The battle for rugby league’s broadcast future has taken a fascinating twist. As the NRL prepares to open formal rights negotiations for the post-2027 seasons, the Seven Network has swooped in to secure exclusive Australian rights to the 2026 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2026).
The World Cup, to be hosted in Australia from 15 October to 15 November 2026, will air live and free on Seven and 7Plus, beginning with a blockbuster opener between Australia and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium. It’s a month-long commitment featuring 18 men’s, 15 women’s, and 20 wheelchair matches, with additional fixtures in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
With Nine Entertainment and Foxtel Media currently holding the domestic rights until 2027, the Rugby League World Cup deal signals that Seven is willing to put serious money on the table for rugby league content, is willing to build a dedicated Rugby League team and could be testing the waters for what the future of the sport could look like on the platform.
The Sydney Morning Herald previously reported that Seven would pay around $12 million for exclusive broadcast rights, small change compared to the NRL’s billion-dollar deals, but a telling move nonetheless.
Seven declined to comment on whether it is making a play for the rights to the NRL and NRLW competitions.
V’landys Opens Negotiations With Warning
Behind the scenes, the NRL boss is playing a delicate game. The league’s current $1.7 billion agreement with Nine and Foxtel, signed during the pandemic, expires after the 2027 season. The NRL’s revenue has since surged to $744 million, and ARL chairman Peter V’landys has made no secret of his desire to match or exceed the AFL’s record $4.5 billion broadcast deal with Seven, Foxtel and Telstra.
“The deal will be record-breaking because we built the game up and doubled our audience,” he said.
Yet V’landys insists it won’t come at the expense of fans. “Money will not be the first priority,” he’s repeatedly told the media, warning against more matches disappearing behind paywalls or premium streaming services like Kayo.
He has also recently, and very publicly, warned broadcasters against monopolistic behaviour – wasting no time warning current rights holders that, “If they collude [over rights deals] it will be at their peril”.
“We will take the rights elsewhere. If they think they can behave as monopolists, they will be in for a shock.”
That “elsewhere” could very well be Seven.
Seven West Media managing director and CEO Jeff Howard framed the deal as a natural extension of the network’s sports pedigree. “Seven is proud to be the unrivalled home of Australian sport. The Rugby League World Cup is a significant world-class event, and hosting it on home soil makes it even more special. It’s exactly the kind of premium sporting content Seven is known for and committed to delivering – live, free and exclusively to all Australians.”
A Strategic Re-Entry?
Seven’s Rugby League World Cup deal offers a useful testing ground. The network has long dominated AFL coverage and recently doubled down on marquee properties, including cricket, Supercars, and the Commonwealth Games, but it has never held the rights to the NRL, one of the few major codes left outside its stable.
It is not the first time that Rugby League content will be played on Seven, however. The network previously held the rights to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup in Australia. Jim Wilson, Laurie Daley, Benji Marshall, Brett Kimmorley, Dan Ginnane, Andrew Moore and Renee Gartner made up the commentary team for the broadcast.
Seven was also the home to the iconic Matty Johns show from 2010 before being axed in 2011.
Chris Jones, Seven’s Director of Sport, said the network’s investment is part of a broader play to expand its live sport ecosystem. “To broadcast RLWC2026 to Australians across the country builds on our dedication to providing exceptional live and free sport programming 365 days of the year,” he said.
Seven will also launch a new rugby league panel show, The Agenda Setters: Rugby League, from the start of the 2026 NRL season.
The Rights Market: A Crowded Field
Seven’s RLWC coup comes as the broadcast landscape undergoes a rapid transformation. Foxtel’s $3.4 billion sale to DAZN, the “Netflix of sports,” has reshaped the pay-TV side of the equation, while Nine’s acquisition of Premier League and FA Cup rights adds financial and scheduling pressure ahead of any NRL renewal.
Paramount’s Network 10 remains a wildcard, having invested heavily in the A-League and Matildas coverage and having a background in NRL coverage, though its ratings struggles persist.
V’landys has hinted that a deal with Ten would include a minimum standards requirement that would make sure it was up to scratch for fans. “If I were CEO, I’d be throwing everything at the NRL. The NRL would fix its problem. You need a foundational powerhouse,” he said.
Meanwhile, global streamers are circling. Netflix last year paid around $240 million to broadcast NFL Christmas Day games, and Prime Video has locked in exclusive ICC cricket rights until 2027.
Anti-siphoning laws mean that the NRL’s next deal will likely involve a hybrid model, a combination of free-to-air, pay TV and streaming, making Seven’s re-entry into rugby league even more strategic.
But the big elephant in the room remains the AFL. With Seven the home of the league that runs parallel to the NRL, it is difficult to imagine a world where both sports are shown on the same platform at the same volume and with the same level of care and consideration.
For now, the Rugby League World Cup is a big step into Rugby League for the broadcaster. In a market where AFL and NRL have long defined winter television, Seven’s investment is both a test and a teaser: can it deliver rugby league at scale, and does it want more than just a one-off tournament?
