TLDR
Fox Sports broadcasts its last netball match tonight, the final game of the 2026 Constellation Cup, ending five years of coverage across Foxtel, Kayo and BINGE. Nine takes the sport from 2027 on a five-year deal that puts at least two matches a week on free-to-air, for a fee the ABC reported at about $5 million a year.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The last match
Fox Sports will end its netball coverage tonight with the final match of the 2026 Constellation Cup, closing five years of Fox Netball across Foxtel, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE.[1]
It leaves on good numbers. Foxtel Group says the 2026 Suncorp Super Netball season was the most-streamed ever across its three platforms and the second-best overall across linear and streaming, and that the 2025 Constellation Cup was the highest-performing series of all time.[1] Super Netball went to more than 120 countries under Fox, and in 2022 the broadcaster put together the sport's first all-female control room crew.[1]
"We are incredibly proud of what our team has achieved for netball and its fans," said Erin Ferreira, general manager of Fox Sports. Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis said: "For the past five years, Fox Sports has been a tremendous supporter of netball, and importantly, a partner that believed in the sport and its potential."[1]
What Nine bought
Nine won the rights in April on a five-year deal running from 2027. It covers Super Netball, all Australian Diamonds matches and all 64 matches of the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, across the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.[2] "Nine was the foundation broadcaster of the Super Netball League 10 years ago," Netball Australia chief executive Stacey West said at the time.[2]
At least two matches a week will be on free-to-air TV for the length of the deal. In 2027 all four weekly games will also stream free on 9Now, so no match sits behind a paywall. From 2028, Nine can move the other two matches exclusively to Stan.[3]
More reach, less money
The ABC reported the rights fee is expected to be about $5 million a year, compared with a reported $7 million a year under Fox.[3] Netball Australia is taking a lower fee for a much larger free-to-air audience, the priority Ellis has argued for.[3]
For Foxtel Group, now owned by DAZN, it means losing a women's sport its streaming services carried for five years. For Nine, netball joins the sports it is gathering on Stan Sport, with a home World Cup in its first season.
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James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
