told Media Insider: “We can’t go into exact details at this point, as the total cost will be subject to negotiations and other partnerships.”
“The ANZ Premiership is critical to netball, and professional women’s sport more broadly, so our focus is on ensuring we can make the competition sustainable over the long term. The TVNZ partnership is a vital first step for that, but there is more work to do yet.”
Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney told Media Insider today that the company had been part of the bidding process.
But it appears that Sky – based on its audience data and how it viewed the value of the netball rights – was not prepared to pay a price that Netball NZ would accept, and did not make a formal offer.
Moloney would not confirm this, but said rumours that Sky had offered less than $200,000 for the rights over the next 12 months were “absolute rubbish”.
The company had invested millions into netball over many years, she said – no doubt also referring to the hefty production and delivery costs of the sport.
“We just couldn’t get to terms that made sense both for New Zealand Netball and for us. So then Jennie has gone and secured the deal with TVNZ – I wish them well.
“We absolutely love women’s sports. We have a heap still on Sky.”
Wyllie told Media Insider: “Sky advised us earlier in the year [that] they would not be making an offer for the ANZ Premiership broadcasting rights. We have formed a partnership with TVNZ to ensure the competition remains visible and accessible for all our supporters.”
She said the 2025 season was “a major success, drawing in huge stadium crowds and we’ve also seen growth in our international audience”.
“We’re excited about the potential to grow our audience even further next year and to attract new partners.”
TVNZ would not say whether it was paying any rights fee for the netball next year.
“The details of any deal TVNZ enters into are commercially sensitive,” a spokeswoman said.
This year, TVNZ shared ANZ Premiership games with Sky.
“The ANZ Premiership Saturday round-robin games reached over 552,000 people in 5+ on TVNZ 2 this year,” the TVNZ spokeswoman said. “On TVNZ+, the competition reached over 76,000 accounts. TVNZ+ also saw an increase in streams of 29%, with over 250,000 streams for the 10-week season.
“This is a good result, but we believe that we can grow the audience further as the exclusive broadcast partner.”
The spokeswoman said TVNZ was a “mass-reach, free-to-air broadcaster”.
“Partnering with us means codes have the opportunity to reach as broad an audience as possible. Our intention is to work closely with netball to grow their fandom and support them as they transition viewership of the game.
“Local content is also a strategic focus for us and showcasing our top netballers delivers on this.”
The new deal might well put pressure on players’ pay. If netball isn’t receiving the same level of revenue from a broadcasting deal, it will need to look at its costs.
The organisation is currently in collective contract negotiations with its players.
“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,” Wyllie told RNZ today.
“There will be some different economics but that is the reality for entire industries at the moment.
“This is only a 10-week competition, so a lot of our 60 athletes ... 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,” Wyllie said.
“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.”
The new broadcast deal does not include rights for Silver Ferns matches – Wyllie said in her email that these arrangements for 2026 would “be announced in due course”.
Sky has rights to Silver Ferns matches for the remainder of this year.
The TVNZ spokeswoman said while the new deal was for the 2026 domestic competition, “we hope this lays the foundations for a longer-term partnership, including the Silver Ferns”.
Asked if Sky would be keen to bid for the Silver Ferns rights next year, Moloney said: “We would definitely be keen to have a conversation.”
Wyllie said in her email in regards to the ANZ Premiership: “Alongside TVNZ, we will deliver in-depth coverage, expert commentary and exclusive courtside access, building on this year’s popular match of the week format.
“Fan-favourite innovations like the captain’s timeout and two-point shot will stay.”
Wyllie said the new ANZ Premiership deal for 2026 was a “critical first step in ensuring netball grows its exposure while we navigate a new broadcast and funding environment and move to a longer-term model”.
“We are excited to have the chance to partner with TVNZ at the same time it develops and delivers on its own sports strategy.
“We believe netball will continue to attract more and more eyeballs in a free-to-air environment, which can help drive the sport through this transition period.”
TVNZ, meanwhile, will have the capability to offer subscription TV next year – it seems feasible that netball could become a bedrock for a new sports subscription offering from the state broadcaster.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
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