D'Arcy Waldegrave: Sportstalk host on New Zealand Rugby reaching out to DAZN over rugby rights deal

British streaming platform DAZN are being courted by New Zealand Rugby to make an 11th hour bid for the rugby rights deal up after this year.

Talks between Sky and New Zealand Rugby continue, but the pair have failed to reach an agreement on a scaled down offer from the current agreement.

The New Zealand Herald reports NZR is talking to DAZN - who are currently in the process of buying Australia's Foxtel.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Darcy water Groves. Here was sport, Hey Darcy, and good
day to you Ryan. Great story today about well, lots
to chat about. With the Zone potentially going to go
after the rugby rights. Are they what do we know?

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well at the moment, i'd say rumored, but apparently they
have knocked on a door. Whether they were approached first
or was the other way around, don't entirely know, but
I'm sure that will roll out when I read all
about it. You can. Gregor Paul's written a piece for
NZ Herald. I've got John Fillette, former CITEO of Sky,
joining us tonight up after seven o'clock to talk about this.

(00:34):
And when you look at the situation, would they be
better off to Zone rolling in over the top and
just buying Sky outright?

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Well, they might do both, because how are they going
to broadcast the games? You know, it's very well having
the rights to them, but Sky's got the infrastructure right that.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I don't know if that would be particularly hard to
the outside broadcasting crew, whether they can be picked up
and bought with a insed our Sky. Sky aren't overly
keen on things like the NPC. It's not a big
seller for them. It's part of that package deal. So
whether Dezione wants to do that or it's only about
all Blacks or Super Rugby, the length of the deal,

(01:11):
the size that we don't know. But what we've got
here is after I hesitate to use the term lobull
because of the nature of the economic situation we find ourselves.
And they haven't got a lot of subscribers, they haven't
got a lot of money. But there's no competition. Spark's gone,
so suddenly they're going wow, in this is going off.
You want to take it or not. So if there's
another team rolling in and saying, well how about this,

(01:36):
skuy will be very interested. Their antenna will be pricked. Well,
it is their biggest it's their biggest property. It's not
you look at everything else that's guy dealing. Most of
that now is on entertainment, stanging services, isn't it comity?

Speaker 1 (01:55):
So the thing is it is their bread and butter.
It's there, you know, it's their core business really sport
and the core business of New Zealand sport is Rugby.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
If you want to be the home of New Zealand
Sport as the zone, said Elliot Smith on the station
A couple of weeks ago. If you want to be
in New Zealand's home of sport, which is what they
want to be, you have to have rugby. If you
don't have rugby, you're not the home of New Zealand sport.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Who is designed? They're backed by Saudi's.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
I actually don't know, as Sthority where they come from.
I think they came out of Britain inatially and they
started off in boxing, and then they moved from boxing
and now they're moving into other sports. But they want
to enlarge. I think it's a British entity right now.
I stand to be.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Pockets because they're taking foxtawling them in Australia and all.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I've made no money yet, but they're investing a lot
of money in it. So they're looking for a long
game as opposed to a short game now where a
bulk of their income comes from who knows might take
something away from Saudi. Well, we'll see. Is that really
a global enough sport? How much is it going to
cost them? Will it be a splash in the ocean?
Is it worth that? There's all these questions.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Now, and well I guess that the question is what
is their company's strategy. You know, why are they buying
up lots of little different stations all around the world.
Is there a wider strategy that this would play into.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
What if they want to be the home of sport globally,
They're going to buy as much as they can. So
do you buy the station or do you buy the
various contracts that they've got. Now Sky Sport have just
picked up cricket again for six more years. So does
it make it easy begause, you will take the rugby,
will take Sky and we are the home of sport.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Here in New Zealand. The Saudias, I've just been told
the Saudias on ten percent of this thing.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Ten percent. Okay, thank you very much. The production team
in there, thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Impressive win for the black Caps at the Champions Trophy.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, did it buy five wickets? Bit of a wobble
at the start, a couple of quick wickets, but they
turned it around. Ratten Avenger again showing the world how
good he is. HiT's a ten one hundred and twelve,
one hundred and five balls off the top of my
head in partnership with Tom Latham. Three consecutive ducks, then
he's come back, scored a fifty, one hundred and another fifty,
so he's in good form. So now straight through you've

(04:06):
got a game against India coming up that will determine
their seedings. But then it's semi final action in the
Champions Trophy. And look, let's face it, it's home cricket for us.
We spend more time playing in the subcontin than we
do here and so we've got a hometown advantage, so
that's great news for them, really really pleased, brogant and
tonight on the program, John Filett will also catch up

(04:27):
with Scott Dixon ahead.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Of the start of the Indie Castle lookod board to
Darcy Darcy Watergrave here with you tonight on News Talks EDB.
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