Nine Entertainment has officially retained the rights to the next two Ashes Test series to be played in England.
The deal means that The Ashes broadcast will continue to be shared between split Nine and Seven until at least 2031, with Seven having locked in the rights to the Ashes series in Australia as part of a seven-year deal made in January.
The Australian Financial Review reports that Nine will pay about $40 million to air the 2027 and 2031 series, with rights “likely to remain jointly held by Nine and pay TV company Foxtel.”
Foxtel told the publication that it did not comment on ongoing negotiations.
The AFR also reports that “Two media sources with direct knowledge of the previous Ashes deals, signed by Nine in 2019 and 2023, suggest it paid about $13 million per series.”
It’s the latest in a string of sports rights for Nine, with the company in negotiations to secure a new deal with Rugby Australia as well as making moves to potentially sublicense the Melbourne Cup carnival once the current contract with Paramount expires.
And of course, the jewel in the crown for Nine’s sports rights this year comes in the form of February’s announcement that The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had awarded Nine the exclusive free and subscription audio-visual rights, and non-exclusive audio rights to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games from 2024-2032.
See Also: “It will be absolutely huge”: Mike Sneesby on Nine’s Olympic Games deal