Trades are common in sports, but not so much the actual sports themselves, however Seven was hopeful to trade the broadcast rights of Wimbledon to Nine in exchange for the Ashes.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Seven pitched the proposal to exchange the broadcast rights of the legendary tennis tournament for 2019 and 2020 to rival Nine, following their failed bid to obtain exclusive rights to the 2019 Ashes series in England.
Nine baulked at the offer, holding firm and staying the course to air the Ashes from August 1.
Nine will also broadcast every Australian match for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, alongside Fox Cricket.
The back and forth between the two networks is nothing new, as they had engaged in a bidding war last year for broadcasting rights to the Australian Open, a battle that Nine finally won for $48.5 million.
It followed a degree of flexing on Seven’s part, wherein they initially reneged on relinquishing the rights to Nine while also obtaining the rights to Cricket Australia broadcasts, with Seven CEO Tim Warner boasting: “We’ll have both the tennis and the cricket, the only summer sports that really matter.
“This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to drive for ratings and revenue, and an unrivalled platform from which to launch our 2019 schedule”.
