It is the slow creep that will define the next NRL broadcast era, the boiling of the frog. And the frog – sorry to say – is you. The $5.3bn sum of the new NRL broadcast deal signed this month stole the headlines, but from the game something else is slowly being taken.
The full implications will not be felt immediately for a deal whose devil is in the detail. But before long, fans will come to realise their team is on free-to-air television less and less frequently. And they will look back to this moment, when the Albanese government – despite having the power to resist the pull of the paywall – stood and watched.
