Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) shares are pushing higher on Tuesday after the media company gave investors something new to weigh up.
At the time of writing, the Nine share price is up 1.87% to 92.7 cents.
It is only a modest gain, but shareholders will take it. Nine shares are still down 17% since the start of 2026 and 43% over the past year.
Here's what the company announced.
Image source: Getty Images
NRL rights locked in
According to the release, Nine has signed an agreement for NRL and NRLW broadcast rights from 2028 through to the 2034 seasons.
Under the agreement, Channel 9 and 9Now will keep their current NRL coverage. That includes 3 live NRL games each week, the Finals Series, and Test matches played in Australia.
The NRL Grand Final and State of Origin will continue to be shown exclusively on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Nine has also secured exclusive free-to-air and free streaming rights to 33 live NRLW games, the NRLW finals, and Women's State of Origin.
What Nine is paying
Nine said the annual cost will be $145 million in cash. This will be partly offset by $10 million in committed annual NRL advertising and other services, as well as $15 million each year in contra.
Live sport remains one of the few things that can still pull big audiences at the same time. Rugby league is also a major part of Nine's broadcast schedule.
The company said men's streaming and broadcast audiences have increased across all formats. Rugby league also delivered double-digit revenue growth for Nine in the 2025 season compared with 2024.
Why are Nine shares only up a little?
The Nine share price gain isn't huge, and that probably comes down to the cost of the deal.
Investors knew Nine was chasing the NRL rights, so the agreement itself is not a major surprise. The bigger question is how much value Nine can pull from the content over the life of the deal.
That leaves the focus on what Nine can do with the rights from here.
Advertising conditions are still uneven, and Nine will need rugby league to keep driving audiences, revenue growth, and 9Now engagement to make the extra spend worthwhile.
Can Nine shares recover?
The deal doesn't solve all of Nine's problems, but it does take a big risk off the table.
Losing rugby league would have been a bad result. It is a major part of Nine's free-to-air and streaming schedule, and still one of the better ways to bring in big live audiences.
Nine now has the rights locked in through to 2034, across both the men's and women's competitions. That should help 9Now, the broadcast business, and the way Nine sells advertising around its sports coverage.
Nonetheless, after a 43% fall over the past year, the share price still has plenty of work to do. But this is one less thing investors have to worry about.
