TV camera’s during the ANZ Netball Premiership. Copyright photo: Aaron Gillions / www.photosport.nz Photo: Aaron Gillions
The government is chipping in to help Netball New Zealand fund its radical bid to self-produce a weekly free-to-air broadcast of its domestic league.
The move comes after the national body took a major hit to its broadcast revenue, signing a significantly reduced deal with Sky TV for the 2025 season.
Netball NZ (NNZ) and Sky TV announced earlier this month they had agreed to a one-year extension to their existing broadcast partnership. It is understood the money on offer was around half that of the previous deal.
NNZ also entered into a further 12-month partnership with TVNZ, continuing this year's initiative for every Saturday game to be shown free-to-air.
From next year those matches will be broadcast live exclusively on TVNZ, while Sky will get it on delay.
As reported by RNZ, the weekly free-to-air game will be self-produced by NNZ and packaged up for broadcast.
The revelation has led to questions over how NNZ would fund the production after taking a sizeable financial hit from a reduced broadcast deal with Sky.
Sport NZ group chief executive Raelene Castle. Photo: RNZ / MARIKA KHABAZI
RNZ has learned Sport NZ has come to the party to assist with the broadcast venture.
Sport NZ group chief executive Raelene Castle said the deal was part of a wider strategy to help get more free-to-air coverage of women's sport.
"As part of the Sport NZ Women and Girls Action Plan, we have started conversations with both Sky and TVNZ about how we can unlock opportunities for more free-to-air coverage for women's sport. Netball is one of the sports which will be involved in these discussions," Castle said.
In 2018, the previous government launched a strategy to address the inequities women and girls experience in sport and recreation and gave Sport NZ $12.7 million for initiatives to improve gender equity.
Last year's Women and Girls Action Plan outlined ways to build on that, including addressing the value and visibility of women's sport by reducing gender inequities in high performance and professional sport, in partnership with key stakeholders.
More specifically - "Explore broadcast partnerships to increase the visibility of women's sport and break down inaccessible content as a known barrier to engagement."
NNZ CEO Jennie Wyllie. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Research commissioned by Sport NZ in 2022 found that 56 percent of New Zealanders watch an hour or more of sport each week. Only 35 percent are watching this much women's sport.
It also found that the number one barrier to more people engaging in women's sport is knowledge and visibility - knowing enough about the teams, athletes and events.
NNZ boss Jennie Wyllie said having a free-to-air component could improve Netball New Zealand's commercial prospects.
"Free-to-air is absolutely a critical component of that, to have more netball in front of our fans than we've ever had before is really exciting."
Wyllie said having direct input into the presentation of the free-to-air game was also appealing.
"To be able to tailor it to engage with fans and present our product as we would like to ... and make sure that we can present a product that is reflective of our fans and the entertainment side of things," Wyllie said.
NNZ will enter into broadcast partnership conversations for 2026 and beyond later this year.