The Days Of New Zealand’s Top Stars Heading To Europe Are About To Change
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The New Zealand Rugby Union has secured a five-year TV rights deal that should net them NZ$350m.
The NZRU have negotiated a new $70m a year [€43m] deal that is said be be a 60% bump on their previous package. To put that deal in perspective, ITV and BBC combined to pay €70m a year for Six Nations TV rights.
The deal is positive news for the union and its players. Through their players’ union, 37% of that money will go into a pool to be redistributed to the players themselves.
This is could spell an end to their player’s being lured to Europe in search of a payday.
The New Zealand Herald also reports that national contract retainers will shoot up. In some cases, they may even double. The paper believes senior figures Kieran Read, Julian Savea, Brodie Retallick and Aaron Smith could all see their annual retainers increased from NZ$400,000 to $800,000 [€490k].
