Building a Sports Attention Machine: Nine’s Big Play (NBL, Netball & NRL)

What is Nine Entertainment really building with its latest sports rights deals?

In this episode of Moneyball – The Business of Sport, Scott Keenan is joined by Tim Burrowes from Mumbrella to unpack Nine’s acquisition of the National Basketball League free-to-air rights and its major new deal with Netball Australia.

This isn’t just about adding more sport to the schedule.

It’s about building a portfolio of audiences—premium, consistent, and highly targeted—designed to attract different types of advertisers across the year.

🎯 In this episode:

• Why live sport is becoming the most valuable asset in media
• How Nine is building a tiered sports portfolio
• The real commercial value of NBL and netball
• Why advertisers care about consistency, not just scale
• The role of Stan and streaming vs free-to-air TV
• How Australia’s anti-siphoning laws shape media deals
• What this means for the next NRL broadcast rights deal

💥 The big question:

As Nine invests across more sports… 👉 Do they still go all-in on the NRL? 👉 Or does this open the door for new players like Amazon or Seven?

👤 About the guest

Tim Burrowes is the founder and publisher of Mumbrella, covering media, marketing and advertising in Australia for nearly two decades.

👉 Learn more: https://mumbrella.com.au 👉 Mumbrella360 Conference (Sydney): https://mumbrella.com.au/events/mumbrella360

🎙️ About the show

Moneyball – The Business of Sport breaks down the strategy, economics, and deals shaping the world of sport—from media rights to sponsorships and beyond. Hosted by Scott Keenan, you can follow us on Instagram, watch on YouTube or email anytime askmoneyball.show@gmail.com.

💬 Join the conversation

How has your sports viewing changed? Are too many platforms making it harder to watch? Who wins the next NRL rights deal?